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Gladys Bakken, director of RiverView Health's Home Care, and several family members will soon lace up their tennis shoes to run a half marathon in Arizona's Antelope Canyon to celebrate her retirement.

After 21 years with RiverView, Gladys will wrap up her career on Jan. 3.

In June of 2003, Gladys joined what was then Home Care and Hospice as an RN case manager. She moved into the coordinator position in February 2006 and accepted the director position in October 2017.

The highlights of her career are many, including reaching a 5-Star Quality Rating in the Patient Survey category with the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) for patient care and then having the opportunity to present on the topic to peers from throughout the state. Home Care also achieved a 4.5-Star Quality Rating from CMS for Patient Outcomes. Neither score had ever been reached by the agency before those ratings.

Even in the dark days of COVID-19, Gladys said her team never lost its commitment to their clients. "When other agencies were shutting down, reducing services, and so forth, our team used every available option to safely continue seeing clients.

"We calmly strategized to keep staff protected, supported each other, and carried on. I'm so proud of the team for this because I know they were all dealing with their own home life issues like schools shutting down, home-schooling, daycare issues, and more."

Of course, no career is without its challenges. According to Gladys, challenges over the years mainly consisted of ongoing updates of regulations. "I realize the intent has always been on behalf of patients, so that's a positive thing. But, the reality of trying to provide service according to regulations has certainly been the challenge."

Fortunately, Gladys never shied away from a challenge. "Ironically, I'll miss the challenges. I thrive on challenges even if they're stressful because they can give such a sense of accomplishment."

Looking back on fun changes over her career, Gladys recalls her early years as an LPN wearing white dresses or "pantsuits," white shoes, and a nurse's cap – with each nursing school having its own style of cap.

First up on Gladys' list of retirement plans is some deep cleaning and more time to devote to crafts, sewing, and quilting on a new sewing machine purchased as a retirement gift to herself. Once the weather allows, she'll head outdoors to work with plants, hike, run, and anything else she can find to keep her outside.

While she looks forward to more time for hobbies and the family trip to Arizona in March for the marathon, she knows she'll miss her RiverView days.

"First and foremost, I'll miss the people. I've been so blessed to spend my days with a great Home Care team! RiverView, as an organization, really has wonderful individuals on its team, too. People are friendly, supportive, and truly care about their work and the patients we serve.

"I'm so grateful for the opportunities I've had at RiverView. I've grown as an individual and as a leader. I know the Home Care team will thrive because it's a solid team with gifted individuals, and their new leader, Paige Tice, will be awesome."

A retirement celebration will be held in Gladys’ honor on Thursday, Jan. 2 from 2-3:30 pm in the RiverView Health Conference Rooms.