Thanks for working here Thursday: Mary Barks, The Legacy Living and Rehabilitation Center

Campbell County Health is proud of its employees, and we want the CCH family and the Campbell County, Wyoming community to know about the good work that they do for this organization.

Meet Mary Barks, the Resident and Family Relations Coordinator at The Legacy Living and Rehabilitation Center in Gillette, Wyoming. Mary, who is also a CCH Legend, has worked for CCH for nearly 30 years—and has been in healthcare for 35 years! She earned a bachelor’s in science in Education before joining our team.

Mary says that she works in health care because she loves helping people. “My degree after college led me to work in a rehabilitation hospital in Atlanta (Georgia) helping people with head injuries, I fell in love with the challenge of finding ways to make someone’s life better after severe injury or illness. My journey from that job to my time in Wyoming kept me in the helping profession and then I found my true passion and purpose – advocating for people in healthcare. I love being a voice, bringing clarity to people’s needs and I love being a part of culture change,” she says.

Mary calls Lisa Reynolds her health care hero. There may still be other’s at CCH who remember Lisa; she was Patient Advocate Manager prior to Mary, and really was the person who brought patient advocacy to Campbell County Memorial Hospital many years ago. “She was a great mentor who demonstrated all the qualities and characteristics necessary to make everyone around her feel good, valued, and cared for,” says Mary. “Lisa is now traveling the world training people in leadership and talent management. She’s a beacon of light for some many people and is still one of mine!”

When Mary is hard at work being a resident advocate, she loves hiking, fishing, and exploring in the Bighorn Mountains (or any mountains!) with her husband Dan Barks, and her dog, Jake. “I love to read all kinds of books, mostly autobiographies, and I love to travel and explore the good ol’ USA,” she says.

We asked Mary what she likes most about her job, and what excellence every day means to her. Check out her response:

“I LOVE the residents at The Legacy. There are 150+ different people with a gazillion different preferences and likes and dislikes; the challenge of understanding how we can make their experience better as a team is energizing. Serving these people at what is sometimes the most difficult time of their lives is incredibly rewarding. The Legacy staff is a team of compassionate and committed people, bringing their best to work to serve our residents and families. I have the highest respect for our team members and leaders – we serve more than just the resident. We serve the families, visitors and one another as well. It’s a great team and place to work!

Excellence Every Day means treating patients, residents, visitors and co-workers with respect, kindness and compassion—EVERY SINGLE DAY. Being ‘good enough’ is never enough in healthcare. Taking care of vulnerable people when they are scared, sick and worried requires us to be better than ‘good enough.’ It requires us to be excellent, to be extraordinary, and to be present to take care of those we serve.

The ones are really important: The one person I could help navigate the healthcare system to get in to see a doctor; the one person I could help understand their medical information; that one person I could get to trust us again after a negative experience; the one person who I helped learn to communicate better in their work. All of those together make me feel I can make a difference, one person at a time.”

Thank you, Mary, for treating our residents and staff as one unique, and important, individual. We are proud to have you on our team.

Is there a CCH employee who went the extra mile or shows you extraordinary service? Give them a pat on the back by completing an Excellence Every Day card.