Catherine Roberts, L.P.N., known as Miss Kitty by friends and associates, was in for a delightful surprise a recent morning when she walked into a room full of familiar faces. They were there to celebrate her retirement and honor her outstanding 30 plus years of service at Lower Keys Medical Center.
Born in Miami and raised in Key West since she was 5 years old, Miss Kitty began her nursing career over 60 years ago in Charity Hospital, located in New Orleans. In 1955, she took her State of Florida Nursing Boards and returned to Key West. She recalled “nursing was very primitive back then, we used to scrub, sharpen and sterilize needles for re-use!” At Galey Hospital in Key West she “worked in all departments; one minute she would be helping deliver a baby and the next, she would be assisting with a surgery in the operating room down the hall.” She even remembered when the “the hospital didn’t have a pharmacy and prescriptions were filled at the pharmacy down the street!”
