ROCKPORT — Aleta Mank, patient access representative for Pen Bay Medical Center’s Emergency Department, is retiring after 50 years of service. Her last day will be Wednesday, Feb. 21.

For Mank, healthcare has always been a family affair; her mother was a nurse and her uncle was in the Army Air Corps, and Mank and her sister both knew they wanted to become nurses.

In 1974, Mank started her career as a nursing aid at Knox County General Hospital, the Rockland teaching hospital that merged with Camden Community Hospital to form Pen Bay Medical Center in 1975. Mank took classes to become a CNA and was then selected to go to LPN school on site, all while working for the hospital. After she moved to Pen Bay, she cared for patients in many different areas, including the medical/surgical unit, the special care unit, and the former orthopedic wing. She has worked in patient access for the last 14 years.

Mank has loved learning new skills over the years, such as how to put orthopedic patients in traction, and considers earning her LPN to be one of her proudest professional accomplishments. However, helping and getting to know her patients has hands down been the best part of her career.

“When you work in the hospital for 50 years, you get to know people, and they get to know you. I’ve seen patients that I took care of as babies come back as parents, and took care of their babies,” Mank said. “Patients will come into the ED and say ‘I’m so happy to see you. I’m so glad you’re here.’ I’m a familiar face.”

In her retirement, Mank is looking forward to “reading a book and holding my cats,” going to church every week, volunteering, visiting friends and spending time with family members, many of whom live nearby. But she said leaving her job behind after 50 years is going to be bittersweet.

“It’s been another family for me at Pen Bay,” Mank said.
 

Pen Bay Medical Center is part of MaineHealth, a not-for-profit integrated health system consisting of nine local hospital systems, a comprehensive behavioral healthcare network, diagnostic services, home health agencies, and more than 1,600 employed and independent physicians working together through an Accountable Care Organization. With more than 19,000 employees, MaineHealth is the largest health system in northern New England and provides preventive care, diagnosis and treatment to 1.1 million residents in Maine and New Hampshire. For more information, please visit pbmc.org.