Longtime certified nursing aide Vicki Goodloe said she might return to the facility as a casual call employee at some point, "but not yet," she laughed as she detailed the next phase in her life: driving the Denio mail route for eight hours a day.
The mail route will take Goodloe back to her roots. She actually was born in Denio and attended boarding school in Crane, Ore. Upon her graduation, she drove the Denio bus route for nine years, 150 miles a day.
One year, the valley floor flooded with mine water and Goodloe and her bus charges were stranded until 11 p.m. "That's when I decided to become a CNA," she quipped.
Goodloe completed six months of CNA training at Eugene, Ore., before taking a job in Lakeview, Ore., for a year. But her heart was set on Winnemucca, and after repeated attempts to find a position at Humboldt General Hospital, she was interviewed and hired by Pam Ruark and Judy Albertson 20 years ago.
HGH Chief Nursing Officer Darlene Bryan said Goodloe has been an important member of the staff at Humboldt General Hospital since that time.
Bryan presided at a retirement reception held in Goodloe's honor June 8.
Goodloe was feted with a delicious cake, punch, flowers, a retirement check, a plaque, and a money tree and congratulatory cards from her co-workers. Bryan also detailed the many things that have made Goodloe a valued member of the HGH staff.
"What we're going to miss," said Bryan, "is that Vicki will help anyone. She would come in anytime. If she had plans and she could change them, she would come in. She is so easy to work with."
Bryan said Goodloe also had a knack for knowing details. "If I ever needed to know what happened -where something went - just ask Vicki," said Bryan.
Bryan added, "Vicki has a heart of gold. Her stay at HGH hasn't always been easy for her, but we are family and friends. We will always remember Vicki as the great person she is."
Goodloe spent her first nine years at HGH working in long-term care. That was followed by a short stint in housekeeping before the CNA made her way to the med-surg department, where she spent her remaining years.
The retiree shared some memories from her two decades at the hospital, including the fact that for many years, nursing home residents did not reside in a separate long-term care facility but were included in the general patient populace.
One evening, while the hospital was under construction, a fire broke out and Goodloe attained legendary status for getting a very large nursing home resident out of the facility by herself.
Then, following the fire, there was no place for Labor and Delivery patients, so that department moved to the nursing home.
"It was always disorganized," remembered Bryan and Goodloe, "but the residents in the nursing home loved it! They loved being around the young couples and the babies."
Bryan told Goodloe she was always welcome back at the facility as a casual call worker.
Hearkening back to her comments that Goodloe always made herself available at the seemingly most inopportune times, Bryan joked, "Maybe we'll be calling you Christmas Day," to which Goodloe responded, "Go ahead and call!"
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