Tania Harrington will finish up at Echuca Regional Health on December 20 after 40 years at the hospital. Photo: Steve Huntley
A distinguished and respected Echuca Regional Health employee has resigned after working in every ward across the hospital over her 40-year career.
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Tania Harrington, 61, joined the hospital in the 1980s, and will finish on December 20.
The mother-of-two said it was a difficult decision.
“If you asked me, would I do it all again? The answer is yes. Absolutely,” Mrs Harrington said.
“Echuca is lucky to have the hospital that it does, and I’m very sad to go but I want to be closer to my children and grandchildren who live in Queensland.”
During her tenure she has worked as a ward clerk in Camray, Johnstone and Rose Baker wings before they became general, surgical and maternity wards, respectively.
She’s also a qualified phlebotomist, taking thousands of people’s blood since she was certified in 1997.
Two years prior she was also accredited to take electrocardiograms, which record a person’s heart activity.
Mrs Harrington gave birth to her two children — Cody and Tyla — in the Echuca hospital in 1985 and 1993, respectively.
“That’s my favourite memory of working at the hospital; giving birth to my two children, which is why I am leaving — to move closer to them,” she said.
Mrs Harrington also sadly said goodbye to her parents, Margaret Joan Canfield in 2004, and Clifford Canfield in 2005, in the same hospital.
Her mother was on dialysis for kidney failure — and visited the hospital for weekly treatment — in the years before her death.
“Mum and Dad always said the Echuca hospital was better than the private hospitals they had been in. They were treated with the utmost care,’’ Mrs Harrington said.
‘’And Dida (Mrs Harrington’s nickname for her father) said meals in the private hospital weren’t anything like the Echuca hospital. They loved it.”
Over the years Mrs Harrington has been celebrated for her hard work, including in 2013 for being a “miracle worker”.
“The miracle award worker is awarded for exceptional and tireless support, and assistance to our nursing staff,” the award reads.
Nurse unit manager Kim Ives said there “were no words” to describe Mrs Harrington.
“Everyone will be in tears,” she said.
“Tania knows what she’s doing, and it’s impossible to teach those skills.
“There is nothing I could ask Tania that she wouldn’t do. Often, when I go to do something, it’s already done. That’s Tania.
‘’She is loyal, respected, honest and caring. She will be so missed, and it’s going to be an emotional farewell.”
For Mrs Harrington, though she is leaving the hospital, it will never leave her.
“It’s become a second home,” she said.
“And anything that I have ever needed throughout the years — when my children or husband (Jay) have been sick — they have gone out of the way to help … as they do all their patients.
Respected Echuca Regional Health employee Tania Harrington will finish on December 20.
Photo by
Steve Huntley
“I will miss every person who works there because they have all held the hospital up to the exemplary standards that it holds.
“From the doctors to administration and kitchen staff and the cleaners — they all act with the best intentions.
“And they all keep the hospital going. It’s a beautiful place to work in and I’d recommend it to anyone who is considering their first or last career.
‘’It’s also the place any patient can find comfort, and should feel safe, in.”
Mrs Harrington will be farewelled with a special morning tea on Friday, December 20.
Tyla Harrington is Tania’s daughter and a former Riverine Herald journalist
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