Nurses in good health
SUNSET PARK A black and white photo shot in 1979 makes its way around a table at Coco’s Restaurant on Wednesday, a group of silver-haired women chuckling in nostalgia at the picture of a nurse fashioning what is now an antique cap.
The nurse in the photo, Liz Levine Arlotto, now a researcher at Santa Monica-UCLA Medical Center, smiles as her retired colleagues fondly reminisce on their hospital days.
It’s just another monthly gathering for the retired employees of the Santa Monica-UCLA Medical Center, meeting for breakfast at the Coco’s off Ocean Park Boulevard on the fourth Wednesday of every month since 2001.
About 20 elderly women, many of whom live in Santa Monica or in West Los Angeles, come for coffee and pancakes and a chat. The gathering is informal, there is no name assigned to the group nor are there any official announcements made or minutes kept. It’s about getting together with old friends and catching up.
All of the women, and sometimes men, worked at what was then called the Santa Monica Hospital sometime between the 1940s and 90s. They come from different disciplines, including nursing, surgery, administration and clerical. Back then, the hospital was small enough for all the employees to become acquainted, the women say.
Sometimes the different backgrounds play into banter among the women.
“I say I used to be a nurse,” Barbara Perini, a retired surgeon, jokes at her friend Bev Evans Kirby, a retired nurse.
Perini worked at Santa Monica Hospital from 1962-1998. Since retiring, she has kept in close touch with some of her former colleagues, including Evans Kirby with whom she volunteers at Meals on Wheels.
“It’s wonderful to see everyone here and surviving,” Perini said. “We’re a support group for one another.”
Sitting beside Perini is Birgieta Elward who came to Santa Monica Hospital from Sweden and worked as a surgeon from 1966 to 1970. Living in Fountain Valley, Elward isn’t able to make it to the breakfasts every month, only when she happens to be close by baby-sitting her grandchildren in Westchester.
On Wednesday, Elward and Perini joke about how they were the tallest surgeons in the operating room, standing at 5 feet 11 inches tall at the time. “We were 5 feet 11 inches at the time, now we’re 5 feet 10 inches,” Perini jokes, standing up with Elward.
The talk about height sparks memories for Elward of when she had to obtain special permission to wear wooden clogs in the operating room. Back then, the hospital did not allow medical staff to wear open toed or open heel shoes.
“In Sweden, we’re wearing clogs all the time,” Elward said, referring to surgeons.
The former hospital workers here range in age from the early 60s to the late 80s. One of their oldest members at 88 years old is Dr. Fernando Morales, a retired surgeon who has been coming to the breakfasts regularly for years, though he missed Wednesday’s session.
It was in early 2001 when Evans Kirby read an article about a group of old men who all grew up together and started meeting regularly for meals. Intrigued, she pitched the idea of starting a similar meeting to her walking buddy, Perini.
A native of Pennsylvania, Perini often tries to meet with her friends from nursing school whenever she returns home. Why not have a similar gathering for the old gang at the Santa Monica Hospital, she thought.
A few calls later, the first breakfast meeting was held at Coco’s, a central location for many of the women who were still residing on the Westside. About eight retired nurses, surgeons and secretaries came to the first breakfast, and the attendance slowly expanded over the years to more than 25. The number of people that come every month varies. Some have died over the years, others have moved away but attend whenever their visits land on the fourth Wednesday of the month.
“Some people pop up that we haven’t seen in three years,” Evans Kirby said.
Born and raised in Santa Monica, Evans Kirby has spent her entire life in the city, working at Santa Monica Hospital from 1958-1991.
The breakfasts are a way to catch up with some of the friends she has lost touch with since retiring, talking about their lives since leaving the medical profession.
One of her long lost colleagues is Marjorie Nielsen of Mar Vista. Born in Santa Monica, Nielsen started at the Santa Monica Hospital in 1941 as a flower girl, delivering flowers for patients, picking up the mail and fulfilling other small tasks. She worked her way up the ladder, working the switchboard and acting as a cashier. When the hospital administrator returned from World War II, Nielsen was appointed as his secretary, staying in that position until her retirement in about 1975.
“I like to come here and talk with old friends, about what we’ve been doing,” Nielsen said.
The gatherings here reunite old employers with their assistants. Santa Monica resident Pat Murray was the head nurse of orthopedics for 32 years, working with Irene Gullet, her secretary, for 30 of those years.
The two remain close friends, sitting side-by-side during breakfast.
Since leaving the hospital, many of the women have gone on to enjoy their retirement in different ways, whether it be traveling or doing volunteer work.
Judy Crane was a medical-surgical nurse at Santa Monica Hospital from 1974-1990. Following retirement, she wrote a book about taking charge of medical treatment, titled “How to Survive Your Hospital Stay.”
Tying the entire group together over the years is waitress Anna Reynoso who has served the women their breakfasts and refilled their coffee since the very first gathering.
She’s come to memorize many of the women’s orders in the past six years.
“They’re great and nice ladies,” Reynoso said.
Originally published in the Santa Monica Daily Press print edition on June 28, 2007. Read the original PDF.