Nov. 17, 2017 – West Bend, WI – Barb Shier was a registered nurse at St. Joseph’s Hospital for 38 years. She sat down during the recent 19th annual St. Joe’s reunion to recall the days of the “hometown hospital” were you “knew your coworker’s families.”
Shier remembered the days of Jim Phillip from Phillip Funeral Home driving the ambulance and during the winter when the helicopter would land.
“When the helicopters would come pick up the patients and we didn’t have a helicopter pad so the maintenance men would plow the parking lot and they would make sure it stayed clear until the chopper landed,” said Shier.
“We’d put on our coats and push the gurney through the parking lot and that was the beginning of a new trend.”
Shier said “ambulance rides when we would transfer patients was always dramatic.”
Shier retired in May 2014 and St. Joe’s posted the following article.
West Bend, Wis. – Barb Shier, RN in Cardiac Rehabilitation, has retired from St. Joseph’s Hospital after 38 years with the organization.
In Cardiac Rehab, Shier helped patients through their diagnosis, taught them heart-healthy behaviors and monitored their on-site exercise. “I enjoyed working with patients to help them accept their diagnosis and start making decisions for better health, and then they would take over,” said Shier. “They were ready.”
“Barb is a born an educator,” said Mattie Egge, cardiopulmonary rehabilitation lead. “Her love and enthusiasm for caring for cardiac patients never faded. She strongly affected how patients responded to their disease process and management. Her patients loved her and trusted her care. She always extended herself to educate patients and staff on anything new in health, science and nutrition. She exemplifies St. Joseph’s mission and nursing philosophy.”
“I was proud to work at SJH,” said Shier, who also worked in the Intensive Care Unit, Emergency Care Center and Post-Anesthesia Care Unit during her career at St. Joseph’s. “We have very good physicians and staff. It was the right career for me.”
After residing in West Bend for 25 years, Shier and her husband of 41 years, Victor, now live in Kewaskum. They have two children and seven grandchildren.
Click HERE to see more stories of memories of St. Joe’s Hospital in West Bend.