Hettie Dean

TWO SISTERS, NEARLY A CENTURY OF EXPERIENCE: Hettie Dean, left, is celebrating 51 years of service at the University Medical Center at Princeton this month, a feat rivaled only by that of her little sister, Daisy Hubbard, right, who has been working at the hospital for 46 years.
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A certified nursing assistant at UMCP's Post Anesthesia Care Unit, Ms. Dean, 69, said that it is no secret how she has achieved her tenure at the hospital: her love for people and particularly helping people has paved the path of her career since July 1954."It's not just about the money, because if it were, I wouldn't have been here that long," she said."I've seen a lot of changes in the hospital."Of course Ms Dean has not held the same post throughout her 51-year career.After working in Center Supply for 10 years, she moved to the recovery room where her work with patients so impressed her supervisors that they decided that that was where she belonged.As a young woman far from her native North Carolina, Ms. Dean's wish to help people had more to do with necessity than personal desire.Human contact was just what the John-Witherspoon Neighborhood resident needed.

"It was my first time away from home and it was hard to get used to," she said, adding that she had actually first applied to then-Bell Telephone on Nassau Street.Fortunately for the hospital, Bell never hired her, but the Princeton Medical Center did.

"Maybe [Bell] was never meant for me," she said, smiling.At Bell, Ms. Dean would have been dealing with people verbally rather than with the hands-on method that defines her role at the hospital.

"Hettie is just that huge link in our department , she could be the manager," said Eileen Devlin, a registered nurse in Ms. Dean's unit."Hettie is just that huge link in our department , she could be the manager," said Eileen Devlin, a registered nurse in Ms. Dean's unit.
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Ms. Dean said that even though the hospital has grown, the intimacy has not been lost.In fact, she said, the improvement of the facility and overall medical advances has led to a climate where her output is actually more rewarding.She recalled a surgeon who "did everything, from the ear to the toe."But that, too, has changed.

"They're doing different types of surgery and doing more of it; today you have a doctor for everything, and this is a teaching hospital, which is good."

She acknowledged that this growth has led to the UMCP's decision to move , a prospect she views as something of a positive chapter in the hospital's history.
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While Ms. Dean is the longest tenured employee in UMCP history, Ms. Hubbard is next in line.
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For Ms. Dean, that outlook has been 51 years in the making.