Marilynn Bordelon

When UT Southwestern relocated St. Paul University Hospital operations to newly built William P. Clements Jr. University Hospital in 2014, Clinical Safety Coordinator Marilynn Bordelon left the only hospital she had ever worked at for a state-of-the-art facility that would become home to new experiences.

After 40 years of service, Ms. Bordelon’s memories are plentiful. They have grown from the seed of commitment she carried with her when first hired at St. Paul, strengthened by her most-treasured UT Southwestern memory.

“I remember the first letter I ever received from a patient,” she says. “The letter thanked me for my care. Right then, I knew that I had chosen the right profession.”

Originally hired in 1977 as a Staff Nurse, Ms. Bordelon now reviews and investigates event reports and safety data to identify and develop responses to safety trends. The goal is to improve the culture of safety that is a way of life at Clements University Hospital.

Many employees who made the move to Clements University Hospital have fond memories of St. Paul, but Ms. Bordelon’s go deep. She was born at the old hospital, as were her three siblings, and when she became a nurse, she fulfilled her dream to become a nurse at St. Paul.

For most of her life, St. Paul was where the Bordelon family came when someone was sick. So becoming a Staff Nurse at the place where she had always aspired to work nurtured a lifetime feeling of commitment. “The people I worked with then became the friends I have been with longest in my life. I’d like to be remembered as quiet, hardworking, and dedicated,” she says.

Her extended family consists of three brothers, two nieces, three nephews, and several grandnieces and grandnephews and – not to be forgotten – her cocker spaniel, Emmy.

Ms. Bordelon believes her greatest claim to fame is “working at the same place for 40 years,” and adds that she believes the future is bright at Clements University Hospital and the Medical Center.

Her next wish, she says, would be “for UT Southwestern to be the place where cures for diseases such as amyotrophic lateral sclerosis and Alzheimer’s are found.”