LIMA, OH (WLIO) - Because of the pandemic, it has been a couple of years since they have gotten together, but for retirees from St. Rita's, it was worth the wait.
Mercy Health hosted a lunch for retired employees from the medical center. Around 230 retirees were on hand to reminisce and to learn the latest what is going on at the hospital. Some of the employees liked St. Rita's so much they returned to volunteer at the hospital after they retired. The luncheon is more like a family reunion just how close everyone got during their years working together.
"St. Rita's is a family and always was a family," stated Rita Deerhake, former director of nursing who worked at St. Rita's for 42 years. "To me it was, and I'm sure to the employees now it is. We not only looked after the patients but we looked after each other and that was important. And now I enjoy volunteering because I have yet another opportunity to see another phase of the Mercys in action."
"I have made so many good friends, confidants, working at St. Rita's. We held each other up when there was a problem and we still keep in contact and we still do that. There was a time, you pretty much knew everybody at St. Rita's and you walked down the hallway and everybody knew the other person," said Judy Lloyd, who worked at St. Rita's as a nurse for 38 years.
Mercy Health-St. Rita's plans to hold the retiree luncheon every couple of years for people to get together to catch up.
