HERMISTON, Ore.-Good Shepherd Health Care System (GSHCS) hosted a retirement ceremony in honor of Children’s Center Director/Manager Lynn Gutierrez on September 23.
Children’s Center staff, GSHCS colleagues, and former students gathered to commemorate Gutierrez’s career that spanned over two decades in early childhood education.
“I am overwhelmed with gratitude for my time with GSHCS and want to say thank you for the opportunities I have had to work here and to be a small part in so many littles’ lives,” said Gutierrez.
The children of GSHCS employees currently attending the Children’s Center were also brought to the reception, honoring Gutierrez and highlighting the legacy of childcare that she leaves behind.
“Working with kids has blessed me more than I could have imagined,” said Gutierrez, who will miss being around children, teaching and caring for them the most in retirement. “It doesn’t matter if you’re having a good or bad day. Conversations with children are unfiltered and blunt, it’s pure honesty.”
After leaving corporate America to pursue her dream of becoming a teacher after her son was born, Gutierrez has now worked in early childhood education for 25 years, the past 21 with Good Shepherd.
Gutierrez has served as Director of the GSHCS Children’s Center since 2019, overseeing a staff of 40 childcare professionals who provide subsidized childcare for GSHCS employees.
For Gutierrez, one of the many points of pride throughout her career in early childhood education is helping guide the Children’s Center through the pandemic.
“I became Director right before COVID, staying open and getting through the pandemic with my staff is one of the things that really stands out,” said Gutierrez.
Now that she’s retired, Gutierrez plans to move to Colorado to be closer to family, although she admits that she may have to volunteer or find a part-time job in early education, because she will miss working with children so much.
“There’s very much a need for affordable and reliable childcare and Good Shepherd recognized that years ago,” said Gutierrez.
Good Shepherd has provided onsite childcare at its Hermiston campus since 1995 and recently completed a $4 million expansion project to its Children’s Center.
As of 2024, childcare benefits, including full or partial reimbursement of childcare costs for employees, were available to only about 35% of private industry hospital workers in America, according to data from the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics.
The GS Children’s Center was expanded from 6,000 to 15,000 square feet, allowing Gutierrez and her staff to provide childcare for even more GSHCS employees.
With the original and expanded space, the Children’s Center now includes 15 classrooms, two small staff/educational rooms, a commercial kitchen, gym, and a reconstructed and upgraded infant/toddler playground.
The Good Shepherd Children’s Center can now care for 164 children between the ages of six weeks and six-years-old daily, up from 66 at the original facility.
“I wish the best for Good Shepherd Children’s Center: those managing, those teaching and those littles who attend,” said Gutierrez. “Working with children is hard both physically and emotionally and to be good at it, it is truly a calling to serve with your heart and a whole lot of patience.”
