AR Gould employees welcomed into ‘VIP’ club 

by Contributed
2 weeks ago
Northern Light AR Gould Hospital employees serving for more than 20 years were honored at a special breakfast recently as Veterans-In-Partnership. Dr. Jay Reynolds (left), hospital president and VIP member, officially welcomed, from left, Sam Yu, nuclear medicine technologist; Tammie McLaughlin, former Orthopedics manager; Andrea Labier, medical assistant in Cancer Care; Myrna Long, patient care attendant at Continuing Care in Mars Hill; Kimberly Lavigne, supervisor, Occupational Therapy; and Rebecca Hare, HIM associate for Primary Care, into this distinguished group. A total of 22 employees were newly inducted as VIPs this year. (Courtesy of Northern Light AR Gould Hospital)

PRESQUE ISLE, Maine — Twenty-two employees of Northern Light AR Gould Hospital were welcomed into a “Veterans-In-Partnership” or VIP group at the hospital recently. While all employees are considered very important at the organization, this impressive group is the hospital’s most tenured, all having achieved the status of 20 years or more of service.

“It is each of you in this room that are our biggest resource. Your care, compassion, and commitment to our patients, our community, and our organization are what allow us to do what we do every single day,” said Dr. Jay Reynolds, hospital president, to all the employees gathered for the VIP breakfast as he recognized their service and welcomed new members with a small gift of appreciation. As someone who is himself a VIP with 29 years of service at AR Gould, Dr. Reynolds knows from experience the truth in these words.  

Kimberly Beil, RN, a nurse in the hospital’s Cancer Care clinic, is presented a personalized backpack by Dr. Jay Reynolds, hospital president, as a small token of appreciation as she was welcomed into the VIP club at AR Gould Hospital for having achieved 20 years of service.
(Courtesy of Northern Light AR Gould Hospital)

The number of VIPs fluctuates as employees retire and others are welcomed into the ranks. Currently, there are about 172 team members considered VIPs – that’s more than 15 percent of the non-profit healthcare organization’s workforce.  

New “veterans” welcomed into this elite club for 2023 from Presque Isle were: Ruth Hanson, Rebecca Hare, Andrea Labier, Tammy Leach, Michael Michaud, Felicia Nault, Megan Nelson, Tina Weed, and Sam Yu.

Also reaching this milestone were: Patricia Beals and Tammie McLaughlin, both of Fort Fairfield; Nichole Bechtel of Caribou; Kimberly Beil of Limestone; Douglas Charette and Toni Feltis, both of Easton; Kimberly Lavigne of Mapleton; Myrna Long of Mars Hill; Melissa Pierce of Blaine; Diane Pratt of Chapman; John Thyng of Mapleton; Kelly Tuttle of Ashland; and Suzanne York of Westfield. 

In addition to these 22 new members who have reached the 20-year milestone, the other VIPS in this group range in years of service from 21 to, amazingly, 50! 

“It was wonderful to see this group get together again,” said Reynolds. “I think we all enjoyed this time of fellowship and catching up with colleagues we may not see regularly.”

This marks the first time that the event has been able to be held since pre-COVID in 2019.