Child of the military groomed for greatness

ELIZABETHTOWN – Amber Bordeaux was raised by military parents in preparation for organization, hands-on caring and discipline in her duties at Cape Fear Valley Bladen County Hospital.

And she makes in a difference in the lives of the people she cares for.

“After my parents retired from the military, they moved to Bladenboro and purchased a house,” Bordeaux said. “And I’ve been here ever since.”

When asked if she was an “army-brat” which is a term of endearment and truth, she thought about her answer for a few seconds before responding.

“I was an Air Force brat AND an Army brat,” she said with a wide smile. “So, I was born in Bladenboro. When I got older, I met my husband (Stumpy) and we now live in Dublin.”

She graduated from West Bladen High School and graduating in a rural area was special to her and lends itself well to small, rural community health care.

“Growing up, everybody knew everybody,” she said. “It’s just small town and you either like it or you don’t.”

The small-town living agrees with her and she is thriving in this environment.

After she graduated from WBHS in 2003, she started off to college at Charlotte and after not finding the fit she was looking for, we back east across the state to Wilmington and after a semester, she met her husband and returned to the area. At that point she finished her education at Fayetteville Technical Community College (FTCC) majoring in speech pathology.

Together, her husband who drives for FedEx and Amber, who started out as a speech therapy assistant for 10 years before becoming a patient relations and manages the gift store have settled into a comfortable life.

While teaching speech therapy, she was sent to schools, homes and daycares and got a feel for dealing with people who had to learn to overcome obstacles. When COVID hit, she decided that she needed a change and a profession with a little more security and consistency. Also, a job where she was not on the road all the time, traveling sometimes 200 miles per day.

A job opened up at CFVBCH which was almost in her own backyard and she decided to try it.

“I never thought I’d work in health care in a hospital,” she said. “When I started out in the hospital I was doing patient relations. So I took care of all the complaints and all the grievances. And then, when Miss Sharon Meismer announced her retirement, we wanted to make sure that the gift shop stayed open.”

According to Bordeaux, the gift shop supports a lot of things in the hospital and all the money that is raised in the gift shop stays in the hospital in Elizabethtown. They purchased things such as cafeteria tables for the hospital. She considered the position carefully as she loved her position in patient relations.

“I like the patient care part of it,” she said. “You are able to help people in real time. It doesn’t turn into a complaint. It’s all about helping them and finding out how to be a problem solver for them. I like making their experience better.”

So, when the managing of the gift shop position came available, Bordeaux decided that she wanted to do both. And she does. And she does it well, according to those who work with her and her supervisors above her.

It’s been a year since Meismer retired and as a result of Bordeaux taking over the reins of organizing, the gift shop is still open and going strong. Partially because of the parameters and programs Meismer had put in place, and partly do to Bordeaux being able to carry the vision for the little shop to the next level.

“As of today, we’ve got a lot of new merchandise,” she said. “We’ve got some new volunteers that go well with the hometown heroes and veteran volunteers we already had on staff. Some of the volunteers who stayed on are in their 90s and they are so incredible. We are 100% volunteer staffed, so we really depend upon them.”

Being over the staff of volunteers, Bordeaux handles the scheduling, monitors the parameters and corporate compliance.

“The ladies in here volunteering, some of them have been in here over 30 years,” she said. “One lady is 94 and she rides the Bladen Area Rural Transportation System (BARTS BUS) every Wednesday. Her name is Miss Virginia Gause. She loves it and she wouldn’t have it any other way. She’s always here and doesn’t miss a beat.”

The volunteers consider the hospital a home away from home and according to Bordeaux, there is not much turnover with volunteers. The hospital also has a staff of junior volunteers which in some areas of the country were at one time called “Candy Stripers.”

“Teenagers can work here and must be at least 14 years old,” Bordeaux said. “They have a minimum of eight hours a month that they have to work. If they do that, they have the opportunity to as a senior in high school to apply for a scholarship from the Bladen County Hospital Auxiliary funding for volunteering their time.”

Junior volunteers pretty much cover the gift shop, they can make their own hours and the hospital is looking for some dedicated go-getters. Bordeaux has a heart for the volunteers and has really found her niche working with them.

“It just blesses my heart coming in here and working with my volunteers,” she said. “I mean… Miss Virginia sitting here at 94 and makes it a point to be here regardless because she loves it. Coming down here and just listening to the ladies and hearing their stories of how things have progressed throughout the years and how things have changed in the approach to how they do things. Also Mildred Simmons is here and also never misses a beat. They have pros and cons as to what they think will work in the gift shop and I so welcome their input – and trusting me enough to share that with me.”

Some of the things that Bordeaux sees on the horizon are perhaps some devices to help her staff. She mentions going to the foundation to be able to obtain a card reader so that her older volunteers will not have to be writing things down in notebooks all the time.

She has a great support system in the Fayetteville hospital, the Cape Fear Valley Medical Center.

“We coordinate with our main campus in Fayetteville,” she said. “They have really helped me with stocking the gift shop here and being able to keep our prices down. We’re small. We’re not open all day and all night, seven days a week. We just try to accommodate our staff and we can’t have high priced items.”

Bordeaux has a central thread that runs through her health care and patient care tapestry that says there is always hope.

“There’s always someone out there who can help,” she said. “You have to realize you are not alone in this life. Someone is always out there who is waiting to help you.”

At this point in time, the gift shop is open Tuesdays – Fridays 11 a.m. – 3 p.m. For information you can call the gift shop by calling the hospital at 910-862-5100. The address is: 501 S. Poplar, Elizabethtown, North Carolina, 28337.

Mark DeLap is a journalist, photographer and the editor and general manager of the Bladen Journal. To email him, send a message to: mdelap@bladenjournal.com