Kim Ransier, director of operations for the nonprofit Hospice of North Idaho - the first inpatient hospice facility in Idaho - is a woman who lives life with both a passion and a mission.

Have you always wanted to be a nurse?

When I was younger, I really wanted to be a women's basketball coach and PE teacher. Back then I played basketball and ran track - I was kind of a high school jock. But that was only until I found out how little teachers made back in the early 1970s. I wasn't sure how long I could live on that.

I think I eventually chose nursing because nurses seemed to have exciting lives and there was always a need for nurses.

When I finally got into it, I realized that I had a head for business and liked numbers and that I enjoyed solving problems.

Given these two talents - nursing and numbers - what did you do after college?

After I graduated in 1980, I helped develop the cancer program at Providence Hospital in Alaska and that's how I eventually got to Coeur d'Alene. I was hired by Joe Morris here to start a cancer program at Kootenai Medical Center in the early 1980s.

Why was there a need for a cancer center here?

Back then, people either went to Spokane or even Seattle for cancer treatment.

Patients really needed to get treatment here in their own backyard because it's really where people do the best - their support systems are here. It's where their community is and where their home is.

Have you been mentored much along the professional path?

Oh yes. I've had wonderful mentors here and other places - strong women like Ellen Walden, Louise Shadduck and Nancy Flagan all helped and supported me. And then there was Sister Peter Claver.

Joe Morris, Don Soltman and Steve Meyer were also terrific as well.

For many of us, even the word "oncology" is scary. What attracted you to that specialty in the first place?

What I liked about oncology was really the science of cancer. I think another part of it is the patients' stories that they share with you. You're with them during a very vulnerable part of their life and they count on you a lot.

I got way more from my patients than I ever gave them.

When you were setting up these cancer programs, was your work solely administrative or was it clinical as well?

The whole time I worked, I worked on the medical oncology floor where the cancer patients were. I had two nurse/mentors there who helped guide me in that direction.

I've administered chemo and taught a lot of other nurses how to administer chemo as well.

Starting in the late 1990s, you served on the Board of Hospice of North Idaho before becoming chairperson. What was Hospice like back then?

It was a much smaller organization, but it was always very, very patient-family oriented. We had lots of volunteers and basically we were going into homes.

During that time, I was traveling a lot and had seen hospice houses in other areas. I felt we needed our own hospice house and between 2003 and 2004, we started talking about Hospice House.

Originally we thought we'd have six or maybe eight beds. Eventually we came up with the 14 beds we have today.

What is the art of being a hospice nurse?

We are so lucky here that we have the best nurses and the reason for that is they are 100 percent for what the patient's needs and wants are. There's not a lot of nursing where you get to do that anymore. We're the last stronghold of true nursing and true care of the patient.

Tell me a good hospice story.

We have patients here and all they want is to go see the lake one more time - they want to see a sunset on the lake. They're totally bedridden, so how are we going to make this happen? Well, let me tell you, our nurses and our social workers, they've made it happen.

What would you say Hospice's goals are?

I think one of our goals is a peaceful death and this means different things to different people. Being comfortable and free of pain is important and most people would like to be surrounded by their loved ones, but not everyone wants that. Our goal is to know what the patient's wishes are and to make that happen.

Most of our patients are at home. Before we had Hospice House, patients with out-of-control symptoms and pain would have to go to the hospital. Now we can take care of them here, which is much more like their home.

We also offer respite care. When the patient is in hospice care and there is a caretaker at home who needs a break, we can have the patient come to Hospice House and we can take care of them for five days at a time.

What do you do as director of operations?

Basically, I solve problems. I also work with the Hospice Board of Directors to set the vision of our future.

I think I'm a good leader when there are problems. I guess I kind of have the Star Trek management style. I'm Captain Kirk and I have the very best people around me that can fly the Enterprise if I'm on a different planet, but we're all together here fighting Klingons. If you hire the very best people like we have, you'll have the best outcomes.

What are a few of the community services Hospice provides?

We offer a series of specialized support groups: peer support, women's support, men's luncheon support group and children's support groups. We're getting ready to start a general grief group and, of course, we have Camp Kaniksu in the summer for grieving children and teens.

What about your upcoming fundraiser?

We'll be holding our 29th annual wine taste and auction on Feb. 1. The majority of all money raised goes directly to cover patient costs. It will provide funding for the care of patients who don't have insurance and toward all our other programs that are not funded.

Fundraiser Information: www.hospicewinetaste.org