Trailblazing nurse Verna Hill passes on

Verna Hill, a Hall of Fame inductee and trailblazing nurse, died peacefully in her sleep on Jan. 28, 2026, at Evergreen Court assisted living facility in Bellevue.

Hill was a pioneer throughout her career, dedicating herself to women and children during her lifetime of care and service.

When she graduated from the University of Washington School of Nursing in 1954, Hill was the first African American to graduate from both the pre-nursing and nursing programs. She paved the way for others, playing a key role in bringing more African American nurses into the field. Hill was very involved in the Mary Mahoney Professional Nurses Organization (MMPNO), where she is a named donor to the endowment that helps fund scholarships for nursing students of African heritage.

After graduating, Hill worked as a post-operative nurse, psychiatric nurse, school nurse, and public health nurse and implemented a school-age parent program in the Bellevue Public Schools.

Hill completed her master’s degree in nursing at the University of Washington in 1979. She then joined the Seattle–King County Department of Public Health, where she worked until her retirement in 1989.

Her work included serving as the Maternal Child Health Coordinator and Crippled Children’s Services Supervisor for the Department. She spent seven years as the Personal Health Services Supervisor.

Hill became interested in eliminating factors that negatively impact the health of pregnant women and children. She collected aggregate data indicating that providing high-quality healthcare to high-risk pregnant women reduced the number of babies born with low birth weight, birth defects, and infant mortality.

Her data was shared with Senator Henry Jackson and researchers at the University of Washington. To this day, Hill’s research is a factor in determining prenatal infant care.

She also worked to remove the barriers to receiving care that inhibit some people from seeking health care, particularly high-risk pregnant women. Her goal was to provide good education and support to pregnant women, especially with public health nurse involvement.

With her depth of experience in women’s and children’s care, Verna was appointed by the State of Washington to be a delegate to the Regional White House Conference on Families held in Los Angeles in 1980. She was one of just two nurses among the 27 delegates from Washington. At the Regional Conference, the Washington State delegation elected Hill to represent Washington at the National White House Conference on Families Task Force in Washington, D.C., where she was selected to summarize the recommendations on health.

Hill served on the board of the Washington State Nurses Association, the King County Nurses Association, and MMPNO.

In 1974, Hill was appointed as WSNA’s Chairperson of the Minority Affairs Committee. During her four years of service in the position, she organized two conferences, contacted the National State Board of Nursing and the Washington State Board of Nursing requesting that questions regarding caring for ethnic people of color be included on state board exams, and helped build stronger ties between WSNA and MMPNO.

In her time on the WSNA Board of Directors, Hill was successful in efforts to bring more minority nurses into leadership positions at WSNA. Along with WSNA President Louise Shores, Hill was co-recipient of the very first ANA award for having the best affirmative action program in the country.

She was inducted into the Washington State Nurses Association Hall of Fame in 2010.

The family requests donations be made to Mary Mahoney Professional Nurses Organization in lieu of flowers. MMPNO P.O. Box 22003, Seattle, WA 98122-0003 or to the Verna Hill Endowment Scholarship Fund.