Editor’s Note: In recognition of those whose selfless service is helping our community cope with COVID-19, Now Habersham is launching a weekly series called Hometown Heroes. This series will recognize people in Northeast Georgia who are on the frontline fighting this pandemic, as well as those who are supporting their efforts through ancillary work, volunteering, donations, and other means. If you know someone who deserves to be recognized, please email [email protected].
Beth Hester’s service to the Habersham community extends beyond her duties as an RN and emergency room manager at Habersham Medical Center (HMC), where she’s been for over thirty years.
Since 2016, Hester has been involved in HMC’s award-winning stroke care, even taking to the radio to share tips on how to spot a stroke. She led opening up drive-through COVID-19 testing in Cornelia, started the recognition of frontline workers through yard signs throughout Northeast Georiga, and bringing “ear savers,” or “ear protectors” for N-95 masks to HMC with the help of her son. Right now, she’s doing everything she can to keep up morale, and sanity, in and out of the emergency room during the COVID-19 pandemic.
“She is always looking out for her staff, especially when it gets hectic in the ER. There [have] been numerous times throughout the day we go without getting any breakfast or a lunch break due to [the ER] being wide open, and we are running around like chickens with our heads cut off,” says Tammy Goss, HMC medical billing specialist. “She will order lunch to be delivered, or run out and get us finger foods, so we can run by and grab a bite to eat on the go or grab a bottle of water to prevent us from getting dehydrated.”
When Hester came home to a driveway full of sidewalk chalk art drawn up by her grandchildren after a long shift to thank her for all she does at HMC, which she nearly missed in the dark, she knew she needed to do something like it for others. “I said to my daughter, ‘This would be really good if we can get some yard signs and do this for people,'” Hester said. Hester isn’t one to turn away from a project that could brighten someone’s day, no matter how much it takes. “Me and another person that [were] working at the hospital and some of the other hospital managers got together and we just purchased the signs. The hospital did design them for us. And then my daughter and my daughter-in-law have taken on the task of getting them delivered out.”
Hester is doing everything she can for Habersham, and then some. “it’s just putting your brain together and thinking about what do we need to do next,” Hester says. “I could always carry a little bit more.”
Goss tells Now Habersham that Hester is always willing to help, “whether it be a hospital employee or a patient that’s calling in for answers.” On a day where 335 COVID-19 test results came in, Hester and Goss called each and every patient to give them their results.
Hester’s nickname at HMC is “mother hen,” she’s known throughout the hospital for taking new employees in under her wing to help them learn the ropes, helping her staff get through the day, and going above and beyond for the people and things she cares about.
“I’m still mother hen to everybody, it’s not just my children, it’s not just my staff. I try to mother hen the whole county,” Hester says. “And the bad thing is I don’t, nor do any of my children that have helped me through this whole thing– none of us even live in Habersham County. But you know, it’s not about where you live. It’s about where you spend most of your time and who and what needs help.”
