TITLE: MEMORIAL HEALTH SYSTEM ANNOUNCES NEW INFECTION CONTROL AND QUALITY DIRECTOR, NANCY LUCAS
BY: Haley Jones
Nancy Lucas comes to Memorial Health System (MHS) in Abilene with a wealth of knowledge, experience, and passion for taking care of people. She has worked in several areas of nursing during her career including medical/surgical, long-term care, oncology, emergency, assisted living, patient experience, education and leadership, risk management, quality, process improvement, and much more. Having worked in so many different areas make her the perfect fit for the new Infection Control and Quality Director.
Nancy has been a Registered Nurse for 43 years. She began at a young age of 17, but knew even when she was four years old, and received her nurse costume with all the accessories for her birthday, that she wanted to be a nurse when she grew up. She has lived in Kansas her whole life, experiencing life in several cities, but living the longest in Southwest Kansas where she described the town as “almost where the Earth ends, but not quite.” Nancy married her husband, who is now retired, in 1980. She laughed as she said almost apologetically, “I married one of my patients. I like to tell people he literally fell for me!” While treating her future husband after he had surgery, he fainted after returning to his room. Forty-two years later they now share three children, seven grandchildren, and two fur children.
Nancy and her husband located to Abilene just a couple of years ago. They came to love this town years ago when they would travel to see their son play football at Kansas State University. She and her husband thought Abilene was a nice town to stay in, and it was close enough to Manhattan to attend the games. That same son ended up living in Chapman with his wife and children. You may know them; they are the proud owners of 4:10 Irish Den, a coffee shop that just opened in Chapman. When Nancy and her husband had the opportunity to relocate, Abilene was an easy choice since they had such great experiences in the past, and it also put them close to their grandkids. The have two daughters also. One lives in Oklahoma, and the other one is in Colorado. “The main highways take us right to them, so it makes the drive to visit them very easy,” she said. When she is not spending time with family, Nancy enjoys scrapbooking and creating things like t-shirts which she is teaching herself how to do with her new Cricut.
After being at MHS just over a week, Nancy is already getting comfortable in her new office, and learning quickly how to navigate the computer programs. She is very happy to be at MHS. “This is my dream job,” she said. “Everyone is so nice, and it really is like one big family here. Working in smaller hospitals allows you to know the patients you care for!”
