Full Circle: Nurse Who Was Born and Volunteered at EvergreenHealth Joins Staff
Kate Wiken, DNP, ARNP, AGPCNP-BC, a lifelong Puget Sound resident, joined EvergreenHealth's Sleep Medicine Department in the fall of 2022. But EvergreenHealth has been a part of her life since the very beginning.
Along with her twin sister Alice, Kate was born at EvergreenHealth in 1994. Arriving early and weighing just four pounds, Kate and her sister stayed in the Neonatal Intensive Care Unit for about two weeks.
Their parents spent a lot of time on campus in those early days, building relationships with the staff. Afterward, Kate and her family would come back every summer for years to attend "preemie" reunion parties.
Kate and her twin sister Alice in a bassinet in the EvergreenHealth NICU
Kate and Alice's parents holding them as newborns in the EvergreenHealth NICU
Kate and Alice in the EvergreenHealth courtyard for a preemie reunion
Kate and Alice together after graduating from the UW Nursing program
"With both sides of my family going back generations here on the Eastside in Bothell, Woodinville, and Monroe, this hospital has been an important part of our lives," Kate said. "It's where my family went and continues to go for care. My grandparents, who owned farmland in Bothell when it was still rural, were grateful for the arrival of Evergreen Hospital in the 1970s so they no longer had to travel for care."
As teenagers, Kate and her sister volunteered at EvergreenHealth, guiding patients at the information desk.
After high school, Kate and Alice attended the nursing program at the University of Washington.
"We knew we wanted to go into healthcare," Kate said. "We have a legacy of nurses in our family. Our mother was a nurse at Seattle Children's and our great-grandmother was a nurse in Denmark during the 1918 flu pandemic. Many other aunts and cousins are nurses, too."
After gaining experience as an RN, Kate returned to her studies to become a nurse practitioner, attending the University of Washington DNP program. She then worked in primary care, doing house calls for elderly patients and developing a passion for treating conditions like sleep apnea.
Today, Kate Wiken brings that passion to EvergreenHealth's Sleep Medicine Department.
"I've watched EvergreenHealth grow over the years into a large health system, but despite how much it has grown, it still feels like a community hospital and provides personal care," Kate says. "My husband Jack also grew up locally in Monroe, so we both have a shared connection to this community. I love being back at EvergreenHealth. I look at my patients and see my family."
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