Janet Weckenborg ends 4-decade career at CRMC

Weckenborg
Weckenborg

Janet Weckenborg has spent more than four decades working for Capital Region Medical Center.

Now, it's time to retire.

"I am going to enjoy my family and my friends," Weckenborg said Thursday. "We're going to have fun."

CRMC's president of operations began her career at the hospital 47 years ago, when it was known as Charles E. Still Hospital.

Weckenborg has served in numerous roles - from a bedside nurse to a department manager.

She helped navigate the hospital through a merger between Still Regional Medical Center and Memorial Community Hospital in 1994. And she was there in 1997, when CRMC formed an affiliation with the University of Missouri Health System.

"It takes a lot of really skilled people to make health care work well. They bring their talents here every day and together make it work," Weckenborg said. "It has been an amazing adventure."

The adventure has continued over the past two years, she said.

"You can't leave after a tornado. You can't leave in the middle of a pandemic. You can't leave when you are taking a new electronic system live," she added.

And all those things have come to pass.

But family and leisure await.

She's got a lot to do on the family farm.

"This is the time. It's a good time," Weckenborg said.

And she has a lot to do in the community.

"I enjoy hiking and biking and sailing," Weckenborg said.

She's regularly on a sailboat at Binder Park with the Capital City Sailing Association. The group has sailed at the park for about 12 years. During select weekends in July, the association offers sailing lessons, she said.

Although she has a lot to look forward to, saying goodbye is difficult.

She'll be working for the next three days.

And every day, Weckenborg meets somebody in a hallway who runs up to give her a hug.

They start crying. She starts crying.

"This has been a really hard week for me," she said.

"We've grown up together. We've raised our kids together."

Weckenborg tells them to be proud of what they've accomplished together at CRMC.

"We can look forward to what we can do better next time," she said. "Like any good hospital, (CRMC) is made up of very smart people - people who are here for the right reason."