End of an era at Waterbury Medical

May 5, 2022 | By Judi Byron | Correspondent

On her last day working at the Waterbury Family Medicine office, nurse Dixie Martin was celebrated by her co-workers who planned a small celebration with flowers, refreshments and a card signed by staff and patients. Photo by Gordon Miller

It is the end of an era. Nurse extraordinaire Dixie Martin has retired after 35 years of faithful service to the communities of Waterbury and surrounding towns.  

Her last day at the offices of Waterbury Medical was Friday, April 29.  

Martin has seen many changes during her tenure that began at the small practice with one doctor in what was the first level of a house on the top of Bank Hill in Waterbury in 1987. Today the current busy office on South Main Street employs seven practitioners and multiple staff who are part of the Central Vermont Medical Center and UVM Health Network.

“Dixie does it all,” said Family Medicine Physician Dr. Jennifer Gelbstein.  “Some patients will request only Dixie for their blood draws and shots.”

Originally hailing from New Jersey, Gelbstein has been at the practice for 21 years and credits Martin for teaching her the “Vermont way.”  

Gelbstein explained how Martin’s role has been vital in many ways: “Dixie runs the place. I’ve often said, ‘We work for Dixie!’ She is always available. She is always here. She knows where every single thing is, she knows every patient, she knows the family tree of every patient. Patients just love her. We are all going to have to adapt without Dixie.”  

She paused, and then added, “Oh, and she’s the one that makes all the birthday cakes.” 

Retired physician Dr. Bob Murray remembers Martin walking into the practice as a young 20-something when he hired her on the spot.  “I loved working with Dixie all those years. She was the perfect nurse,” he recalled.  “We worked six days a week, back in the day.”

Recently retired from the practice a year ago, Dr. Bill Cove agreed.  He and Murray worked side-by-side along with Martin. 

He recalled how Martin was so respected by patients that instead of calling him or Doc Murray, they would call Martin after hours for medical advice.  “She was always available – Saturday, Sunday, the holidays, she would come in,” he said. It was her no-nonsense attitude that people liked.  “She was steady,” Cove recalled.  “Always steady, there every day, always Dixie.”

One singular event stands out with many when asked about Martin and her service to the family medial practice. It was how she stepped in after Tropical Storm Irene ravaged the medical office building and downtown Waterbury. 

Gelbstein and Cove both credit Martin for getting the office up and running with only one day missed after the flood in late August 2011.

The following year, Martin received the Rose Black Nursing Excellence Award for her exemplary service in the aftermath of Irene. The award was established in 2002 by the family of Rose Black, a patient at Central Vermont Medical Center in 2000, who was deeply impressed with the care she received, especially from the nurses. 

Doctors Cove and Gelbstein recalled the weeks and months following Irene and Martin’s hard work and dedication to return the office as  much to normal as possible. She not only took care of patients in the weeks and eventually months that followed, but she managed to organize three separate workspaces, five health care providers and six fellow nurses, they said. 

Looking back, Martin credited the whole team for pulling together. “I could not have done any of the work without my fellow staff and co-workers,” she said. 

Co-workers have been family for nurse Dixie Martin at Waterbury Medical. In front, left to right: Ali Hobart FNP, Bob Murray MD (retired), Jen Gelbstein MD, granddaughter Cooper Martin, Dixie Martin LPN, her husband Steven Martin, Anne Barati RN. Back row: Liz Buckley RN, Alison Chick PA, Peter Ireland MD, Justin Karlitz-Grodin MD, Melissa Morse, Tim Keenan RN, Jack Batty, Amanda Melville RN, Katie Naden MD, Bethany Logan RN. Not pictured: Chris Payne MD, Lazelle Davey RN, office manager Mark Young, Gary Rutkowski, Dorothy Robinson and Bill Cove DO. Photo by Gordon Miller

As she approached the start of her retirement, Martin reflected on how medicine has changed a lot in the last three and a half decades.  “I started out with just Dr. Murray and myself and the front office person. Now we are seven providers, seven nurses, tons of front office people and a new building,” she said. 

“It used to be a social gathering in the old office as everyone knew everybody else. As folks waited for their appointments, they would just chit-chat and catch up on local gossip,” she recounted. “With the pandemic, now we cannot have more than two people in the waiting room.” 

But, Martin noted, the pandemic has given the medical staff a reason to become familiar with a hybrid model of care with telemedicine that’s given providers and patients a new option unavailable before.  

Gelbstein pointed out that although there have been dramatic changes in the office’s physical space and some of the tools they use, their approach over the years hasn’t changed and she credits much of that consistency to Martin. “We went from paper to computer; went through a flood, a pandemic, and throughout Dixie has held on to those early community practices. These are the values Dixie has taught us, that we try to keep and think about every day as we are staring into our computers and doing video visits,” she said. “Now more than ever, we need to hang on to these community values.” 

What will Martin miss?  Her co-workers, of course, and all of the patients. The babies she treated who are now bringing in their babies. 

Dixie Miller has had her own spot in the parking lot at the Waterbury family medicine practice. Photo by Gordon Miller

Martin remarked on how she has appreciated the structure of work, and that it was always varied.  “There was a routine and you did certain things, but every day was different,” she said.

Family was what Martin praised about her career with the medical practice: It wasn’t just called a family practice, it was like being part of a family.

That said, she admits she is looking forward to free time. She said she won’t miss the long hours or getting up at 5 a.m. Her plans include trail riding with her husband, reading books, spending time with her family, and taking it one day at a time.