Kimberly D. Cooper

Kimberly Cooper has been a Registered Nurse for more than 20 years. She started her career as a Neonatal ICU nurse at a children’s hospital in central California. She moved to Washington in 2005, working in NICU and as a Charge Nurse, Pediatric/Neonatal Educator, and House Supervisor.

Cooper came to Mason Health as Infection Prevention/Employee Health Manager in 2017. She has been a member of the Association for Professionals in Infection Control and Epidemiology (APIC) and the Association of Occupational Health Professionals in Healthcare (AOHP) since 2017.

"I can truly say my job is never boring and I truly enjoy what I do. I have a passion for safety and wellness," she said.

In 2019 and 2021, Cooper's work was instrumental in Mason Health obtaining a Top Performer Award from Washington Hospital Services, for the organization’s commitment to employee health and safety.

Mason Health was one of five winners who completed the Top Performer challenge in 2021. The challenge involved completing a rigorous two-part safety assessment and audit.

The assessment and audit are meant to help identify possible gaps in employee safety and health programs and ensure that policies and procedures follow current and new state laws.

“This year’s challenge really focused on ensuring that our policies are aligned with new state laws, for example, those involving outdoor heat exposure,” Cooper said in 2021. “With the recent heat waves we have been experiencing, we need to make sure our employees have enough water, are taking their breaks and that we are able to identify which of our workers require protection. We asked ourselves, ‘Do we have the right policies and procedures in place?’”

The initial audit took place in April 19, 2021, and the deadline to complete any corrective action plans was Aug. 31, 2021. In the intervening months, Cooper worked with various departments to close any safety gaps that emerged during the audit. In addition to ensuring the District offers a program to protect employees working in extreme heat, Cooper worked to create procedures around accident reporting, ensured Mason Health could provide hearing protection, and worked with the Maintenance Department on training in place for working on live electrical panels.

In her spare time, Cooper loves spending time in the outdoors with family and passing along her passion for adventure to her 7 grandchildren.