By Greg Bassett

For decades, they were on the front lines of health care – and when they saw a chance to end the pandemic, they came out of retirement, put on their masks like the superheroes they are, and started helping.

Meet the team of six retired nurses who have returned to the hospital where they all worked for a combined 241 years of service, to help get shots into arms at our Covid-19 vaccine clinic as quickly as possible.

Peggy Wright, Diane Smith, Connie Spencer, Sharon Malone, Darlene Morcom and Janet Mercer all spent their careers at TidalHealth Peninsula Regional, and all retired in the past few years after 39 to 45 years of service.

Nurses are in short supply as Covid-19 cases are on the rise. When the call went out for nurses who could give shots, they responded enthusiastically.

“I felt like I wanted to give back,” said Diane Smith, and the entire group echoed the sentiment: “We wanted to help the community.”

Said Malone: “We know the sooner we can get people vaccinated, the sooner we’ll end the pandemic and be able to come out of lockdown.”

Everyone was willing to sign on to make that happen.

TidalHealth officials said that as they begin expanding vaccination efforts to further phases according to state regulations, they are grateful to the nurses for being ready and willing to step up and make a difference.