Making a Difference: Missy Blair

The COVID-19 pandemic hasn’t been easy on anyone, and it’s been especially hard for the healthcare workers at Beaufort Memorial. As a respiratory therapist, Missy Blair saw the impact of the pandemic up close. But there’s one story that sticks in her mind more than the others.

“It reminds me of a Nicholas Sparks book,” Blair says. “There was an elderly couple who had been married for 50 years. They tried so hard to protect themselves, but they both came down with COVID-19, and they both became very sick. The odds were so against them, but he ended up going home and she did too. Their love was so strong, and their drive helped to save them. He couldn’t make it without her. She couldn’t make it without him.”

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‘What We Do Makes a Difference’

Blair says her experience with the couple who had COVID-19 drove home the importance of the work she does every day, whether she’s working in pulmonary rehabilitation, the ER, the intensive care unit or the nursery.

“I’ve done this work for 30 years,” she says. “We have an important role. It’s not easy, but I love patient care and what I do.”  

The diversity of patients at Beaufort Memorial appealed to Blair, who came to the area from Tennessee where patients at hospitals the size of Beaufort Memorial were often referred to larger facilities. Here, she’s able to work with patients of all ages and a variety of needs and follow them throughout treatment and recovery.

“It’s about the patients,” she says. “What we do makes a difference with the community.”

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Making the Move Was Worth It

At first, Blair was nervous about moving to Beaufort, but she now knows it was one of the best decisions she’s ever made.

“It’s just so wonderful to work somewhere where people are nice and so helpful to one another,” Blair says. “At the very fast-paced places, a lot of the patients are treated more like numbers. But here, you get to know the patients, and you get to know their families. You get to see the successes in your follow-up care.”

Blair says Beaufort Memorial is one of the friendliest places she has ever worked. And she thinks the slower pace of life in the Lowcountry provides the ideal respite from her busy hospital shifts. 

“It’s just peaceful to live close to water, marsh and ocean,” Blair says. “I feel very lucky because I love getting out and doing activities on the beach or being able to go out and ride my bicycle with my son.”

“If I had to,” she adds, “I’d do it all over again.”

If you’re looking for a new position, Beaufort Memorial is hiring. View our current openings today.