You could call Toos Wind one of the very first employees. She has been working at Catharina Ziekenhuis (hospital) for 44 years, which is celebrating its 50th anniversary this year. Quite a milestone for the 63-year-old secretary of the heart centre. “I’m not going to to watch the world from my living room window yet”.
The hospital has grown rapidly in recent years. In 1973 the hospital had 1,400 employees and room for 800 beds. Now 4,400 people work there and there are 450 beds. This shift happened because there is more focus on top clinical care, such as oncology and heart care.
Unstoppable
Toos is the first point of contact when people come to her desk, so she knows her way around many places. “Forty-four years ago it wasn’t that big, but with all the expansions I could use a tour in some departments now. Fortunately, we have good signposting and I can quickly direct everyone to the relevant department”.
Toos doesn’t want to stop yet, after all these years. “I still enjoy coming to work every day and that is mainly because of my colleagues. I may have gotten older, but my colleagues have not. Even when they go for coffee, they always ask me to join”.
Patients more assertive
Toos can live with many changes, but she does not like everything. “I have noticed that patients have become more assertive in recent years. We always do what we can, but apparently that is sometimes not enough. Many people also think they know better by looking up everything on the internet. That used to be different”.
It is a development that the secretary does not necessarily welcome, but that will not change. “It pollutes healthcare, I think. It is not good that people look up everything”.
Retiring
Fortunately, she doesn’t have much to grumble about. She may shed a few tears when she actually will reach retirement age in a couple of years. She doesn’t worry. “I have a rich social life. I play sports a lot and on Tuesdays I look after the grandchildren. And I’m not even talking about the weekends. Then of course I follow PSV”.
Source: Studio040
Translated by: Bob
