Ending her hospital stay after 52 years

LYNN – The medical world Carol Dullea will say goodbye to on Friday is not the same as the one the Lynn resident started working in 52 years ago at the age of 16.”When I started working, you could smoke in your office. I’ve seen some enormous changes,” Dullea said, adding, “I lived through three mergers, six CEOs, and 13 nurse managers.”Dullea is retiring as operations coordinator for Union Hospital’s emergency department, but her career at the former Lynn Hospital and Union took her through several jobs, including patient floor secretary and admitting clerk. Dullea was known as “Betty’s daughter” when she started working in Lynn Hospital, where everyone knew Betty Simpson.”I worked with my mom. We didn’t work together, but she was my mom,” Dullea said.After graduating from St. Mary’s Girls High School, she studied at Fisher Junior College in Boston and started working in the hospital’s radiology department. Her career spanned part-time and full-time jobs at Lynn Hospital and Union Hospital, but she landed in her favorite job in 1978 when she was assigned to the emergency department, working initially in both hospitals.”I liked the people and the adrenaline. Every day you have something new and you’re dealing with doctors, patients, nurses, paramedic,” she said.Friends and longtime colleagues said Dullea made a mark on Union Hospital with her encyclopedic knowledge of her job and willingness to help anyone in need.”If I had a question, I could go to Carol. She is going to be sorely missed,” said nurse manager Jean Jones.North Shore Medical Center spokesman Kevin Ronningen described Dullea as “that go-to person every office needs to have.” Dianne Donahue has worked at Union Hospital as long as Dullea and said they forged a bond over the years as friends and colleagues working in a busy hospital.”It’s like family and you know what you do is good,” Dullea said.She will mark her retirement with visits and dinner out with family as part of a double celebration: Dullea and her husband, former Item employee Marty Dullea, celebrate 49 years of marriage today. The pair live in Lynn’s Nells Pond subdivision.Their son Timothy works in the high-technology industry in New Hampshire, and son Scott is an Army colonel currently assigned, said his mother, as a National Security Council specialist on Russia.The Dulleas have two grandchildren, Alexander and Christopher. A third grandson, Ethan, died in a 1999 accident.”I remember riding in the rescue vehicle and saying, ?This wasn’t supposed to happen to me. I work in the emergency department. We save people,'” she said.Her family tragedy sparked Dullea’s involvement in the New England Organ Donor Bank. In addition to traveling and spending time with her grandchildren once she retires, she will be a public speaker on behalf of the organization and help answer questions posed by people reaching out to the donor bank.Union Hospital greeter Donna Hegan said Dullea is ideally suited to help others face life-changing choices.”Carol is always thinking of other people and putting others first. Her love for the hospital speaks so much about her. If you walk by her office, the door is never shut: She’s always there to hear good news, a funny story or answer a question,” Hegan said.