Memorial Healthcare System's longest-serving employee and first nurse leader of color is planning to retire after 53 years with the Hollywood, Fla.-based system, CBS News reported June 15.
Barbara Williams, RN, has worked at Memorial Hospital Miramar (Fla.) since 1969 and made history as the first Black person to hold a nurse leadership position in the hospital's emergency room, according to local Florida station WSVN.
"When I first went to the emergency department there were not a lot of people that looked like me, but the people there treated me very well," she told CBS News.
Over the last five decades, Ms. Williams has served in various capacities in the ER, including assistant head nurse, trauma center manager and interim director. She currently oversees emergency room quality control.
Ms. Williams will retire from Memorial Hospital Miramar early next year and said she'd like to create a foundation to help young women develop leadership skills.