Patty Capps has a 35-year history with Riverside. “I trained at Riverside for my LPN, and when I graduated in 1986, I took a job on the medical surgical floor,” she says. “I looked up to all the RNs, and that made me want to go further in my nursing career.” And further she went, achieving her own RN in 1992. “Riverside supported me and helped me get there,” she says.
Riverside through the years
As Riverside has grown, her confidence has grown with it, she adds. When she started, things were difficult, she says, because it was at the beginning of the AIDS crisis. Years later with COVID, she felt more prepared. “Over time, you learn about precautions and PPE—how to be safe from pathogens. While it was scary, we screened people and social-distanced, which helped ease our concerns because we were always protected.”
One of the biggest changes she’s seen is the shift to electronic medical records (EMR). “When I first started out as a nurse and for many years to follow, all the charting and record-keeping was on paper. There weren’t cell phones and doctor carried pagers instead,” she notes.
Patty has worked with physiatrist Robert Winfield, MD for the last 13 years. Dr. Winfield, located in the Medical Office Building, specializes in pain management through physical medicine and rehab. “We’ve worked together so closely and for so long, we kind of read each other’s minds,” she jokes.
As Riverside has gotten bigger, it’s evolved, Patty says, but some things haven’t changed. “It still has that family feel. You see the same people day-to-day, including management and the CEO, and you know them personally. You feel as though you’re part of something.”
Keeping it in the family
Patty’s two children, Trevor and Madison, now both work at Riverside too.
Trevor had originally said he wanted to be a doctor. He went on to get two associates degrees, then decided he would follow in his mom’s footsteps and become a nurse. “As a male, I never imagined he’d end up choosing nursing, but that’s exactly what he did!” says Patty. He’s been on 3EAST for three years off and on, and just completed his BS in nursing. He’s expressed an interest in working in the ER in the future.
Trevor’s younger sister Madison also took a bit of time making up her mind to enter the nursing profession. She’d always said she was interested in pharmacy. However, to Patty’s surprise and delight, one day Madison took her TEAS test and passed it. She completed her LPN and passed her NCLEX this past November and is now attending school where she will acquire her RN at the beginning of next year. While enrolled, Madison works labor pool at Patriots Colony in Williamsburg.
It's a matter of pride
Patty occasionally gets to see Trevor at work, although Madison is too far away for them to bump into each other. Regardless, she’s filled with pride that both her children have also chosen to work for Riverside. It’s about family, she says—by which she means more than just working with her kids. “A lot of the staff and even the patients feel like family too,” she explains.
When asked why she’s stuck with Riverside all these years, Patty says, “Riverside has been supportive of us employees as it’s grown. It’s definitely the healthcare center of choice for the area and I’m proud to work for them. Riverside is home!”
