Mention the name Cecelia Richmond at Lopez Island Medical Clinic, and her co-workers will use such adjectives as “energetic,” “upbeat,” and “caring.”

Richmond, who is a nurse, was recently honored for her commitment to providing excellent health care as Island Hospital’s Employee of the Month. Richmond’s co-workers and executives from Island Hospital, which owns Lopez Clinic, celebrated on Sept. 30.

“She is the person that gives patients and her co-workers unending support. She is interested in giving the best health care that can be given and in patient education, and no matter how busy we are, her level of care never wavers. Cecelia has a heart of gold, she is always upbeat, and she is a great role model for all of her co-workers,” said Jill Blair, RN and clinic manager.

Richmond and her husband Roy moved to Lopez in 1988. She has been at Lopez Clinic for 12 years, spending three of those years with Dr. Dengler, when the clinic was privately owned.

“There is a lot of variety, and you learn something new every day. It’s a great staff to work with, and I think we give really good care. And we’re friends too,” commented Richmond.

“The fun thing about nursing is that if you feel like you want a change there is lots of room to grow. I’ve done work in surgery, I was in oncology nursing for three and a half years, and did home care part-time and full-time for 11 years. I really loved being in a patient’s home because you can see what they have to deal with and you can really help them.”

Richmond graduated with a degree in nursing from the University of Oregon. “I’ve wanted to be a nurse since I was nine years old. That was always my plan. After my freshman year, after all of my nursing pre-reqs were done, I thought, ‘Well maybe I decided my career too soon.’ So I took a bunch of other classes like philosophy and paleontology. I loved all of them, but I still wanted to be a nurse!”