Top 7 Under 40 nominee Ashtyn Mott is a registered nurse with Whatcom County Health and Community Services in the Response System Division for Street Medicine. Mott provides medical care for unhoused and housed individuals with various mental and medical healthcare needs.
Career and Community Work
“I am part of the Response System Division (RSD), an umbrella for a couple of different programs. My group is a nurse practitioner, Lacey McCarley, and me,” she says. RSD includes the GRACE program, LEAD program, Mental Health Court, Alternative Response Team (ART), and Street Medicine. Mott and her team meet people — wherever they are in Whatcom County — and help fulfill their medical needs. “No matter if someone is housed or they live outside: We help them.”
Mott is a Certified Wound Care Nurse. She provides wound care to those in need and helps patients get referrals to the Wound Healing Center in Bellingham. She also accompanies patients to medical appointments or emergency room visits as an advocate. “I help them ask for their needs and make sure they understand everything being told to them. I like being able to spend that extra time with folks.”
Originally, Mott worked as a hospice nurse in another state before Washington. “Then, I worked with Whatcom Hospice for many years,” she says. “I joined the inpatient palliative care team at the hospital, and we started a pilot program, Palliative Care in the Emergency Department (ED), which I was embedded in the ED here at St. Joe’s.”
The In-patient Palliative Care team sees people admitted to the hospital, but Mott worked in the ED to identify Palliative Care patients earlier. She read a research article that suggested connecting with local EMS to identify patients that frequently call 911, that may not present to the Emergency Department. After meeting with EMS, she met Capt. Joe Frank, then one of the Community Paramedics with the GRACE Program. Mott shadowed the GRACE team every month for two years before being offered a position with Response System Division Street Medicine Team. She has been with this program since last November. “I am providing medical care and assistance to folks that need it in Whatcom County no matter where they live and give them the tools to advocate for themselves and help guide them through the healthcare system.”
For Mott, her love of other humans and helping them find better outcomes or giving individuals more accessibility to healthcare is paramount to her work. “I am a firm believer that everybody has a story,” she says. “What’s important to you, who’s important to you, and what defines a good day for you are my favorite things to ask.”
Outside of Healthcare
Before she was a superhero in the healthcare system, Mott was born in Montana, moved to Louisiana, and was raised there. “I went to college [in Louisiana], worked there for a bit and met my husband right before I was going to move,” she says. “We both moved out to this area and fell in love with the ocean and the mountains. The personalities of everyone up here is just more relaxed, a little bit slower.”
Outside of her nursing work, Mott loves to run and adores the ducks on her farm. “I love my family life, and then I love my work life, but I’ve always had to have that third life,” she says. “It’s got to be something extra. So, I started Psychiatric Mental Health Nurse Practitioner school and will graduate in 2027.”
Top 7 Under 40
When it comes to being named one of the Top 7 Under 40, Mott displays her humble nature.
“I prefer to be in the shadows and try to do good work,” she says. “It does feel good, though. These are all my friends and the people I’ve known since I moved here; they’re my family and have been with me through having a kid, bringing in life, and then losing a few people in my life. They were there for that. The Whatcom hospice and the Palliative Care team — they’re all my family. It’s really nice of them to nominate me.”
An event held at the Hotel Bellwether on Thursday, October 3rd from 5:30 to 7:30 p.m. will celebrate all seven honorees and award the Young Professional of the Year. Click here for more details and to purchase tickets. Registration closes September 27, 2024.
