Tiffany Freitag
Director of Community Relations
Deb Menhennett has retired from Middle Park Health after over 40 years as a dedicated Registered Nurse. Chances are if you ask a Kremmling local, they have a story of Deb- “She helped deliver every one of my babies;” “She was there for me when my mother was ill;” “She cared for us in the Emergency Room when my son had an accident.” Deb’s compassion stands out in every patient interaction!
Deb started her career in health care as a candy striper, volunteering in the hospital setting, even before her family moved to Grand County in 1972. She always knew she wanted to be a nurse. Deb chased that dream and had great ambition and determination to gain the experience and education needed to become a fantastic nurse. She started working at Kremmling Memorial Hospital District, KMHD, as a junior in High School. Her first position was in medical records as a transcriptionist. During high school, she also became a nurse’s aide and started to help with the care of patients.
Deb attended Nursing School at University of Northern Colorado. As nursing school goes, she had clinical rotations at several different hospitals and clinical settings. Deb knew she wanted to come back to Grand County. She structured her clinical experience around being a nurse in a rural setting. Deb mentioned for example in big cities, you could call the IV team down to place your patients’ IV for you. She knew she wouldn’t have that option in the rural setting she was hoping to return to. Deb returned to work at KMHD with Dr. Ceriani and Dr. Deagman during every college break. Deb stated, “I didn’t realize how special and unique that was [the doctors finding work for me to do every school break] until I was in administration. Just putting me back on the payroll and finding things I could help with while I was home. I so greatly appreciate KMHD, the doctors, and the administrators facilitating such worthy hands-on clinical experience.”
In 1977, Deb was hired by KMHD as a Graduate Nurse and quickly moved to a Registered Nurse, RN, after passing her board exam. She worked mainly in the hospital setting, rotating through the nursing positions KMHD offered at that time- Floor Nurse, ICU Nurse, Emergency Room Nurse, Operating Room Nurse, and Obstetrics Nurse. “We were busy,” Deb recalls, “our beds were always full; we delivered a lot of babies over the years; we took care of so many patients.” “Drs. Ceriani and Deagman were wonderful teachers. They taught me so much- advancing my skills as a nurse. This was long before ‘grow your own,’ but this is truly what they did. They really molded me into the nurse I am today- for this, I can’t thank them enough.”
In the late 1980s, Deb became the school nurse serving the youth of Kremmling for several years. In 1993, Deb returned to KMHD and quickly advanced to Director of Nursing, serving in this role for seven years. In 2000, Deb completed additional training at St Anthony’s North in nursing in the operating room, OR. She thoroughly enjoyed her work as an operating room nurse so much, so this is where she spent the rest of her career in nursing. After a few years, Deb was promoted to Manager of the OR. She was a vital part of the planning team for building the Middle Park Health- Granby Campus. She assisted in designing the current operating room in Granby- a truly state of the art OR.
Deb has seen so many changes in healthcare and with Middle Park Health, MPH, over the years. She states, “An exciting time for Middle Park Health and surgical services in Grand County was in 2018 when a full-time general surgeon and a full-time orthopaedic surgeon joined the Middle Park Health community.” It was the first time MPH had full-time surgeons rather than surgeons visiting our community to provide surgical services. Deb played a vital role in implementing Middle Park Health’s joint replacement program to include the program’s roll-out, patient education sessions, and continuous program monitoring. Deb comments on how amazing the OR crew at MPH is. “The OR team is amazing. We have the best surgeons, anesthesia provider, nurses, and staff. They all care compassionately for each and every patient they serve.” Deb also comments about how amazing and supportive her husband and kids have been throughout her career. “When the kids were little they knew they should be quiet in the house throughout the day so that mom could sleep after working a night shift. They put up with me working late, being on call, and even missing some important events over the years. I want to give them the biggest thank you!”
Deb is looking forward to retirement. She plans on spending more time with her family and finishing house projects. She is also looking forward to having more time to volunteer. Deb said, “I’m ready to give back to the community that has given so much to me.” You may see Deb around Middle Park Health as she plans to stay on staff on an as-needed basis.
Middle Park Health sends a great big thank you to Deb Menhennett! Thank you for all your years of dedication, for providing excellent care to our community, and being a large part of our Middle Park Health family. Please join us in wishing Deb Menhennett the very best retirement. If you would like to send your well wishes to Deb, please send them to
Middle Park Health
Attn: Tiffany Freitag
PO Box 399
Kremmling, CO 80459
or tfreitag@middleparkhealth.org
