Michael Olels

Olels grew up in Tieton, a small town in central Washington, just outside of Yakima. His father was a pastor who owned several nursing homes during Olels’ childhood with Olels’ uncles. Olels obtained an associated degree in Theology in Plano, Texas, but health care was not quite on his radar.

“The medical field was not in my background,” he said. “As a kid, I’d have to go in and help out here and there at the nursing homes. I was not interested at all in becoming a certified nursing assistant. I wasn’t sure what the next step would be after college.”

Olels’ uncle called him out of the blue and asked if he would train in the administrative program for the company that ran the retirement community where they worked. Olels worked at a facility in California, but when the company went bankrupt, he lost his job “overnight,” he said. He and his young family at the time decided to move to Shelton, where his in-laws lived, and Olels got a job at Mason General Hospital.

“I thought I was going to be here six months,” Olels said. “That was more than 21 years ago.”

Olels got his paramedic degree and worked as a CNA aide, floating around to different departments. He primarily worked in the Emergency Department. By 1999, he began to work as a Monitor Tech in the Emergency Department.

“I like it a lot,” he said. “I like that we don’t see the same things every day. I love working with people, and I like how it will be quiet on the floor and then all of a sudden, people can flood in. It changes every day and it’s never the same.”

Olels became certified as a CNA in 2015, and as a monitor tech he answers phones and connects patients with the other services they may need at the hospital. For example, if an emergency patient comes in needing additional service, Olels will call around the hospital and ask which departments have a bed available and which rooms are clean. He communicates with providers, working to get connected with a hospitalist or radiologist on staff if an emergency patient needs one.

Outside of work, Olels has enjoyed coaching. He was the statistician coach for the Shelton Highclimbers for 22 years, and also was the assistant coach for junior varsity teams. He has worked as an emergency medicine technician and served as a youth pastor for Harvest FourSquare. He also enjoys fishing, walking and hiking now that his four children are grown and out of the house. His daughter, JoyMarie, lives in Olympia with her husband and two children; his eldest son, Isaac, has worked at Mason Health and now has a daughter and works in construction in Leavenworth; another son, Jordan, is a project manager in Seattle; and his youngest son, Josiah, lives in Shelton as an apprentice for a sheet metal unit.