Just out of high school, Patricia Hayes-Hemmo was hired at Tucson Medical Center as a nurse’s aide.

“I always liked helping people so I thought it might be a nice fit for me,” she recalled.

She loved working the floors, taking care of patients. Then, a few years later, she transitioned to helping anesthesiologists set up for surgery for the next 23 years. She has spent the rest of her time helping in the operating room or assisting patients in the recovery room.

“You feel like you’re helping somebody,” Hayes-Hemmo said. “In the recovery room, when patients start waking up, you get to talk to them a little bit and then chit chat as we’re going out to their car. You find out a lot about people.”

And sometimes, they find out a lot about her.

Frequently, patients ask how long she’s worked for TMC. It’s one of her favorite questions.

“I’ll say 49 years and I get a kick out of it, because complete silence follows – and then I get the reaction: Just how old were you when you started?!”

Hayes-Hemmo said her bosses and her peers have kept her at TMC – and the years have whipped by.

“You don’t really think about it. You just go in and do your job. It doesn’t feel like I’ve been here 50 years,” she said, adding she puts value in things with longevity. She had a hot pink ’67 Mustang for 23 years, only getting rid of it when the repairs got to be too much, and she has kept her friends from middle school.

Hayes-Hemmo had a different perspective on her job when she was diagnosed with Stage 3 breast cancer six years ago, and her husband passed away six months later.  Eleven surgeries have taken place altogether – many at TMC, and she is grateful for the care she received.

“I had a lot of support, prayers and thoughts from everybody and always got great care. Everybody took care of me and treated me the way I like to treat our patients,” she said. “Cancer changes people. You appreciate life quite a bit more and I’m thankful for everything I’ve been through and for having what I have. I’ve been blessed.”

Asked for one special moment, she shared that one day, a woman stopped her just to thank her for her smile and to tell her it made a difference.

Otherwise, it’s too hard to pick. “Every moment has been a special moment,” she said. “Being able to come in and work and serve people, it all makes me feel good.”