Happy Retirement to 45-year Employee Lorraine Jones

If ever the phrase “going full circle” was appropriate for someone, it’s Lorraine Jones, MSN. 

Lorraine began her professional life as a Certified Nursing Assistant at the Comprehensive Care Center when she was 18 years old. Now, almost 46 years later, Lorraine is retiring as the Administrator of the CCC, after holding key clinical and leadership positions throughout her career. 

She has worked the entirety of her career for the Lompoc Healthcare District. 

“I’ve always watched other people retire,” she says. “I want to retire while I still have my health and still enjoy life.” 

Lorraine and her career were celebrated Thursday afternoon in a party at the CCC, where she has been administrator for six years. The CCC Activities Room was decked out with photos spanning Lorraine’s four-decade career at LVMC and the CCC. Family, coworkers, past colleagues and friends attended, listened to speeches, shared jokes, stories and tears and celebrated Lorraine’s phenomenal career. 

During her tenure with the district, Lorraine has worked as a nursing assistant at the CCC, a physical therapy receptionist, a pathology transcriptionist, a nursing administrative secretary, a medical-surgical registered nurse, an Emergency Department RN, a house supervisor, an ED Charge Nurse, an ED Nurse Manager, Director of the ED, Director of the ED and Critical Care Unit and as Administrator of the CCC.  

“Lorraine is one of those rare people who can do anything,” said LVMC Chief Executive Officer Yvette Cope. “Whether it’s her clinical knowledge or her ability in running a huge facility – she truly is a powerhouse. And beyond all these skills, she’s got a heart of gold.” 

Cope lauded Lorraine for her ability to make tough decisions, see all sides of a situation and find creative solutions. 

She added to Lorraine, “You will always be part of the LVMC family.”  

When Lorraine first began her career, she worked alongside her mother, Lillian Taylor, who spent more than 20 years as a CNA with the district. 

“I really wanted to be a nurse,” Lorraine recalled in an interview. “I see the joy in what nurses bring to the profession. That was always my ultimate goal.” 

She wasn’t sure she’d ever be able to become a registered nurse. But when Santa Barbara City College and Allan Hancock College opened nursing programs, she started “hammering away.” It took her nine years to finish her prerequisites, taking one evening class every semester while working and raising a family. 

She kept a list on the side of her refrigerator of all the classes she needed. She’d tick them off as she finished, always looking at it as if it were a mountain to climb. Within six months of finishing those requirements, she was in a nursing program. 

“I remember taking it down and thinking, ‘This has been a long journey.’ I never regretted being a nurse, never. It was hard work, but I never regretted it.” 

During the celebration, CCC Director of Nursing Kirsten Chipps said the event was to honor an “exceptional leader, mentor and boss.” 

“Forty-five years is more than a career. It is a legacy. And what a legacy you are leaving,” Chipps said. “You have been a steady hand, a visionary and a heart; not only to the CCC but to LVMC as a whole. Through challenges and success, through changes big and small, you have been a pillar of strength and wisdom. Your legacy is not just in the work you have done or the goals you’ve helped us achieve. It’s in the culture you have built, the relationships you’ve nurtured and the inspiration you’ve given each one of us to be better professionally and personally. Your impact is not just in the work you have done, but the lives you have touched.” 

LVMC Board of Trustee President Leslie Kelly, RN, spoke about Lorraine’s rise from a CNA at the CCC to its leader. Her promotions were well-deserved and hard-earned, Kelly said.  

“I call what you do at the CCC ‘sacred work,’ because you could be the last smile, the last kindness, the last touch that someone is given,” Kelly said. “I am constantly amazed when I come over here at the level of care and dedication and love that you all pour into your residents. Lorraine’s leadership has helped bring that about.” 

The Lompoc Iris Society, she said, tends an iris garden at the CCC and has chosen to name one of the bulbs “Lovely Lorraine” in her honor. 

Former LVMC CEO’s Jim Raggio and Steve Popkin spoke about Lorraine’s life in leadership and her legacy as well as her sense of humor, while retired RN Bill Kelly told about the adventures of working with Lorraine in the Emergency Department.  

During an interview earlier this week, Lorraine said that throughout her career, as to be expected, there were good times and bad times. What sticks with her, she said, “was honestly the hard times that turned good. It was changes that occurred.” 

The 1990s, she said, were difficult in particular for staffing, morale and finances. 

“It took a while to get the momentum back,” she said. “Once we started that uptick, I’ve not ever felt we’ve backslid. It’s been an upward trajectory. I would have to say the biggest thing I’ve taken away – when you stick with a company and you’ve seen some hard times, staffing, finances, but you come out of it and you get stronger and stronger and you see the administrative staff give recognition to the employees, give a good living wage to people, it makes all the difference.” 

She said as an Administrator, she felt being an advocate for her employees was critical. 

“It was never about what can I do to promote myself, it was about where can we take this organization and make it better,” she said. “I’ve always lectured people on ‘We’re not here for ourselves; we’re here for our community.’” 

She and her 190 employees, she said, were a team. 

“We move as a troop,” she said. “It’s not one person who has made a difference – it’s the group that’s made the difference.”  

As her family – including her husband, two children, grandchildren, sister and others watched, Lorraine said her life has been blessed. 

“We have been so blessed to have had the experiences and the life we have had. I have been especially blessed to have had a wonderful family – a wonderful CCC family, LVMC family and to have known and loved so many people that I have shared my work experience with. I appreciate you all. I’m going to miss you all.”  

Congratulations, Lorraine!