LYNN — Beloved Lynn nurse Joyce Reen retired from her role at Lynn Community Health Center (LCHC) this weekend after 54 years of service to the city.
Reen started her career in 1971, when she graduated from Lynn Hospital School of nursing. She worked at the emergency rooms at Lynn Hospital and Union Hospital before transferring to community healthcare at LCHC in 2001. There, she had multiple roles as staff nurse, nurse manager, director of nurses, and compliance manager.
Reen knew she wanted to be a nurse at 12 years old after being inspired by seeing both her aunt and sister in-law in the role. At that age, a teacher recommended Lynn Hospital School of Nursing to her due to its reputation. Although she grew up in Dorchester and described Lynn as “unfamiliar” to her at first, she said the training was “wonderful,” and she knew she wanted to stay in Lynn and serve the community.
In her over five-decade career, Reen has seen how nursing has evolved in Lynn and as a whole.
“Nowadays, nursing is more a team-based care approach, where we strive to solve problems for people who will become sicker if they’re not corrected. For example, instead of just prescribing medication to someone with hypertension, we help them with nutrition and exercise to prevent diabetes and stroke. We look at not just the issue, but the patient as a whole entity,” she said.
When Lynn Union Hospital shut down in 2020, she said the stakes increased significantly for employees at Lynn Community Health Center to provide care.
“There’s not a lot of options for people who live in the city. If you come to the health center seeking care, whether you have health insurance or not, you’re going to be taken care of. Nobody gets turned away. If all we have to offer people in need is the community health center, then we need to do everything we can to make it as good as it can be. I think it’s done a great service to Lynn and it makes me proud to know I’ve been a part of that for so long,” Reen said.
While Reen joined as the 14th nurse in 2001, LCHC now has over 60 nurses on staff, and has added four other buildings around the city. Reen commented on how patient incentives and offered services have expanded “tremendously” since she joined 24 years ago.
“I’ve hired many people myself, and they come in with entry level jobs as receptionists or greeters. And they’ve been there a few years and just graduated nursing school and work beside me as a coworker. To be a part of something that helps someone improve and better themselves is very powerful,” she said.
Reen credits her work in emergency rooms for helping her develop a “decisive” and “hands-on” approach with patients at LCHC. Her colleague of over 20 years, nurse practitioner and Chief Compliance Officer Elena Freydin, described Reen as a “compassionate but firm” nurse who consistently offered a supportive presence to staff and patients in difficult situations.
“No matter how hard it was or no matter what the findings were, she always came at the situation with a perspective of how to make things better,” Freydin said.
Reen offered her own wisdom as to why she chose to adopt this attitude.
“What I’ve learned over the years is just to listen, and usually that’s all they need. When we take care of people in the health center, they’re probably having one of their worst days. And if we can go out of our way to make things a little better, they’re gonna come back again, and we’re all gonna win from that,” Reen said.
