New role strengthens behavioral health care
To support the future of behavioral health care across MultiCare, the Behavioral Health Network welcomed Ronnie Tecsi, system nurse specialist, in February 2025. This new system-level role strengthens evidence-based practice, supports outcome evaluation and advances research across the network.
A key part of this work is the launch of the Inpatient Behavioral Health Clinical Council, an interdisciplinary group created to provide systemwide direction and shared clinical vision. Co-led with Alex Ruvalcaba, MD, and supported by network leadership, the council began meeting in August 2025. It has already focused on improving care through targeted clinical bundles for suicide prevention, fall reduction and sexual safety.
Together, the system nurse specialist role and the clinical council are helping align practice, data and collaboration across the Behavioral Health Network — advancing MultiCare’s mission of partnering for healing and a healthy future.
— MultiCare Behavioral Health Network nursing team
Managing pain in mental health care
A team on a mission brought change and a stronger voice to a population often misunderstood or dismissed. The Navos Behavioral Health Hospital team exceeded its goals and demonstrated the impact of an entire team leaning into the work together.
When caring for patients experiencing pain and mental illness, addressing both conditions is essential. Taking this dual approach helps teams develop more targeted interventions and can lead to better outcomes and more effective treatment for acute psychiatric inpatients.
Pain assessment and reassessment is not only a national patient safety goal, but also a priority throughout MultiCare. Effective pain management is critical to providing high-quality care. It can decrease fall risk, lower aggression, and reduce barriers to healing for patients with physical and cognitive or mood disorders. Importantly, it aligns with nursing theorist Kristen Swanson’s Theory of Caring, particularly the concept of “doing for,” where we anticipate needs and provide comfort.
After much targeted work and adjustment, the Navos team successfully improved compliance from 40 percent to more than 90 percent — and now consistently maintains rates above 98 percent. Patient satisfaction also increased, and ongoing monitoring has helped hardwire these improvements into daily practice.
This success was made possible through strong leadership support, staff commitment and close partnership with the quality team, ultimately leading to a 2025 CEO & President’s Award nomination.
What the team hopes others will take away:
- Know and clearly communicate the “why” — again and again
- Defer to frontline expertise; teams will tell you what isn’t working
- Involve professional development experts from the beginning
- Go lean: Focus coaching and feedback at the individual level rather than broad messaging to large groups
- Celebrate success — especially small, incremental wins — because recognizing what’s going right can matter more than highlighting what’s wrong
- Never underestimate the power of teamwork and partnerships, internal and interdepartmental; leverage your networks
Written by: Kimberly Applebee, MultiCare Behavioral Health Network