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Amanda Kotler has been with Asante for nearly 14 years, first as a bedside nurse, then assuming progressive leadership roles at ARRMC. She was named vice president of Nursing at ARRMC in 2016 and this year expanded her role to oversee nursing at AACH.
What made you want to move from bedside care to management? I never thought I would leave the bedside or find something I loved more than cardiac care. Leadership gave me the ability to promote positive change beyond my patient assignment. I found that to be inspiring and I felt like I could make an impact.
How do you see your new role as the leader of nursing at both hospitals? To create a culture that promotes empowerment and ownership of excellent outcomes driven by positive intent, transparency and collaboration.
What changes can nursing staff expect? Initially, I will ask for feedback to shape and guide our work together as team. We have started with our leadership structure and will continue to look for opportunities for optimization.
What opportunities are in store for AACH nursing staff? Using our collective talent to promote collaboration and development of our teams.
Will you hold office hours on both campuses? Yes.
What is your leadership style? Visionary, coaching, participative.
How do you prefer to communicate? I love for people to reach out via text and email, but I always make myself available in other ways!
What makes for a good team member? I love to work with people who are courageous, straightforward and honest.
As a child, what did you see yourself doing when you grew up? I wanted to be a marine biologist. I absolutely love science and the ocean.
What would surprise people about you? In high school, I “marked timber” for the Forest Service. I loved wearing Carhartts and being outdoors. When I’m stressed in meetings I often go back to the forest 😊
Who is your role model and why? I have so many. Sheryl Sandberg, COO at Facebook, inspires me because she conveys such strength but also vulnerability. I was so moved by a commencement speech she gave in 2016 where she said, “We build resilience into ourselves. We build resilience into the people we love. And we build it together, as a community. That’s called ‘collective resilience,’ and it’s an incredibly powerful force — and it’s one that our country and world need a lot more of right now. It’s in our relationships with each other that we find our will to live, our capacity to love and the power to make lasting change in the world.”
Favorite movie: “Pulp Fiction”
Favorite book: “Eat, Pray, Love,” by Elizabeth Gilbert. It was an extremely influential book for me to search for my own best self.
Favorite music: Indie, folk, bluegrass
Favorite hobby: Travel, being outside, spending time with my family
Favorite animal: Dogs
What’s the wisest thing anyone has ever told you? Most recently Dana Bjarnason, the chief nursing officer at OHSU, told me to know the problem I am trying to solve as a leader. It’s so easy to jump to solutions that ultimately fail because we skip this key component.
AMANDA KOTLER, RN
Education
- MBA: The George Washington University
- BS: Montana State University-Bozeman
Past roles
- Director of Inpatient Nursing Services, ARRMC
- Clinical manager, clinical coordinator, the Heart Center
- Staff nurse, cardiac telemetry, the Heart Center
Family
- Husband, three stepchildren (two sons, one daughter), one son
Home
- Medford
Community involvement
Former board member, Rogue Community College
If you have a question, please contact the author or relevant department directly.
1 Comment. Leave new
Dear Amanda, I was browsing the Asante website hoping to locate the DON at Three Rivers Hospital. But I found you. I am a retired RN, with 40 years of hospital nursing. I had a some “stay at home years” raising babies or it would be 43. I also loved bedside nursing, but as happens to competent nurses, I rose the ranks into management. That included OB Assistant Manager, OB Manager, then Night Nursing Supervisor (my most favored manager role). Before OR Techs came along, I had OR experience scrubbing and circulating, OB, L&D focus, Psych, and was a certified Enucleator with the Lions Eye Bank. I completed the CCU Core Curriculum to better serve my total hospital staff. This all took place at Bellin Memorial Hospital in Green Bay, WI. Fascinated with the advent of LaMaze breathing in labor processes, I became a Certified Rebirthing Breath-Worker for emotional processing self-help, taking clients in my “spare time” I retired in 2003 and am now 80 years old and still highly functional. In addition to my own 3 children, I raised orphaned 4 nieces. I am also a poet, and participate in Grants Pass with a group who, until Covid-19, met at the GP Museum. I love life and people. OK… I’ve told you all this for a reason. Locally, there is “talk” coming from ancillary staff at the hospital, that not all Covid-19 deaths are being reported accurately. A “he said, she said” chain of what I can imagine non-medical people piecing together. I don’t like the fear this raises in the people I meet. I don’t like the mistrust it creates for healthcare providers. I have no professional contacts here to gather information in person. And there you have the reason I was cruising around on the Asante website. I am Barbara Gayle Dailey. Ga*********@ma*.com. 1343 SW Jordan St. Grants Pass OR 97526. Cell phone: 541-218-8581 calls & text. I will speak with you, but will not reveal ID of the ancillary staff connections. Thank You… God Bless You and WAY TO GO!