Blog

You might want to call Doris Hansen “The Candy Lady.” That’s because she’s the Lompoc Hospital District Women’s Auxiliary volunteer responsible for making sure the candy selection is stocked full in the hospital Gift Shop.

Dr. Kali Freeman knew she’d found her professional calling while going through rotations in medical school.

She’d always loved chemistry, and initially thought she’d become a pharmacist. She opted instead for medical school at The Ohio State University College of Medicine and enjoyed all of the rotations in the various specialties.

When Norm Grimnes retired from his long-time employment with Southern Pacific Railroad, he found himself with “plenty of time” on his hands.

Angela Fichtner was always interested in nursing, but after graduating Lompoc High School in 1995, she wasn’t ready to pursue higher education.

Eufemia “Femia” Diaz still smiles with the memories of a job she had as a baker’s helper at Birkholm’s Bakery in Buellton.

“Everything tasted so good; we ate everything,” she smiles.

When Medical Assistant Erika Tamayo goes to work at LVMC:Physician Services, she always tries to have a smile on her face.

In her job as a Medical Assistant at LVMC: Physician Services, Patricia Martinez sees her patients as more than a number or diagnosis on a chart. For the past five years, she’s developed relationships with people coming to receive medical care, watching their children grow up and learning about their lives.

For several weeks this spring, the hard-working Certified Nursing Assistants at the Comprehensive Care Center were followed just about everywhere they went.

Environmental Services Director Deanna Hall has a saying that exemplifies the direction she gives her staff: “Cleanliness matters.”

Anabel Quintanar has been nationally recognized for excellence in nursing by the Veterans Health Administration. It is the highest award for nursing in the VA system and comes after a rigorous review process.

Ricky Ruiz likes to be in the middle of emergencies — and as an EKG Technician in LVMC’s Cardiopulmonary Department he gets that chance. As an EKG technician, he works in every clinical department, spending most of his time in the Emergency Department.

Watching over the merchandise in the LVMC Gift Shop, Lola Day feels right at home. For more than three decades, the personable Lompoc Hospital Auxiliary volunteer has been a presence of some sort or another at both the old hospital and LVMC.

Certified Nursing Assistant Danielle Rushing had a job in Lompoc working with the elderly, but it just didn’t seem like the right fit for her. “I wanted to work somewhere I could enjoy,” she said.

In just a few years, Mariah Hall has already had a pretty extensive job history at Lompoc Valley Medical Center. Now a Licensed Vocational Nurse at the Comprehensive Care Center, she began considering healthcare as a career when she job shadowed Cardiologist Dr. Khawar Gul, thinking she wanted to learn that specialty as a career.

Blue Coat volunteer Martin Kaper spent much of his working life in the medical field – employed for 30 years in the home medical equipment industry.