Carol Geraci has served Greenwood House for the past 29 years.
Photo by Marilyn Silverstein
August 12, 2008
In 1979, when Carol Geraci first walked through the door of Greenwood House in Ewing, she was one of just three registered nurses overseeing the care of 60 elderly residents at the home for the Jewish aged.
On Sept. 1, when she walks out through that same door, she will be marking the end of 29 years of full-time service to the home, including 15 years as director of nursing, overseeing the care of 132 residents and a staff of some 60 nurses and 70 certified nursing assistants.
“All of a sudden, there was this lightning bolt, and I said it’s time for me to retire,” the 64-year-old Geraci said as she sat in her office at the nursing home. “I’m looking forward to it, but yet I’m a little nervous. It is life-changing for me, both personally and professionally. I think I made a big difference here. I certainly gave it my all.”
Over the years, Geraci gave her all to Greenwood House as a staff nurse, a team leader, a unit coordinator, a quality assurance coordinator, and an assistant director of nursing before becoming director of nursing in 1993.
A graduate of the St. Francis Medical Center School of Nursing, she came to Greenwood House at a difficult time in her life, Geraci said — newly divorced, raising three children on her own, and desperately in need of a full-time job.
“Not only do I feel that I’ve been good to Greenwood House, but Greenwood House has been very good to me,” she said. “When I came here, I was at a low point in my life. Greenwood House has been like a home to me.”
From the beginning, she said, the quality of care at the nursing facility was clear.
“Greenwood House always gave good care,” she said. “The place was clean, the patients got excellent care, and the supervision was good.
“To me, Greenwood House is probably the best facility,” she said. “I’m very proud of what Greenwood House is and what Greenwood House has done and still does for its residents. The staff is very dedicated to the residents. It’s an excellent home. It gives excellent care, and we’re always striving to be better.”
Like family
As she looks back over her years at the nursing facility, Geraci said, probably her greatest satisfaction has come from working with executive director Richard Goldstein.
“He certainly stands out,” she said. “We’ve been working together now for 20 years. I couldn’t ask for a better administrator. He’s a very caring man. He really cares about Greenwood House. He takes it very personally. He’s somebody who takes it home with him, and that’s very hard to find in an administrator.
“When you have great management and a great staff, it makes you look good.”
For Goldstein, the feeling is mutual.
“Carol knows the operation of the nursing home backward and forward,” he said in a phone interview. “She’s one of the most dedicated individuals I’ve ever met. She’s a tremendously talented nurse.”
Over her many years of service, Geraci worked countless hours to get the job done, Goldstein said. “She treated the residents like they were her family since she started working here. I’m very glad she’s going to stay on part-time to help us out, and I hope she stays on for a long time.”
As her retirement from full-time work approaches, Geraci said, she is looking forward to traveling and spending time with her husband, Joseph, and their blended family of six children, 10 grandchildren, and one great-grandchild. But she still plans to work at Greenwood House two days per week, helping out with quality assurance and staff education, and assisting her replacement, Beth Findura.
“I really care about Greenwood House, and that’s probably why I’m going to stay on a couple of days a week,” Geraci said. “I’m very comfortable here. The staff and residents do mean a lot to me.
“The bottom line is that I can make a difference and that I have made a difference…and that I can still make a difference” at Greenwood House.
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