A big welcome to Kathy Ferdig who was just brought on as Eden Health of Bozeman’s executive director! Kathy has a diverse healthcare background that spans decades. We’re excited to see the Bozeman agency succeed under her expertise! Read on to learn more about how Kathy got her start in healthcare.
Kathy Ferdig, executive director of Eden Health of Bozeman
I have a highly varied healthcare background. My first job in a hospital was as a housekeeper. I cleaned offices, the ancillary service areas and the morgue. From there, I transferred to the pharmacy and spent the next 15 years as a certified pharmacy tech doing everything from making IV’s, mixing chemotherapy, filling meds for prisons and nursing homes, and finally retail pharmacy. I cared for residents/patients as a CNA in long term care facilities and in hospitals while getting my degree. In 2006 I graduated from Montana State University with a bachelor’s in nursing. From there, I spent time as a bedside nurse gaining knowledge and caring for patients from birth thru end of life and of all ages on the medical oncology unit, pediatrics and pediatric ICU, as well as at a long-term advanced care hospital.
My skills in the outpatient healthcare world are equally varied. I have provided care as a home infusion nurse, a school nurse for grades K-12 in a poor rural community, advocated for injured workers as a workman’s compensation case manager, led a multi-disciplinary team of clinicians caring for people in the home health setting, provided telehealth case management for children with medical complexities and assisted their parents working to navigate our complex healthcare system. No matter the clinical setting, I strive to provide the best patient care I can recognizing that who I am caring for is not ‘my patient’ but someone’s loved one and that the current illness or injury is a disruption in their normal daily lives. By providing knowledgeable, compassionate care hopefully their anxieties can be minimized and the path to healing can be a little less rocky.
My initial focus in my role with Eden Health will be to get the Billings, MT office up and running while assisting as needed with the Bozeman office. Once this is accomplished, my focus will transition to supporting both Montana offices and continuing to grow Eden Health in Montana providing Montana residents an option for care that meets their needs for services from care giving to supported healing at home to compassionate end of life care in one integrated location.
