Hospital leadership, medical, and support staff gathered this week to honor Mary F. Kleinhans, RN, BSN, for her 16 years of service to Carthage Area Hospital, its patients and the community during a retirement celebration.
Kleinhans retired today after 44 years as a registered nurse, supervisor and manager, first at the former E.J. Noble Hospital in Alexandria Bay, and at Carthage Hospital since 2001.
“We come together to honor a woman who has served our patients with compassion and professionalism,” Chief Executive Officer Rich Duvall said. “We sincerely thank you, Mary, for your dedicated service during an honorable career as a registered nurse.”
Duvall said nurses like Kleinhans embody the character of such figures as Florence Nightingale, a 19th-century English woman widely known as the “founder of modern nursing.” Nightingale was instrumental in helping to shape the nursing profession for women. Duvall presented Kleinhans with a plaque “for meritorious service” and a certificate of merit from New York State Assemblyman Ken Blankenbush, R-Black River, honoring her career.
“We will miss Mary’s tireless hand and experienced voice as a leader and mentor to so many of our younger nurses and staff,” Duvall said. “She is a passionate caretaker of those who seek help at our hospital,”
Kleinhans said she was drawn to nursing as a young woman while growing up in the St. Lawrence County community of Morristown. She graduated from SUNY Plattsburgh in 1973 as a Registered Nurse with a Bachelor of Science in Nursing.
“I always had an interest in the sciences,” she said of her career choice. “Then it gelled into nursing science while I was in college.”
While she plans to “finally tackle several house and garden projects,” Kleinhans said she will “genuinely miss the people” with whom she’s worked at Carthage Hospital.
To those considering a call to the nursing profession, Kleinhans offered some advice: “Really look at all the different aspects of nursing that are available today. There are so many more opportunities for young people than when I started.”
Kleinhans is married to Eugene “Gene” Kleinhans. The couple lives in Redwood.
About Carthage Area Hospital
Carthage Area Hospital was established as a not-for-profit rural community hospital in 1965. It operates today as a fully accredited 25-bed Critical Access Hospital, serving approximately 83,000 residents in Jefferson, northern Lewis and southern St. Lawrence counties.
The hospital also operates a network of community-based clinics, including its Family Health Center, Pediatric Clinic and Women’s Way to Wellness and provides a range of specialty care, including general surgery, orthopedics, urology, physical therapy and behavioral health.