Cindy Christian Celebrates 50 Years at NEMHS

It is not very often that an organization has the opportunity to commemorate an employee for fifty years of service. In August 2024, NEMHS leadership and staff proudly celebrated Cindy Christian’s golden anniversary. Over the years, Cindy has seen many changes and filled various roles for the growing organization.

Cindy started her first position as an aide for the obstetrics department at Trinity Hospital in Wolf Point in the summer of 1974.

“At that time it wasn’t called Northeast Montana Health Services. It was Trinity Hospital and that was it. It was one facility with one administrator. It was very small,” she recalled. “We had about fifty to seventy-five employees.”

Comparatively, NEMHS now employs an average of 300 people, one of the largest employers in the county. Despite its small size, in the 1970s, Trinity Hospital was able to offer many services including a lab, xray, emergency department, pediatric wing, obstetrics and surgery.

After a brief maternity leave in 1979, Cindy returned to work at NEMHS. The Director of Nursing asked her to look into starting a ward clerk program to provide the nursing staff with administrative support.

“She just let me run with it,” Cindy stated. “So, I started the ward clerk program. That was my baby.”

Cindy took on yet another role in the mid-1980s, when the surgery was in high demand. The surgeon at the time was performing surgeries nearly everyday and it became evident that additional staff was necessary. Cindy was approached about assisting in the operating room.

“When they asked me I thought, oh, there’s no way I can handle having a mask and the extra stuff on and being in that kind of situation. But, I tried it and I loved it,” Cindy explained. “So, I was a Ward Clerk and an OR Tech.”

Cindy held both positions until the number of surgeries being performed took too much time away from her Ward Clerk position. Eventually, she let go of the Wark Clerk position to focus her attention in the operating room.

In 1996, the Northeast Montana Health Services organization was established, merging Faith Lutheran Home, Trinity Hospital and Poplar Community Hospital. This union brought a great deal more administrative work for the nursing department. The Director of Nursing became responsible for both Wolf Point and Poplar Hospitals and there was a need for a new secretarial position in the department. Cindy stepped up to fill the position.

“I started learning payroll and other office duties for the nursing department. That secretarial position has morphed into what I do now,” she said.

Cindy is currently the Nursing Administration Secretary, a role that aids the Director of Nursing with duties such as payroll and staying current with state mandates and standards. Her versatility has allowed her to hold many important roles at NEMHS and she credits that to her longevity here.

“Over the years I’ve had the opportunity to help out in so many different areas. I think that’s what has kept it interesting,” she explained.