"I'm going to miss coming to work and being with everybody and doing this job," Poole said. "Just sitting at this desk and helping people when they come in. I'm going to miss it."
After 45 years of civil service, Poole is finally preparing to say goodbye to her MEDDAC Family, and hello to retirement.
"I like to work," Poole said. "I've had a hard time deciding to retire, but 45 years, seven year break and I'm 74 years old …, it's time to do something else where I don't have to get up at 5:30."
Throughout the last 34 years, Poole has held many positions at Winn. She began working in the old USA MEDDAC building in 1975 in admissions. She continued serving the USA MEDDAC population in many different roles, including working at the call center, behavioral health, and eventually referral management.
"I like doing that, because if I was out there somewhere, and I didn't know what to do, I would want somebody to help me a little bit, and especially with your medical care," Poole said.
Referral Management Branch Manager, Gail Ford, has worked with Poole for the last two decades, and appreciates Poole's empathy towards the beneficiaries at Winn ACH and her commitment to providing quality customer service to beneficiaries.
"She sees herself where they are," Ford said. "When they ask the question, she really wants to get the answer because, I believe, that she learns something from it or she can share with them things that she's experienced there, and she definitely wants to make sure that she helps them."
During the monthly awards ceremony held in the Patriot Auditorium at Winn, Poole was recognized for her 45 years of service by Clinical Business Operations Manager, Jeff Loomis.
"This is a big deal folks," Loomis said. "Forty-five years in government service started … when I first got here, she's the person who set me on the right track when I came to Clinical Operations."
In the past three decades, Poole has continually touched the lives of many Soldiers and Civilians in her tenure in MEDDAC and at Winn.
"I always wanted to treat people like I wanted to be treated," Poole said. "If somebody comes up to me and asks a question, I try my best to help them."
For Ford, Poole's continued commitment to providing quality customer service to the beneficiaries at Winn comes as no surprise to her because of the quality and merit of Poole's character and commitment to selfless service.
"One of the things that we'll miss about Bobbie is she's very friendly," Ford said. "She's easy going. She has no problems with her coworkers or even with the patients. She's really concerned about getting the work done every day."
Forty-five years of selfless service, and 34 years devoted to the patients at Winn Army Community Hospital, is the legacy Bobbie Poole leaves behind.
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