Diane Skeen no longer in the house
Anyone who’s been lucky enough to cross paths with Diane Skeen during her 30 years at Cincinnati Children’s will tell you about her welcoming smile, her knack for listening and her penchant for giving hugs – more than 5,250 of them – and that’s just to those who interviewed for a residency here.
The manager of the House Staff and residency program manager retired in December.
“I’m ready and not so ready,” she said. “It’s bittersweet.”
Skeen started in 1986, working for Food Services handling events and catering. In that role, she met a lot of people throughout the medical center. An administrative position opened up in 1988 in Construction Services, which she took on, followed by a stint as administrative assistant to Mike Farrell, MD, in 1994. He was in charge of the pediatric residency program then, and he encouraged her to sign on as program coordinator in 2001.
“Dr. Farrell had confidence in me and knew I could do it,” she recalls, “but without his support, I wouldn’t have gone that way.”
About that same time, Javier Gonzalez del Rey, MD, took over as director of the program.
“We were like the blind leading the blind,” says Gonzalez del Rey. “Shortly after we started, we had a visit from the Accreditation Council for Graduate Medical Education, which accredits our program. At that time most of the information required was not on computers. Our ‘C’ drive was a file cabinet. Diane looked at me and said, ‘What the heck have we gotten ourselves into?’”
Through lots of hard work and diligence, they made it through that visit, and the program continued to grow.
Says Gonzalez del Rey, “When the architects were designing Location A, where the program is housed, Diane was the one asking where the residents were going to sleep or work or have their conferences. She attended to all those details, and with her experience from construction services, she made it happen. No matter how big the job, she would consistently tell me, ‘Do not worry. We will get this done one way or another.’ And she always did.”
Today there are 200 residents and five chief residents. Every spring, roughly 54 new residents arrive, culled from a pool of more than 1,700 applicants and 400 interviews. “My staff and I take care of the business portion of things,” says Skeen. “The residents are always in the process of something – training, caring for patients and exams …. There’s a lot of paperwork and requirements.”
But for Skeen, the paperwork is only part of the job. It’s the people who have meant the most to her.
“The residents are like my own kids and grandkids,” she says. “They come here excited and scared. It’s important they know someone is there for them. If they’ve had a bad day, they come to my office, some in tears. But when they complete the program, they are different than when they first arrived. They are grown. It’s like watching a baby bird learn to fly.”
Skeen especially enjoyed graduations and orientations. “It’s like being part of a success story. It’s great to see the residents go through the program, then graduate and get the job they’ve always wanted,” she explains. “Some have even found their partner in life during their time here. Once we had a marriage proposal during morning report.”
Skeen says she won’t miss getting up at 4:30 am and driving 50 minutes to work and then back home every day. She and her husband, Mike, who have been married for 46 years, are planning to drive to Alaska in June. And she’ll have more time to spend with family, which includes two sons, a daughter and nine grandchildren.
Skeen estimates her years at Cincinnati Children’s have been an education for her, as much as they’ve been for the residents she’s served. “I’ve learned about a whole different world that I never knew existed,” she says. “I’ve seen the struggles of those who are trying to achieve something fantastic. I’ve felt part of something way bigger than I could have imagined, part of something that affects not only day-to-day life, but thousands of lives – maybe not now, but 10 years down the road. It’s very humbling.”
To all who have been part of Skeen’s journey, she says, “Thank you for every minute and every kindness you have shown to me. Thank you for helping me achieve my goals.”
