Vickie Kleman is a certified cardiographic technician at Mercy Health – St. Rita’s Medical Center. In honor of American Heart Month, she was kind enough to reflect and share her passion for heart care, Christ and serving others.
Read her firsthand thoughts here.
“I work as an EKG/Holter technician, but I believe my role in the ministry extends far beyond being a technician. I chose to go into this field to serve and take care of others. We are here for a far greater purpose with Christ’s guidance. I chose Mercy Health because of their beliefs in Christ being the center of all we do.
I have been a caregiver all my life. I took care of my grandfather who had hardening of the arteries. Then, took care of my father who had cancer. I also cared for my mother who had congestive heart failure and COPD. I know no other life and don’t see myself doing anything else.
My circumstances growing up led me to study the heart more. The more I learned, the more I wanted to know about the heart. It comes naturally, and I would not want to do anything else.
There have been many moments throughout my 25 years here that have impacted me. But the one that was most recent, and touched me most, is when I was taking care of a COVID-19 patient early on in the pandemic. She was so upset, sad, depressed, scared – you name it. I went into her room. I stayed, talked and prayed with her and she said through her tears, ‘thank you so much for being here. I want you to know that I appreciate you being here. I don’t know what I would have done without your time and kind words.’ If only she knew how much she changed my life in that moment. She felt as if I gave her a gift by staying with her, but she gave me a far greater gift with her heartfelt words. This moment will live with me forever.
I was born here in Lima, Ohio. My husband was born here. My three children were born here. This has been our hospital for all our life. I cannot see myself working at any other hospital. Working for Mercy Health has been my career as well as the start of my son’s and his wife’s career. They are both registered nurses and started working right out of college here at Mercy Health! And now my great niece is doing her registered nurse clinicals here. I pray we continue to be the inspiration for others to go into the medical field to help and serve others.” Learn about all the cardiology services we offer at Mercy Health.
