1969 was a huge year for Alicia Steir:

She turned 21.

She fell in love and married a man in the military.

She moved from the Philippines to the United States and landed a job doing laundry at Tucson Medical Center.

That was 50 years ago. She’s celebrating five decades of marriage this year, and in September, will officially celebrate five decades of serving TMC patients.

“I care about TMC,” Steir said. “I am happy every day to come to work here and grateful that I have the opportunity to be of service. I keep the patient in mind when I’m doing my work. They’re already hurting or they wouldn’t be here, so it is a privilege to make sure they’re being served wonderfully.”

Steir said she’s never lost interest in her work over all those years. The campus has seen an explosion of growth since she started, both in its physical space as well as the number of patients it serves and the number of employees on staff.

The equipment has changed, getting faster and more efficient to keep up with the increased demand. She’s seen changes in leadership, noting it was hard to find a CEO who could match her admiration for Donald Shropshire until Judy Rich accepted the position 12 years ago.

“When my husband came in for a quadruple bypass last year, it was a scary time. I heard someone call my name, about 8:30 at night, and it was Judy Rich. She had come to see my husband in the intensive care unit,” Steir said. “She cares so much for our patients and our employees.”

Steir doesn’t have plans yet to retire. She said her body will tell her when she doesn’t want to get up in the early dawn to get ready for the start of her 5 a.m. shift – or when the call gets stronger to travel more with her husband or to do more fishing. “Not every employee works directly with a patient, but we all contribute to their care. We’re all important to our mission here. I know I will always treasure the time I spent at TMC.”