While at Berea College, a pre-med major, Darcy Maupin was inspired after watching the care and compassion nurses at the VA hospital showed her father when he was ill. She changed her major to nursing and began working as a student employee at Saint Joseph Berea in 1986.
More than three decades later, Darcy is a nurse manager in the emergency department, as well as the chest pain coordinator and emergency preparedness leader for the hospital.
“I knew in high school that I wanted to go into health care, but my call to serve came when I was taking care of my dad,” Darcy said. “My father was sick with cancer, and he was the primary parent raising three girls at the time. He died three months after the diagnosis. When he was at the VA hospital, the nurses were so nice to him and treated him with so much care and compassion, it made me want to be [a nurse].”
With more than twenty years at the bedside and 12 years in management, Darcy said her goal is to make sure those she supports have the knowledge and resources they need to help patients.
“I try to foster [my employees’] growth, and we have people who are really caring and compassionate, driven to take care of patients,” Darcy said.
“If we have a call in, I go out on the floor to cover. Employees don’t do anything I wouldn’t do myself. If I’m there and I can help, I’m going to help, no matter what the task is.”
Darcy was recently recognized as Saint Joseph Berea’s leader of the year, and said the honor is humbling, but the recognition she receives from former patients she encounters in the community is the most fulfilling part of the work.
“My favorite moments are when you see someone weeks or months later and they remember you and how you took care of them,” Darcy said. “Sometimes you see someone at the store and they say ‘Oh I remember you. You took care of my son; you were so good with him.’ Those mean a lot to me.”
Outside of her busy work life at the hospital, Darcy enjoys time with her family, including her two new grandchildren, who are 14 and 12 months old.
“My son and daughter both got married within a year of each other and then both had a child within a year of each other, so it’s been a lot of fun,” Darcy said.
Darcy and her husband also enjoy thrifting and car shows; Darcy said her husband restores classics and enters them into shows. She restores furniture, flipping something old into a new masterpiece for someone to treasure.
“I had some antique china cabinets I turned into a wardrobe,” Darcy said. “Right now, I’m thrifting for baby toys to keep at our house so my daughter and son don’t have to pack up toys from their houses to bring over when we visit the grandkids.”
Growing up in Kentucky, Tyler Holley, MD, saw a need for rural health care practitioners through the eyes of his role model, a rural medicine doctor. Now a general surgeon at Flaget Memorial Hospital, Dr. Holley is fulfilling his calling.
Read More Additional information about Celebrating Our People – Meet Dr. Tyler Holley
Radiation therapist Cristi Ballard doesn’t mask her compassion for patients or her love of art. Both are on display in the treatment headgear she decorates for people receiving cancer treatment.
Read More Additional information about The Art of Humankindness
Nurse Melissa Breen takes pride in being a voice for all patients, especially those from marginalized groups.
Read More Additional information about An Advocate for All
Fill out the form below to receive monthly health news and information to your inbox.
Spirit of Health magazine's print edition is distributed quarterly and focuses on topics related to our CHI Saint Joseph Health purpose and values.
