SHELTON, WA – For the past six years, Mason Health Senior Director of Human Resources Kevin Keller has served as a calm and positive leader among Mason Health’s Senior Leadership Team.

Later this year, Keller plans to step down from his role and enter retirement to spend more time playing music and traveling with his son, Liam.

After six years of dedicated service, Mason Health is deeply grateful for Keller’s invaluable contributions, said Mason Health CEO Eric Moll.

“Kevin has provided leadership stability during a time of immense industry challenges,” Moll said. “We are confident that the strong foundation Kevin has built will serve as a solid platform for the continued success of our HR department. Thank you, Kevin, for your dedication, leadership, and positive impact on Mason Health.”

Keller grew up in Connecticut and graduated in 1982 from Villanova University in Pennsylvania as a marketing major, with a double minor in psychology.

In the early 1980s, he embarked upon a on a 10-year career in sales and marketing, working as a buyer for companies like Eddie Bauer and Macy’s.

“The part of marketing that I was intrigued by was meeting people’s needs,” he said. “When I left sales and marketing, it was because I wanted to facilitate long-term and lasting change in organizations.”

Keller went back to school, completing a graduate degree in organizational industrial psychology from West Chester University in Pennsylvania. He continued studying human resources strategy at the University of Pennsylvania before working for almost 20 years at Merck & Co.

Keller climbed the ladder at Merck & Co. in the human resources department, acting as an internal consultant and then eventually he became the Human Resources Director for the western United States, transferring to a West Coast office in 1997.

When Merck & Co. decided to consolidate their operations back to headquarters in Pennsylvania and New Jersey, Keller decided to stay in the Pacific Northwest.

For most of the 2000s, Keller did independent HR consulting work for multiple industries, such as maritime and shipping, and for companies like Costco and Amazon. He also worked at a couple of start-up biotechnology firms and served as an adjunct professor at Bellevue College.

Keller continued in the health care field with a job at Virginia Mason Medical Center. In this role, he was contracted out to other health care facilities that needed human resources support. This is how he came to Mason Health — in 2018, Mason Health contracted with Virginia Mason for an interim human resources director. Keller loved the organizations so much, that he applied for the permanent position and moved to the Mason Lake area.

“Mason Health has a true community of employees that rally around a common cause,” he said. “My priority was to work in an organization where I could be successful and a place where people want to work, where even if they were to move on, they would say that was time well spent.”

Keller feels passionate about helping organizations thrive, from a human resources standpoint.

“My goal was to get Mason Health to a place where employees felt they had a reason to stay and a reason to thrive,” he said. “I saw the makings of a cohesive community and knew it was possible.”

Keller plans to move to Bend, Oregon. He plays multiple instruments and plans to make and share music as a performer. His goal is to play an open mic in every state.

Mason Health, Public Hospital District No. 1 of Mason County is ISO 9001 Quality Management System certified by Det Norske Veritas (DNV) and is a licensed and accredited acute care hospital with a level four emergency trauma designation. Mason General Hospital and Mason Clinic are ENERGY STAR® certified and Mason Health is the recipient of three Practice Greenhealth Partner for Change Awards and a Greening the OR Environmental Excellence Award. There are more than 100 physicians on staff in 19 specialties. For more information or to find a health care provider, visit www.masongeneral.com. To learn more about DNV, visit www.dnv.com/healthcare.