The medical profession in the Wood River Valley is soon to lose its institutional memory when Grace Abel retires after 42 years as a working nurse in the area. Known for her adherence to the traditional white uniform and starched white cap of nursing past, Abel has been a part of the valley's medical world longer than anyone else.
Abel, 65, began work in 1965 as an emergency and clinic nurse at the old Moritz Hospital in Sun Valley. After graduating from nursing school, she made her first trip to Sun Valley, on vacation from southern California, on the famous ski train known as the Snowball Special. Once in Ketchum, the train unloaded hundreds of exhausted kids for a couple of days of skiing and playing. A pretty tasteless movie was even made of this enchanting activity, called "Ski Party" with Frankie Avalon and Annette Funicello.
"There were 300 people. It was a party," the trim uniformed Abel said as if it were yesterday. "The cars had competitions. Our car had a keg of Mai Tais, another had champagne for breakfast. One guy put his skis on before we even stopped, jumped out of the train and broke his leg. My friend gave me the best advice, 'Pace yourself.'
"We stopped in Vegas for a half-hour. Everyone ran off the train and poured money into slot machines. When the train whistle blew we all ran back. We stayed in the dorms in Sun Valley. It was a package deal that includes the train, a room and a lift ticket all for $200. Everyone should have done it."
A few months later, she boarded the Snowball Special again.
"My friend applied for a job at the hospital," she said. "When we got back to L.A., the director of nursing at Moritz, Joanie Anderson, called her to come back. Then I applied too. We both got here in May.
"Now I'm in medical surgery, but then we did everything. The original hospital had 13 beds. You came in and they said you go there you do that, so for years we did it all until recently when nurses finally became specific."
She met her husband, Mark Abel, at the original Boiler Room in Sun Valley, when he was a bellman at the Sun Valley Lodge. He became the manager of the Ore House and then moved into construction. They have two children, Justin, 40, and Amy, 36, who is about to have twins and lives in France. This latter fact is why Abel has chosen this moment to retire, she said. She is intending on being there for the birth and staying on to help care for them.
The new, bigger hospital, built in 2000, was initially a challenge for Abel, who liked the intimacy of the old one.
"The transition was really well handled," she said. "We were really involved, from what was going to be put into the cupboards to the emergency room set-ups.
"One thing that is hard here is we're so spread out. In the smaller building we could help each other. The modern computer technology takes you away from the bedside too."
And then there's the fact that Abel is the only nurse who wears a traditional white uniform instead of scrubs.
"I hear from people every day that they like the uniform," she said. "I'm the old-fashioned one. It's fun. I just never wanted to go to scrubs. You get respect. In my day, there was a capping ceremony after you'd been in school for a year. People dropped out that first year. It's not easy to come by."
There's talk around the hospital that her cap will be retired, if they can get it off her head, like a number in baseball, when she leaves at the end of this week.
"I enjoyed my career, though not 12-hour shifts. I liked being here every day. I didn't do this just to put in the time and get it over with. It's a wonderful profession. I encourage people to go into nursing. You feel good when you help people feel good.
"I'll miss patients and coworkers. We really are a family and always have been. People comment on what a wonderful hospital it is because we're small. We can be personal."
Registered Nurse Grace Abel remains a traditionalist. Photo by Willy Cook
