It’s July 23, 2022, and I am arriving in Downtown Reno to walk in my first-ever Pride Parade. Even more amazing, I am going to be walking with a group of my coworkers, announcing to our entire community that our employer supports us being our full and truest selves.
I arrived alone, but in the staging area I met new people who worked in other departments of Renown, coworkers I might never have met if not for Pride. I even took a selfie with one of these new friends. Someone passed around flags for us to hand out to the audience as we marched by. I took a rainbow-striped temporary tattoo in the shape of the Renown “R” and used my water bottle to apply it. There was an overwhelming atmosphere of excitement and joy that can only come from gathering with other human beings who are overflowing with love.
We started the Parade waving handfuls of Pride flags high and gave those flags out to the audience as we passed. By the time we were done walking, our hands were empty, but our hearts were full. I couldn’t have stopped smiling if I’d tried. I’d joined the parade as a single person, but as we walked, I became part of a community. Not only the Renown community, but a community of Proud queer people across northern Nevada. And by extension, the LGBTQIA+ community all around the world – past, present and future.
With the multiple recent state laws proposing to strip away the rights of LGBTQIA+ people, many of us have felt a noticeable decline in our mental health and feelings of personal safety.
As a member of the queer community, I have felt these mental health effects too. I am fortunate and privileged enough to not have experienced workplace discrimination in my current position. But before Renown, I – like so many others in the LGBTQIA+ community – had a negative experience at a previous job, and afterwards I was hesitant to share my full self while at work. To be able to walk in a Pride Parade with my current employer, healed a little bit of that past pain inflicted by my former employer.
When our liberties are under attack, Pride is more important than ever. We must remind ourselves, especially when others cannot seem to remember, that we are loved and worthy of love. I am grateful to work for an organization that is willing and able to fight this good fight with us.
I will certainly be back to walk in this year’s Pride Parade, and I sincerely hope to see you there too! Be sure to wear comfortable walking shoes, sunglasses and of course keep your skin safe with sunscreen. Whether you’re part of the LGBTQIA+ community, or just an ally, you are welcome.
Come Work With Us
Renown Health strives for excellence in all we do and want you to be a part of that. We offer careers in allied health, information technology, management, nursing and professional and support services.
At Renown’s Crisis Care Center, Peer Support Specialists help patients through some of the hardest moments of their lives with compassion, practical support and a steady presence. We sat down with Valerie Butler, a Peer Support Specialist at the Crisis Care Center, to talk about what brought her to this work, what a typical shift looks like and why crisis care is such a critical resource for our community.
Going All In: Kenz’s Passion for a Career in Surgery
Kenz always knew she wanted to work at Renown and in healthcare. As a kid, she pictured herself becoming a heart surgeon. But when she turned 21 and started researching career paths, she discovered a world of possibilities in healthcare. She found several entry points into the hospital setting and applied for three jobs at once: Patient Access Representative, Unit Clerk in the emergency room (ER) and Unit Clerk in the operating room (OR).
She got all three offers.
“They told me, ‘You get to pick,’” Kenz said. She chose the OR.
That decision, made early in her career, became the start of a path that would eventually place her at the center of the surgical team, doing work that directly changes patients’ lives.
When patients are facing a serious infection, the path forward is not always simple. Treatment can require close monitoring, specialized expertise and a care team that knows how to navigate complex medical conditions with both precision and compassion. At Renown Health, the Infectious Disease department provides that level of support every day.
Our Infectious Disease team members (or “ID team” for short) help patients manage challenging diagnoses while working alongside providers across Renown to coordinate the best possible care. Their work may happen largely behind the scenes, but the impact is deeply felt by patients, families and care teams throughout our health system.
