Chico health care leader honored
Monica Soderstrom is one of 120 women acknowledged by California Legislature
CHICO >> Monica Soderstrom is a registered nurse who leads the county’s community health division and serves on Enloe Medical Center’s board of trustees, and her hard work and dedication have earned her another title — Woman of the Year.
Assemblyman James Gallagher (R-Yuba City) presented Soderstrom with the California Legislature Woman of the Year award on Thursday at the Butte County Public Health office in Chico.
Soderstrom was joined by roughly 40 friends and colleagues as Gallagher, Enloe Medical Center CEO Mike Wiltermood and Director of Butte County Public Health Dannette York all made speeches in support of Soderstrom’s award.
In addition to Soderstrom’s duties as the Butte County Public Health Community Health Division director, Soderstrom also serves as a member of the Enloe Medical Center’s board of trustees.
Soderstrom found out she had received the award in a phone call while on the road to take her mother into surgery. She called it fitting that she found out in front of her mother on the way to the hospital.
Soderstrom, who was born in Chico, graduated from Chico State and raised her kids in Chico, received her first job at Enloe Medical Center and has spent her 36 year career between Enloe Medical Center and Butte County Public Health. She has since transitioned back and forth to both, making three stops at each. Soderstrom has been with Butte County Public Health for the last six years during her most recent stay. She said that Chico is her hometown, her community and her roots and that it has helped her motivation throughout her career.
Soderstrom called the award humbling and said it was very special to have public health recognized this year. She pointed out that Butte County currently ranks sixth in the COVID-19 vaccine roll out, which she attributed to the hard work of her colleagues.
“Its very special getting recognition where usually we do our work not in the limelight or in the background,” Soderstrom said. “And so to have this work recognized is just really special today and I feel like its not just for me its for all of the people that work with me.”
Gallagher thanked Soderstrom for her work on the front lines of contact tracing during COVID-19, as well as recovery efforts during the Camp Fire and Oroville spillway incident, echoed by all speakers.
When looking for a candidate for the award, Gallagher’s office contacted Wiltermood, who reached out to the former medical director for Butte County Public Health, Andy Miller. Wiltermood told Miller he wanted someone who represented the united effort that was made locally for the COVID-19 pandemic. Wiltermood said that first thing you think about when you think of anybody getting an award right now is the front line health care workers, of whom he said there are hundreds who could be nominated.
“She’s an RN; she cares about her community; her job is tremendous in scope; and it’s not just how she dealt with the pandemic, it is everything else,” Wiltermood said. “The thing about the work that Monica does is that it is constant and it is continually evolving. The work that she does, it is so important to bring people together and coordinate the efforts that everybody makes.”
Both Miller as well as York gave full support for Soderstrom’s nomination, as York described Soderstrom as “stoic, steadfast and an all around superstar.” When York got a call from Wiltermood asking her opinion on Soderstrom she “jumped all over it.”
“Absolutely, she’s amazing. We couldn’t do what we do without her,” York said.
Wiltermood pointed to Soderstrom’s strengths when saying she has a great way of building teams and building relationships which help those in public health and Enloe Medical Center to work collaboratively.
“She’s just tireless. It seems like she always has energy, and we know that she’s not tireless,” York said. “We know that she has to get tired but it doesn’t matter. If someone calls with an issue and we need her expertise, you would never know she’s tired. She is on it, she’s responsive, she takes her time to listen and respond appropriately.”