CARIBOU, Maine — Cary Medical Center and Pines Health Services held the annual Employee Longevity Awards ceremony on Friday, Oct. 6 at the Caribou Wellness and Recreation Center. Curtis Richards, the longest serving Cary employee, who works in information technology at Cary, was recognized for 45 years of service.
Staff from the human resources department and other volunteers decorated the gym with a music and country theme. In all, 61 Cary employees with combined service of 945 years and 23 Pines employees with combined service of 265 years were honored. Employees received certificates, pins and other acknowledgements. Doug Plourde, chairperson of the Board of Directors for Cary Medical Center, recognized each employee along with Kris Doody, RN, CEO for Cary and Pines Health Services.
Employees with 20 years or more received special recognition from their managers as the managers read from prepared remarks, reviewing the employee’s history with the hospital or Pines. Doody pointed out that employee retention is critically important and that Cary has been fortunate to retain a number of employees with many years of service.
“Recruitment is and probably always will be a major challenge for all employers,” said Doody. “Building a strong employee retention program, keeping your experienced staff on board helps to build a strong organizational culture. We are so proud of our team and our longevity ceremony lets them know how much we appreciate them.”
Richards received special recognition for his 45 years of service and his administrator Tim Conroy, chief of information technology at Cary, reviewed his time at the hospital and pointed out that he has worked in a number of areas.
“Curtis began in our hospital lab as a lab tech in 1978, then moved to surgical services as manager, and ultimately came to us in IT bringing a great deal of experience and knowledge.” Conroy also noted that Richards has been very involved in his community. “Beyond his work at Cary, Curtis has worked with a number of community programs as a volunteer, including working with youth skiing and has spent many hours grooming trails. He is highly respected among his peers here at Cary and in the community.”
In addition to the recognition gifts from the hospital Richards received a special acknowledgement from U.S. Sen. Susan Collins, R-Maine. The letter, which was read by Doody, praised him for his work at the hospital and in the community.
The longest serving employee for Pines Health Services was Lori Bishop, a certified acute care nurse practitioner. Bishop began her career at Cary and transitioned to Pines Health Services.
Doody presented Bishop with her award and spoke of her hard work and success.
“Lori has worked very hard to achieve her advanced nursing degree,” said Doody. “She really came up through the hospital, had a goal and she achieved it. She was really a critical player during the worst of the pandemic as she served in the respiratory clinic at Pines doing COVID testing.”
In addition to employee recognition, the Oct. 6 ceremony also honored volunteers for years of service. Nancy Bergin, director of volunteer services at Cary, presented gifts to volunteers completing from five to 20 years of service to the hospital.
