Barbara Berg: An extraordinary woman of the Pacific Northwest. Compassion, adventure, and service.
Barbara Berg
An extraordinary woman of the Pacific Northwest. Compassion, adventure, and service.
Are you a native Portlander?
While I was born in Seattle, my family moved to Portland when I was ten years old. I’ve lived in other places off and on, including college at Seattle University where I received my BSN – Bachelor of Science in Nursing. I also spent a brief time living in Eugene, where I met and married my husband, Kirk in 1980. We relocated back to Portland in 1982. Always though, I’ve considered Portland my home.
Can you talk about your military service?
I joined the United States Army Reserve as a nurse in 1979. I remember the day, January 19, 1979. I served for 23 years, mostly as a reservist, although I was activated a few times. I initially joined on the recommendation from one of my chief nurses. I respected her opinion, and she said it would be one of best decisions I could make. She was right. I was fortunate enough to stay in the same unit for most of my time, and I made some very close friends – many of whom are my good friends, today.
It was a challenge, professionally. I learned so much being around different people from a variety of backgrounds. I also learned how to put up a tent really well!
Why was tent construction a part of your expertise?
My theater, the area to which I was assigned, was a combat support hospital which is all under tentage. You don’t work in a traditional building. You put up a tent.
What does it mean to be a reservist?
Duty is one weekend a month. There is always the possibility of being activated. They call you up when they need you, or the entire unit.
You were activated – can you talk about this experience?
I was activated during Desert Storm in 1990. I shipped out on Christmas Eve and was home in June. Luckily I spent most of my time in Germany, coordinating the medevac flights bringing soldiers back from Kuwait and Saudi Arabia into Germany. While our soldiers received emergency care in the Middle East, we then brought them to Frankfurt where we had the hospitals. I retired before we went into Afghanistan.
It was a unique and extraordinary experience.
Concurrently, many things were happening during your 23-years in the Army Reserve.
After Kirk and I married and relocated back to Portland, we had our son – who was in kindergarten when I was deployed for Desert Storm. He is 38 years old now and continually reminds me that I wasn’t there when he had the chickenpox! My husband had to deal with the situation and take care of everything on his own.
Also, when we moved back to Portland I started working at Kaiser Permanente, where I worked for 24 years.
Tell us about your career at Kaiser Permanente.
This was the mid 80’s when HIV/AIDS was emerging as a powerful, unknown, and scary epidemic. I was the lead nurse at Kaiser’s HIV/AIDS clinic. At the time, we were one of the largest clinics in the state of Oregon. After the Ryan White bill passed, we grew to be the largest. The bill allowed people with HIV/AIDS who did not have money for private insurance to be funded into our system. We ran an outpatient clinic, which encompassed 100% care for people, both gay men and IV users who were HIV positive, caring for them through the progression of their disease.
What I found interesting at the time, was that during the very early days, gay men tended to leave Portland after they came out. When they got sick, many of them came home to mom and dad. We saw a lot of transplants back into the community that were end stage. In the first year we lost 55 patients, which was about one funeral a week. In the end, I lost a lot of good friends.
What is encouraging, is that even to this day, I will meet someone on the street who was a patient of mine. It always makes my heart feels so good.
How long did you work in the clinic?
Almost 13 years, and then for my last five years at Kaiser, I worked as a bone marrow transplant coordinator. I retired early in 2011.
What was your decision to retire?
Nursing is an extremely difficult job, both physically and emotionally. It’s one of the reasons that many nurses don’t work until their full retirement age.
What first motivated you to pursue nursing?
My mother was a nurse. The first few years I began practicing, I thought – what am I doing? Then, I realized that I was good at it. In addition to the specialized knowledge, you also need to be organized, efficient with your time and have an ability to prioritize tasks and skills.
You are also involved in volunteer work.
I’ve been volunteering in various homeless facilities in Old Town for the last 16 years. Currently, I volunteer for St. Andre Bessette and the Salvation Army Female Emergency Shelter. The shelter has a single room occupancy for women in recovery and transitioning. It’s very well-run and includes a feeding program, Monday – Friday. I am one of the cooks. We have a wonderful group of donors, including Whole Foods and several restaurants who provide an amazing array of food items. We cook up some great meals.
In addition to volunteering two days a week at the homeless shelter, I also volunteer at the Oregon Humane Society and enjoy walking the dogs, playing, and throwing balls for them.
Let’s talk about your decision to secure an apartment home in Parkview at Terwilliger Plaza.
We had lived most of our time in NE Portland and made the decision to let go of our house. It was more space than we needed. It was time for a change. We had been thinking about this for a while, and for the last six years we have been on the waiting list at a couple of other senior living communities. Six years and still not to the top of the list.
We heard about Parkview, which was scheduled to open in the fall. We were really impressed with Terwilliger Plaza, especially the governance structure, with a majority of board members represented by resident Members. There are ways in which to have a voice and input over our environment. Terwilliger Plaza is independent and not run by a larger entity. These are important distinctions.
We also have very good friends who live in a community in Seattle where Ryan Miller, Terwilliger’s CEO previously worked. Our friends introduced us to Ryan, and highly recommended him with the endorsement that any place he runs, will be perfect. That was a big deal to us.
You have spent time at Terwilliger Plaza. What has been your experience?
I’ve already started engaging at Terwilliger Plaza. We use the Wellness Center and the exercise facilities. I stop in at the deli for a coffee on the way out, and they know me and greet me. The staff are so important if you live there. That’s what makes the place. How they run it and how they relate to the residents. Everyone I’ve met there has been wonderful.
We can’t end this interview, without hearing about your time in Colstrip, Montana.
For a very short time, just out of college, I worked in Colstrip, Montana. It was in the middle of nowhere. It was a short-term contract on a job to provide nursing care. They were building a huge coal generated power plant and they had iron workers and pipe fitters shipped in from Detroit. They lived in these little trailers, working all day and out drinking at night. And they got in fights all the time. Our job, as nurses, was to patch them up and send them back to work. It was the worst place I’ve ever lived in my life. Somewhere between 1974 and 1979, when I was young and stupid.
And that’s when I decided that the Pacific Northwest was where I wanted to live.
You are truly an extraordinary woman of the Pacific Northwest! Thank you for your service in the Army Reserves, on behalf of our homeless community, animals who need love and attention, and the dedication to your profession and the many patients you’ve cared for.