After 35 years of looking after others, Ina Beintema is retiring to take some time to look after herself.
Beintema was the guest of honour at a retirement party at St. Andrew’s Residence in Chatham recently, as she closed the door on what was a labour of love for her from the age of 30. She started at the residence in May of 1983 as a personal support worker to the elderly people living in the residence, and stayed because she enjoyed helping to take care of people.
“Ina started out here at St. Andrew’s Residence 35 years ago as a PSW, then became the program’s co-ordinator and moved on to the admission assistant,” said Mindy Jenner, community and client relations manager at St. Andrew’s. “Ina is a compassionate, kind-hearted person that gives one of the best hugs you’ll ever get. She is one of those people you feel like you’ve known your entire life after you’ve only just met her. We had a full house, with her family, current and past co-workers, residents and the families of our residents all here to wish her the very best in her retirement.”
Beintema talked about her first days on the job, when she started looking after the residents.
“We had to give out pills and give baths to residents. At that time, most of them were very independent. I was more of a body guard than anything else,” Beintema joked. “I wanted to take care of people all my life, especially the elderly. I always thought they didn’t always get a fair shake when they were older, and I didn’t think that was right.”
With her grandparents back in Holland, Beintema said she never really had a relationship with them, so perhaps that led to her forming such a close bond with the elderly people she looked after.
“My parents came here in 1950 and I was born in 1953, so I never really knew my grandparents. Maybe that’s why I gravitated to (St. Andrew’s) because I didn’t have grandparents here,” she mused.
Remembering back to when she first started, Beintema said at first, people didn’t think she was old enough to look after elderly people, or know what to do.
“It took a while for people to warm up but they did and it was fine after that. Most of the people who were there had family that were very good and doting and would come in to see them. At that time, it was more residential home than a nursing home,” she added.
Over the years, that demographic changed, with more people now in nursing care.
“It did change quite a bit. It became more of a nursing home and still is,” Beintema said. “They definitely have more care there than they did when I first started. They added the restorative care, where people who have say a hip replacement come and get physio with goal that they return home. Some wanted to stay.”
Working with the elderly isn’t a job for everyone, but for Beintema, it meant doing something she loved every day.
“I just love old people and I think if you are going to work in that field, you have to, because that’s not something you can learn,” she noted. “I can honestly say that I enjoyed every one of my days there. I don’t think there was a day there that didn’t have something in it that made me smile.”
Looking back on her time at St. Andrew’s, Beintema said she always felt welcome there and the residents were always happy to see her, so her work became like a second home to her.
“We had a lot of people that passed away at the residence because they didn’t want to go into the hospital, who had say cancer. And that was really my favourite part of the job – palliative care and taking care of the ones who were dying. It was very rewarding – if I could make them a little more comfortable by rubbing their back or turning them over, it just meant so much more to me. They really needed people to take care of them.”
The people she worked with were also great, the retiree said about St. Andrew’s, who she said is an employer who makes sure people have the right work ethic and attitude to work well with the people in their care.
A back injury made it difficult for Beintema to continue physically caring for residents, so she was moved to the programs department, and then she moved to the front desk to finish out her time at St. Andrew’s.
Now Beintema has her own battle with lung cancer, after being diagnosed in January. With the tumour shrunk after chemotherapy and radiation treatment, she is starting a trial for a new drug treatment that is designed to boost her immune system and increase her chances of staying in remission.
Upbeat about her current situation, Beintema said she has to stay on the trial drug for one year, and as it is a compassionate study, she doesn’t have to pay the $4,000 per treatment, which is an infusion twice monthly.
With her husband ready to retire next year, Beintema said they have definitely learned to live one day at a time and enjoy every moment.
Beintema was grateful to all her family, friends and co-workers who came out to the party, and said she was shocked at the 100 cards with well wishes she received. She is also grateful she had a job for 35 years that she loved, and will leave with plenty of good memories.
