Watson Haynes and DeShay Collier
BY RAVEN JOY SHONEL, Staff Writer
ST. PETERSBURG — Golfview Healthcare Center inducted three new members into their Hall of Fame Café Oct. 13. Inductees are celebrated and honored for their success in public service, military service, professional or personal accomplishments and contributions to the community.
Golfview Healthcare Center, a long-term healthcare and rehabilitation center, held their ceremony on the same day as the other 143 facilities in the Signature HealthCARE network. This year’s inductees included resident Rosaleen Swift, employee Margaret Pittmon and volunteer Jonas Giangrosso.
For the second year in a row, Director of Social Services DeShay Collier has had the pleasure of organizing the ceremony. This year she ambushed the guest speaker by not letting him know he was on the program until he arrived.
“When your children do things, you show up,” said Watson Haynes, president & CEO of Pinellas County Urban League.
Hayne’s secretary was in on the surprise and made sure this was one event he didn’t miss.
“My secretary said ‘don’t be late and make sure you get there,’” he recalled.
Haynes congratulated the inductees, and praised them for making Golfview Healthcare Center feel like home.
“We live in a society where we all need each other,” Haynes stated, saying he admires how employees will adopt a resident if they have no family members visiting them.
And even though he was tricked into being the guest speaker, he couldn’t help but gush about his daughter.
“When she came to work here she was ecstatic. She came and told me she had gotten a job and she loved the people and it’s a wonderful place to work and she’s going to be here forever,” he beamed.
Collier has been in long term care since 2000, and has been with Golfview for two years.
“It’s just joyous to be able to work in the geriatric population and look at the residents as my own family. This is my family. I have to be an advocate because some residents don’t have anyone,” said Collier.
2016 inductees into the Hall of Fame Café
Margaret Pittmon, left, with Dir.
of Nursing Marcea McFarlane
Margaret Pittmon was born and raised in St. Petersburg. She began her career in healthcare by working at Concordia Manor for one year in the housekeeping and laundry departments. After becoming a certified nursing assistant (CNA), she transferred to the nursing department and worked as a CNA for 10 years.
After leaving Concordia Manor, Pittmon accepted a job at Golfview in the laundry and dietary department. For the last 22 years she has been working as a CNA, where she strives to provide excellent nursing care to her residents.
She has a great passion for the elderly, and with that she believes in building long lasting and trusting relationship with her residents.
Pittmon is a mother of three and a proud grandmother of eight. Her favorite pass times include family, relaxing, watching television, doing puzzles and shopping.
She was inducted to the 2016 Hall of Fame Café for community involvement and professional achievements.
L-R, Nephew John Rabbitt, Rosaleen Swift
and Karen Rabbitt
Rosaleen Swift was born in Ballinrobe, a town in County Mayo in Ireland just as the Irish Civil War began in 1922. She grew up in New York and later moved to the Bronx. Graduating in June of 1941, she was awarded a four-year commercial diploma for her “proficiency in scholarship and integrity of character.”
Swift joined the Research Institute of America as a typist in the secretarial pool at age 17. During the next 45 years, she received various promotions, culminating in her appointment as executive secretary to the executive director. She stayed home to take care of her parents and wounded war hero brother, becoming the primary breadwinner and caretaker.
She did all of this while pursuing a successful career at a time when the “glass ceiling” seemed unbreakable. Swift represents a generation of women who may not have received the acclaim they deserved, but certainly wielded great influence. Whether assisting the executive director of a prestigious tax institute in New York City, or making sure her nephews and nieces understood that all people deserve respect, her influence was and remains an integral part of everyone’s lives she touches.
Swift was inducted to the 2016 Hall of Fame Café for her professional involvement and educational achievements.
Jonas Giangrosso, center, and family
