It’s not uncommon for the employees at Hazard ARH Regional Medical Center to describe their coworkers as family.
Hazard is a small town, after all, and many of the hospital’s employees have not only worked together for years, but also grew up together, attended school together and are now neighbors.
In the case of Hazard ARH radiology transporter Robert Graydon, however, the word “family” is a bit more literal.
“My whole family works here,” he said. “My wife works in housekeeping, my youngest daughter is a radiology clerk, my middle daughter is a lab assistant, and my oldest daughter is a medical assistant but is also in school to get her nursing degree.
“We’re all here.”
Though Robert was the first of his family to sign on at the hospital, when he moved to the community in 1991, the only thing on his mind was getting out.
His mother and sister had relocated from Quitman, Miss., to his mother’s native Hazard after his father passed away. Robert said he had no plans of joining them until he was laid off unexpectedly from his position in the local sawmill.
“I just needed something temporary while I waited to get called back,” he said, explaining he moved when his uncle helped him secure a job with a Hazard-based coal company.
His escape plan changed, however, when he agreed to allow a coworker’s wife to set him up on a blind date.
“We went to a little Mexican restaurant that had a Baskin-Robbins on the other side,” he recalled. “People say I’m crazy when I tell them this, but I remember she reached out and held my hand and that was it.
“I didn’t plan on staying, but she hooked me and I’m still here 31 years later.”
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Robert’s first experience with Hazard ARH came in 2002, when, while working as a manager at Walmart, he accepted a second job as a nightshift security guard at the hospital.
He stepped away two years later but returned in the same position in 2006.
It was that experience, he said, that helped guide his future.
“I was able to interact with patients and their families,” he said. “And I had the opportunity to do a lot of one-on-one sitting with patients in the psychiatric center, just making sure they were safe.
“That’s when I really fell in love with healthcare.”
In 2008, when a position as a personal care assistant in the psych center came open, Robert left Walmart and took his first official position with ARH.
A few years later, he said he found what he considers his perfect position as a radiology transporter.
“I tell people every day that this will be my last job,” he said, explaining he transports patients to radiology for a variety of procedures. “It allows me to interact with patients all day. There’s no better job than that.”
Watching his contentment with his job is what Robert’s wife and daughters say helped them to decide to join him at the hospital.
“He really loves his job, and everyone here really loves him,” said his wife Melissa Graydon, who works as a housekeeper. “He encouraged me to try and I’m really glad I did. I love my patients and my coworkers.
“I’m grateful for the opportunity I have here.”
Daughters Amy, Carol and Ashley share the sentiment.
“The environment is great here,” said Amy, a radiology clerk and mother of two. “I get to see my family every day and the people I work with are like family, too. I know if I ever have any trouble, there are people all around to help me.”
Carol Cox, the Graydon’s middle daughter, is a phlebotomist/lab assistant. After starting her career in housekeeping, Carol worked as a laboratory clerk, a position that helped her discover a new calling.
“I really enjoyed that, but as I learned more, I decided I wanted to become a phlebotomist,” she said. “It allows me to meet new people and help them at times when they might need it the most.”
Just as the rest of her family has found their happiness by trying new positions at Hazard ARH, so has the Graydon’s oldest daughter Ashley McQueen, who currently works as a medical assistant in the ER at night and studies for her nursing degree during the day.
“I always knew I wanted to get into nursing, but I became a mom when I was really young and it went on the backburner,” said Ashley, who has also worked as a nurse aid and as a hospital clerk.
A mother of three, Ashley is now in her second year at Galen College of Nursing. It’s a pursuit, she said, made possible by ARH.
“The hospital is helping me through the tuition reimbursement program,” she said. “School is expensive, so it really is a very big help.”
Though her night shift schedule doesn’t allow her to see much of her family at work, she said she still feels their presence, and is grateful to have the opportunity to work with them.
“Everyone in the hospital knows me and my sisters as ‘Robert’s kids,’” she said. “That’s what they call us. It’s kind of funny, but it’s nice.”
Carol adds, “Even if we have busy schedules, it’s important that we’re all here. If any of us need anything, we can still talk to each other. We know we’ll always be here to help each other out.”
Robert said that is the best part of having his family close.
“It really is special to me knowing that they’re all here and they all have good jobs,” he said. “It brings me joy to be able to see them regularly and to know that they’re OK and that they have bright futures ahead of them. “ARH really is a great place to work.”
