Luella Hewitt has been with Caribou Rehab for the last 42 years
CARIBOU, Maine — Luella Hewitt has been working in the Caribou Rehab and Nursing Center kitchen since it first opened in 1973. After 42 years of dedicated service, Hewitt retired Oct. 1, 2015.
“Luella was hired a week before this place opened,” said Phil Cyr, administrator of the Caribou Rehab and Nursing Center. “She’s employee number two.”
The first employee, Sister Rita Dubois, served as dietary supervisor.
“Sister Rita was a nun who was in charge of the kitchen,” said Phil Cyr, “and she hired Luella to work in the kitchen. Forty-two years later, Luella is still here. She will be 87 in November.”
“The older you get, the more you appreciate people who are still working at that age,” said Albert Cyr, owner and chairman of Caribou Rehab and Nursing.
“There have been quite a few changes,” said Hewitt regarding her time at the nursing center.
“It was simpler back then,” said Phil Cyr, “because the average resident is basically a lot sicker than before. We used to take care of a lot of healthier people. You had people that would square dance, and today there is nobody in the building can square dance.”
“We added staff,” said Albert Cyr. “We added social workers, and the state came through with more regulations and tougher rules.”
“In 1994, the state of Maine redefined who they would pay for in a nursing home,” said Phil Cyr. “The healthier half had to move out to boarding homes or go back to home care. We had 110 beds back then, and today we have 61. That is because they are not going to pay for anyone in a nursing home unless they are very ill.”
“There are more offices now, too,” added Hewitt.
“The closed bedrooms were converted to offices to hire more people to do more paperwork for the government,” said Phil Cyr.
Phil Cyr thanked Hewitt for “42 years of very good service” as she finished her final day in the Caribou Rehab and Nursing Center kitchen.
“Thank you for keeping me,” said Hewitt.
