Your Stories: Mercy Colleague Retires after 50 Year Career

Danielle Champagne retires after 50 years of service at Mercy Medical Center. 

When Danielle Champagne was first visited by Sister Cecilia, SP, at her high school, the former Notre Dame High School, never did she think she would both start and end her working career in the same location.

At the time, Danielle was recommended for the student position to help with clerical work in the Medical Records Department at what was then Mercy Hospital. Three decades later, Danielle transitioned from that department and began an over 20-year career in the Health Care for the Homeless Department, now the Community Health and Well Being Department as Administrative Assistant.

Danielle’s role in the department is unique in that she is both Administrative Assistant for the Community Health and Well Being Department in the Springfield Market as well as the Health Care for the Homeless Program, a subcontractor to the City of Springfield’s Health Services for the Homeless Program. She works on both the hospital level as well as on the city level. Her coworkers share, “she is wonder woman. There isn’t anyone she doesn’t know and there isn’t anything she can’t get done for us.” Her history with the system and long-term employment has allowed for the creation of incredible relationships with various departments throughout both the hospital system as well as in the community. This is an invaluable resource to a department that is embedded in both the hospital as well as in the community at large.

The Health Care for the Homeless Program provides social, medical, and behavioral health services to individuals experiencing homelessness in three counties. Danielle is integral in making sure the staff has everything they need to make this possible. Whether it is ordering shoes, coats, medical supplies or assisting in the purchasing of birth certificates or identification for the program’s patients, Danielle does so not only efficiently but within a short turn around. Danielle credits this to the incredible relationships she has built within the hospital and social services community here in Springfield and beyond.

Danielle is a compassionate and transforming healing presence within our community. She is often the first line when a patient calls looking for help or when someone leaves a message stating they are homeless, hungry or sick. While providing any of these services is not in her job description, she takes on these challenges with eloquence and level of professionalism and compassion. In many ways she is a “jack of all trades” and has added her own level of style, poise and professionalism to the job. She often credits her father for instilling in her the work ethic she brings to work each day and over her incredible 50-year work history. Instances of being out sick or late for the day do not occur with Danielle.

Danielle says her strong connection to the hospital and the Sisters of Providence stems from that long ago chance encounter in high school. "I feel like I walk in the footsteps of the Sisters because my career started when I met Sister Cecilia" she said. "Mercy Medical Center is a part of me – my heart belongs to Mercy."

Submitted by Mollie Sullivan, Social Services Counselor, Health Care for the Homeless, Mercy Medical Center.

Have a story you want to share? Submit your story at TrinityHealthOfNE.org/YourStories.