Hillcrest Hospital Employee Retires After 45 Years

employees had a party to celebrate the retirement of Carol Barnett, a health care coordinator in the intensive care unit who ended 45 years of service with her final day on Thursday.

"I just like to help people and talking to people," Barnett said.

A resident of Cleveland, she started her career as an aide at nearby Huron Hospital, where she worked for 30 years.

"It was a lot smaller," she said. "Back then, we didn't have all the medical equipment that there is now. There also wasn't a lot of help. There weren't as many nurses, aides and secretaries."

She said the smaller staff there, particularly in the early days, made it a friendly place to work.

"Everybody was like a family," she said. "You lose a bit in a larger hospital."

As health care coordinator, her job was to support nurses and other staff members.

"I'm a flunky I do whatever they ask me to. Take blood to the lab, if they're busy and a patient asks for water … I do a little bit of everything," Barnett said.

Working in the ICU can be difficult, because staff can become emotionally attached to patients, who have serious medical problems and may not have long to live.

"I talk to them all. You become friends with some of them," she said. "I've had some who made it out and we'll still be friends."

Barnett said she hadn't planned on working at the hospital her entire career, but one year led to another. She said she doesn't have any specific plans for her retirement.

"I don't know what I'm going to do with myself," she said.