Third-generation Kiowa man Rory Reed to retire from KDH after 17 years

 

Yvonne Miller

Fishing more is now on the to-do list of Rory Reed who is retiring from Kiowa District Hospital after 17 years as maintenance director and safety officer.

Rory Reed graduated with the Class of 1973, the last class to graduate from Kiowa High School. He's also a third-generation Kiowan – the son of Jim (and the late Joan) Reed; and grandson of the late Floyd James (and Opal) Reed.

Needless to say, Reed is a familiar face around Kiowa and especially at the Kiowa District Hospital where he'll have worked 17 years as of June 3. He's in the process of retiring – semi-retired presently. If you've been at the hospital several times you've undoubtedly visited with this friendly guy, been helped by him or seen him helping someone else.

Working at the Kiowa District Hospital since June of 2003, Reed is maintenance manager, the KDH safety officer and on the emergency preparedness team. That's a lot of titles. But Reed is probably best known as the go-to guy to everyone who needs some help or a good laugh.

Sondra Davis, an LPN, has worked with Reed almost 15 years in emergency preparedness (disaster planning). Davis is emergency preparedness coordinator with him as safety officer. They traveled together with other KDH employees to multiple training opportunities throughout the years, some that are monthly. Three times they've attended training in Anniston, Alabama, at Homeland Security Headquarters. Davis said all the knowledge they've collected prepared them for the COVID-19 pandemic – "no worries."

The hospital employs many women. In a light-hearted comment, Davis said, "Rory always complained that he had too many women bosses with all the girls around here, but he always took care of us. He would scrape our car windshields for us when we got off a long night shift. He sometimes made us biscuits and gravy or a crock pot of ham and beans. Rory would come in day or night if called, even if we just could not figure out how to work the TV for patients! He can be very ornery and tease ya – but is very sweet and kind. I loved my time with Rory. I'm still bending his ear as our safety officer.

"Rory would complain when you wanted to hang something on the wall, but then he would cheerfully complete the task. He was good with the fire marshal when they were here and kept us out of trouble on surveys. He knew his stuff and will be greatly missed."

When asked what he'll miss the most, Rory said, "I'll miss the girls and dealing with the public – helping people out." He added that his most memorable experience was working with "ladies who were the old timers" and listed them by name – Lois Talbott, Martha Coppock, Berniece Piersall and Donna Ragan. "It was a pretty fun time," Rory said and added that his colleagues "are like family."

Discusses Maintenance in Old Hospital vs. New Facility

When Reed started with KDH it was in the old hospital on Drumm Street that was built in the 1950s. Square footage was 20,650 with 15 beds. As the years went by portions of the building were remodeled.

"That building became a hodgepodge of piping, plumbing and electrical systems. Every time they updated we always got a little something new to deal with," Reed said. "I learned the tricks – the ins and outs of how to fix things." He recalled the old hospital had a boiler system for heat and a chiller system to cool. Patient rooms had window AC units. He said someone in one part of the building was always hot while others were freezing.

Reed said, "That poor old building served its purpose, but there was no way it could keep up with today's regulations. Everything was grandfathered in, but it couldn't keep up with today's codes."

The new hospital, built about six years ago, has square footage of 27,536 with 10 beds. Reed said it was challenging to come to the new hospital where everything was updated and new. He said the people who installed all the new equipment "showed me where the fire alarm panel was; where the fire pump for the sprinkler system was; where the transfer switches were at; and where the main electrical distribution panel was and they were out the door. You could read everything up on a computer screen." The mechanical room has hot water heaters for sinks, etc. Big, tall boilers are for the HVAC system.

"It's been a lot different but it's been fun and interesting though," Reed said. In addition to doing all the physical work to keep the hospital's mechanical aspect running, he has plenty of paperwork "so you don't get written up." He conducts fire drills, maintains maintenance records, deals with the Fire Marshall and insurance people.

"Most of the equipment has run pretty good," he said, but added that even newer equipment has to be tested and tweaked. They've had a few minor issues as expected. A typical day for Reed is checking all the gauges on everything, and recording it; to patching a hole in the wall; to picking up the hospital's laundry at the manor; to checking the hospital's generator. He said the generator is sufficient to run the hospital at least two or three days even on a day when temperatures reach 110 degrees.

"There's always something to do," Reed said. "Even if it's fixing the TV for the girls in patient rooms!" He enjoys all the camaraderie with his co-workers, mentioning all their traditions with food and monthly birthday parties, etc. "We do lots of fun things."

Reed and His Family, Looking to Retirement

Reed and his wife Gayla will celebrate 35 years of marriage on June 22. Their grown children are Eric and Emily. Eric and his wife Katie reside in Standford, North Carolina, with their daughter Campbell Mae, age 4. Eric is retired from military service and works from home. Emily is an agency nurse and currently resides in Tucson.

Reed has a history of longevity in whatever he does. He worked as assistant manager at O.K. Grain Cooperative for 19 years.

His retirement plans look as busy as he's been at the hospital. He's taking a gun-smithing course and wants to have a gun repair shop. Of course he plans to find time for fishing and "to piddle around the house. I might even find a summer job driving a tractor and some other odd jobs."

He and Gayla look forward to visiting their family more. Reflecting on his life and career for a moment, Reed said, "Oh yeah, I'd do it all again."

KDH CEO Janell Goodno said, "We want to wish Rory the best when he retires. We appreciate everything he has contributed to KDH."

 

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