PLATTSBURGH — Donna Charland, CNA, drove 60 miles round-trip from Chazy Lake to Plattsburgh from August 22, 1986, to March 21, 2025, when she retired after nearly 40 years at Meadowbrook Healthcare.
Her colleagues feted her at Friday’s “Retirement Gathering” in the LeGrande Room.
Charland had a grand time as she hugged colleagues, ate cake with vanilla icing, sipped fruity punch, and opened a cache of presents.
“You go home crying sometimes because your favorite went up in heaven, but it’s rewarding,” she said.
“I don’t regret almost spending my whole life here. I’m proud; I’m proud.”
CHOSE MEADOWBROOK
A Chazy Lake native, Charland graduated from Northern Adirondack Central School, Class of 1982. Before Meadowbrook, she worked at a Saranac Lake tree farm and did a bunch of babysitting.
“In 1986, I did private duty for a lady up in Lyon Mountain, and she got put at Meadowbrook Healthcare,” she said.
Charland needed a job, so she put her name in at the facility and also at the Clinton County Nursing Home.
“Meadowbrook called me first,” she said.
“I was here two weeks not thinking the County home is a state job. Why didn’t I go there? But, I loved it here. I love it here. I just loved the way it ran. I loved the residents. I just love the way they took care of them. If they were sick, they didn’t fool around. Right to the hospital. So, I’ve been here right since ‘86. August, and I never left.”
Charland enjoyed doing the residents’ hair and nails.
“Making them look nice,” she said.
“Making sure they are positioned well with pillows and blankets. I just loved to do it, and I’m going to miss it because I’ve been used to being a caregiver for a long time.
“The elderly don’t ask for nothing. You got to take care of them. I tell the girls all the time, water those plants! You have to be nice to living things. I got frogs (out from) the middle of the road when it’s raining out.”
Charland was picked as a candidate for the Meadowbrook’s nursing program.
“I was excited that they picked me,” she said.
“That made me so high and mighty and proud. I’m glad they thought enough of me to be the CNA mentor. So, I went around and coddled the new people to let them know what to do.”
WORN MANY HATS
Molly Ahern, RN, director of Nursing, attended the gathering.
“Donna has worked here for nearly 40 years as a Certified Nurse Aide,” Ahern said.
“She has worn many hats during her 40 years here where she has been one of our elite, selected Senior CNAs. Being a senior mentor to many other CNAs. Helping them learn tricks to the trade.”
Ahern said it’s remarkable to be in one place of employment for nearly 40 years, but it’s even more remarkable to have been a CNA for that many years.
“She’s been an outstanding caregiver,” she said. “Loving her residents for years, giving them the best of care, being the best of teammates here. I’m very, very proud of her and very, very excited for her. We’re very grateful for her. It’s wonderful to celebrate her career. and we’re very happy for her, but we’re going to miss her.”
Charland calls Ahern her best friend.
“I even named my dog after her,” she said.
“She could trust me. I was loyal to her. I just love the land. I love my peers, Shelly and Molly. I’ve got good friends here, good friends. But they know to message me if they need something, and I’m there. I’m very dependable and loyal.”
ONE OF A KIND
Charland’s day began getting residents up and ready for breakfast.
“Shelly, the assistant director of nursing, would have me go and make sure that infectious control stuff is all up to par,” she said.
Shelly Rascoe roundly praised Charland.
“She’s wonderful, and I’m going to miss her,” she said.
“She’s irreplaceable. One of a kind. She took care of my stepfather. He absolutely adored her, and they raised hell together.”
“Oh we did,” Charland said.
“Sweet, sweet, man.”
GOING TO RELAX
Relaxing and spending time outdoors began Saturday for her.
“I love to go for rides in the woods, and I live on Chazy Lake and I go swimming,” she said.
“I don’t care for gardening or none of that or baking. I’m just going to relax and stay up all night and watch my husband-to-be, Denzel Washington. Oh, I love him. I just want to stay up as late as I want. I won’t sleep in because my little Mollie girl gets me up. She’s a yellow lab. She just turned 2. and I got a black lab named Maggie. She just turned 5.”
Charland’s future includes spending time with her adult daughter, Katie, and volunteering at the facility.
“Meadowbrook is the largest nursing home north of Albany,” she said. “You walk out like you did something. It’s rewarding. It’s not like flipping a hamburger. It’s just a feeling you get when you leave here. Some days, you’re like oh my, God. But you just feel so good because you took care of somebody’s mother, somebody’s grandmother. I try to get new traffic to come in. They screen them well. We got a good crew here, and they don’t fool around.”