An uncommon thinker with a career path to match, Dr. Mila Sprouse embraces technology as a key to more human-centric patient care. A nursing executive at Virginia Mason Franciscan Health with multiple certifications and degrees, she grew up impoverished in the Philippines and started selling tomatoes at just 7 years old. She applied to nursing school to pave a new path, and her admission interview revealed the passion that fuels her today: why go into nursing? “To serve humanity.” Ranked 2 out of 800 applicants, Mila was awarded a full-ride academic scholarship to nursing school.
Today, Mila is the Chief Nursing Officer at Virginia Mason Medical Center, and her decades-long career path has been both progressive and non-linear. She built her early career in hospitals serving as a staff nurse, an educator, and ultimately as critical care director. Leaving direct care to join a high-tech medical device company, she spent 15 years working with hospitals, deepening her business acumen and her appreciation of technology and innovation. Driven by her desire to be close to patients, she ultimately returned to the hospital world, and joining the VMFH system. Mila’s husband says, “You’ll never retire.”
“Technology is going to touch everyone, so why not embrace it?”
On the topic of her own career, Mila describes herself as a life-long learner, crediting “amazing mentors” who coached, challenged, and believed in her. Speaking more broadly on the health care profession, the throughline of technology is ever-present. “Technology is going to touch everyone, so why not embrace it?” Perhaps counter-intuitively, she describes how technology brings providers closer to patients, and can enhance the self-care of providers themselves.
VMFH leverages a “Star Wars-type” room for remote patient monitoring, with cameras and microphones alerting the care staff of changes down to a patient’s pupils. From real-time care to extrapolating data across the system, their “Mission Control” center is used to improve patient outcomes, analyze results, and drive equity in healthcare. VMFH also launched virtual nursing. Pioneered in ICUs, virtual nursing was a necessity at the height of the pandemic, and now is being rolled out systemwide. On a personal level, Mila describes how technology can contribute to the longevity of careers in healthcare: “At this point in my career, can I work with patients for 12 hours? No! Virtual nursing preserves knowledge, enabling nurses to contribute to the nursing profession and provide the human touch when they can no longer be at the bedside.”
Also, with advances in technology, Mila describes that procedures that used to take a full hour of a nurse’s time can be reduced to five minutes, from scanning medications to automatically adjusting a heart pump. These innovations can return 55 minutes an hour to direct patient care. Advancements including digital surgical updates provide peace of mind to anxious families in hospital waiting rooms, and a ground-breaking, less-invasive procedure saved the life of Mila’s daughter when she was pregnant with her grandson. Milo, named after his grandmother, is now almost two years old and thriving.
“Without technology, we would not be able to take care of highly complex patients.”
Mila notes that some are hesitant to embrace technology in the health care setting but urges peers not to discount it. Her hot take on AI and healthcare? Technology won’t replace providers, but rather, augment decision-making. Humans will always be the guardrail confirming what is truly happening to the patient and will remain the final authority.
Such innovation in healthcare has a 50-year history in the Greater Seattle area, home to such innovations as the heart defibrillator, the historic collaboration between the University of Washington and the City of Seattle’s Fire Department that launched the life-saving Medic One, the Nobel-prize winning bone marrow transplant in 1975, and Virginia Mason Franciscan Health’s Mission Control system. Dr. Mila Sprouse is an uncommon thinker, and in uncommonly great company.
Nationwide, nursing is the largest healthcare profession, with nearly 4.7 million registered nurses (RNs) (source). The federal government projects more than 203,000 new registered nurse positions will be created each year from 2021-2031 in the U.S (source). In the greater Seattle region, the industry grew 18% from 2018-2023 and is projected to grow another 8% from 2023-2028 (Lightcast). Over $2.5 million in funding is being used to establish opportunities and non-traditional career pathways to those furthest from educational and training opportunities (source).
Advancements in technology and innovation are transforming health care in the Greater Seattle area, making it more patient-centered. These developments are enhancing the way care is delivered, ensuring it is more personalized and accessible. Uncommon Thinkers like Mila Sprouse and others at Virginia Mason Franciscan Health are embracing these changes and leading the way to the future of health care, and transforming their own lives along the way.
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Rebecca Lovell, Chief Operating Officer of Greater Seattle Partners. Rebecca Lovell is the COO of Greater Seattle Partners, bringing over 20 years of executive and operational experience across both public and private sectors. In her role, Rebecca leads stakeholder engagement, marketing, research and talent initiatives, all aimed at bringing to the region great jobs and equitably shared prosperity. She is endlessly devoted to entrepreneurship and karaoke. |
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Victoria DePalma, Research Manager of Greater Seattle Partners. Victoria DePalma, PhD, is an interdisciplinary researcher specializing in environmental science, behavioral economics, and social ecology. With a decade of experience in research and teaching, she excels in persuasive presentations, rigorous surveys, and stakeholder engagement. She has published in multiple peer-reviewed social science journals. Victoria is passionate about sustainable development, collaboration, and finding the perfect cup of coffee. |