Char Mason, RN, retires
Char Mason, MBA, RN, vice president, Outpatient Services, retired after 34-plus years at Cincinnati Children’s on October 13.
She started here as a nursing assistant while she was still in nursing school at the University of Cincinnati. “My first experience was on the fifth floor of the Convalescent Hospital (now known as Location E). Upon graduation, I began working as a day/night shift registered nurse on 3 South, a medical/surgical unit in the original hospital building, which is no longer standing. Next was the Operating Room, where I worked as a scrub nurse, an RN ortho coordinator and then an educator.”
Mason then left the organization for five years, working as a pharmaceutical sales representative and hospital marketing representative. But she returned in 1987 to join the 12-person RN periop team at the new Outpatient North facility (now known as the Mason Neighborhood location). From there she worked her way into hospital administration, eventually rising to the level of vice president.
“When I started here, there were probably less than 1,000 employees and a total of three buildings,” she says. “Now, we have more than 15,000 employees and facilities all over the Greater Cincinnati area. But even though the medical center has become much larger and more complex, staff still have that same deep passion and commitment to serving the kids and their families.”
Mason has enjoyed the variety of roles she’s played, the opportunities for professional growth and, above all, the dedicated and caring people who, she says, provide exceptional care and support each other throughout the various stages of life.
The opening of Liberty Campus in 2008 remains a highlight of her career. “We had such a terrific team effort and a warm, overwhelming welcome from the community as we opened the doors,” she recalls. But her favorite moments were when she was able to help make someone’s day a little better in some small way.
“I basically have ‘grown up’ since I began working at Cincinnati Children’s, both literally and figuratively,” says Mason. “Every experience here has been an opportunity to learn and make me a better person.”
