BROKEN BOW, NE – Staff past and present came together Thursday to celebrate Connie Sommer and her 50 years as a part of the staff at Central Nebraska Medical Clinic in Broken Bow.
Sommer and the doctor who hired her, Dr. Loren Jacobsen, sat down with KCNI/KBBN to reminisce on their years together in the beginning days the clinic.
“Doctor (Mike) Chaloupka asked me if I would be interested in the job when I was working at the hospital. And he said ‘Go talk to Jake if you are’. So I thought about it and I went and talked to him, and he was nice enough to hire me,” said Sommer.
With a total career in healthcare spanning 54 years, Sommer first worked at home in Fairbury for 1 1/2 years before going to the Callaway Hospital for a few months and Melham Medical Center in Broken Bow for 1 1/2 years. Little did she know it was the next move to Central Nebraska Medical Clinic that would make it her work home for the next 50 years.
Sommer and Jacobsen laughed together thinking back to the days of four dollar office calls, everything being done by hand without the assistance of computers or fax machines, and spending hours dictating notes.
“People used to not make appointments,” said Sommer, “we would just have a sign in book sitting on the front desk and people would just come in and sign in and we’d take them back. Nowadays, of course, that doesn’t’ fit into the plan. But that’s the way it used to be.”
Coworkers and visitors to the clinic also have Sommer to thank for all of the decorations throughout the hallways and beyond, which she takes time to set up routinely during a weekend ahead of each holiday. No doubt a time consuming undertaking in addition to her nurse work, Sommer shook her head saying its something she enjoys doing.
“But that kind of came from Donna. She didn’t put up as many, but she always brought something. She always brought some little treats and she always brought a few decorations to put up. So I just decided that, especially after she was gone, that I was going to pay that forward a little bit,” she smiled.
When asked about her patients over the years, Sommer talked about her nurse-patient relationships that spanned generations. She recalled seeing a volleyball team play and realizing she had taken care of each player’s mom when they were expecting and giving each of them shots growing up. Another mother’s connection with Sommer grew into a special bond with their family.
“I took care of her when she was pregnant, and of course the little girls, she had twin girls. When her daughter grew up and she had her first baby, she came and she wanted me to give her baby her shots because I had given her hers,” Sommer reflected.
Through her 50 years at the clinic, Sommer said the close connection with those she’s met is what she holds dear, “If you’re downtown or someplace and somebody will come up and give you a hug and say ‘Thank you for all the years you helped take care of us’, that’s the best payment.”
