Photo courtesy of Harlingen Medical Center
Oralia Gaytan of Harlingen has worked in the cafeteria of Harlingen Medical Center for nearly 20 years, starting before the hospital even opened.
HARLINGEN – Oralia Gaytan of Harlingen has worked in the cafeteria of Harlingen Medical Center for nearly 20 years, starting before the hospital even opened.
Gaytan began working at the hospital on Sept. 9, 2002, three weeks before the hospital saw its first patient on Oct. 2.
“Back then, we were just getting ready for the grand opening,” Gaytan recalls. “We would stock everything, because we were ordering the food and supplies. We were equipping the kitchen and putting shelves up. I was very excited to be part of Harlingen Medical Center when it first started.”
Gaytan remembers the first patients – a mother and her newborn baby. The Harlingen Medical Center Dietary Services staff prepared a special meal for the new mom. Nearly 20 years later, the cafeteria staff still helps new mothers celebrate the birth of their children, with a steak or chicken breast dinner, complete with sides, salad, dessert, and all the trimmings.
“I am excited about the upcoming 20-year anniversary of the hospital,” Gaytan said. “I didn’t even realize that it had been 20 years. The years passed by real fast. I’ve really enjoyed working here; I work with so many good people.”
Gaytan added that HMC Dietary Services Director Eva Selvera, Registered Dietitian / Licensed Dietitian, is very good at listening to the employees and being of assistance to them.
“Eva is such an awesome boss; she’s there for us, always,” she said.
Over the years, Gaytan has worked in a variety of positions in the hospital Dietary Services department, including taking meals to patients, serving meals in the doctors’ lounge, working in the coffee shop, washing dishes, and most recently as a cashier in the cafeteria.
“I’m trained for everything, except for cooking,” she added.
Gaytan said some of her fondest memories of working at the hospital have been during holidays, like Christmas, when the staff puts up a Christmas tree and decorates the kitchen.
For Halloween, the Dietary Services staff has won several costume contests at the hospital. One year, the staff dressed in 1970s attire and danced to songs from the movie “Grease”, starring John Travolta.
Another year, they dressed up as Lotería characters from the “Chalupa” Mexican bingo game, with Gaytan dressing as La Mano (the hand).
“We try to decorate for all of the holidays and make everyone feel happy,” she said. “We really enjoy it.”
Gaytan is a Harlingen native who has spent all of her life here, attending Ben Milam Elementary, Coakley Middle School, and Harlingen High School.
She is very grateful to her parents, Guadalupe and Francisca Gaytan, who have been very supportive and took care of her daughter when she was working. Her daughter, Xochitl Villasana, is now fully-grown at age 21, but Gaytan says “she will always be my baby.”
When she’s not working, Gaytan enjoys relaxing at home or at South Padre Island. But even when’s she working, Gaytan still feels at home.
“We’re like family here at Harlingen Medical Center…I love the people I work with,” she said.
