In the 1960s, Betty Ann Matthies remembers carrying out the final few pieces of medical equipment at Seguin’s original hospital on Weinert Street. She remembers loading them onto the back of a pickup truck with fellow nurse and best friend Beth Kunkel Lange. From there, she headed straight to what would become Seguin’s future hospital on East Court Street. With that pivotal move, it is said Matthies literally drove the city right into what would become the next chapters of Seguin’s future healthcare community, thus establishing the foundation for the hospital that we all know today as Guadalupe Regional Medical Center (GRMC).
What perhaps is more inspiring is that up until a few months ago, Matthies finally retired after serving the medical community for 60 straight years. Whether it was as a nurse or, as in recent years, a voice on the hospital’s board of managers, Matthies, over the decades, has maintained a role in shaping today’s healthcare community in Seguin. She was also recently referred to as the “lifeblood of the hospital” following the launch of a new scholarship designed to assist a hospital employee looking to advance their career in the medical field.
Over those years, her time at the hospital was spent as the director of nursing, a caregiver and teacher to new nurses – creating a culture that still exists today.
Reflecting on those years, Matthies said it all started when she helped convince the city that it had to buy a hospital.
“This was before we had the hospital because there were two nurses (Sarah Hazard and Dorothea Siepmann) who had been in the military, and they owned that little (26-bed) hospital on Weinert Street, but they were tired of running it and they were wanting to sell it and so they said, ‘do you want to buy it? Or do you want to put it out for anybody?’ I said, I think the city ought to buy it and I talked with the city at that time, and we discussed it and how much of a value it would be if we owned the hospital and the doctors and everybody was for it,” Matthies said. “So, we bought it from those two nurses, and they left.”
Matthies prides herself on being able to rope in the county into that deal — swaying it to be a part of something big.
“I remember it was my uncle who was the county judge (Joe Fleming), and he made sure that everything for the hospital – that needed to be available was available,” Matthies said.
In fact, over the years, the city has continued ownership of that hospital. To this day, GRMC remains the only city/county-owned hospital in the state of Texas – a feat that Matthies is quite proud about.
Shortly after that time, the needs of the community meant a bigger and better facility. So then, the vision for a new facility sparked a trek in that pickup truck across town.
Those efforts by Matthies, doctors in the community, and others ultimately led to the approval of a bond referendum in support of a 64-bed hospital (Guadalupe Valley Hospital) in 1965.
When asked about establishing what is now referred to as “the foundation” of Seguin’s healthcare community, Matthies said this was always a top priority for this community.
“It was wonderful. I enjoyed every single day,” Matthies said. “I worked hard and I lived not far, and I was married, and I had children and I worked at the hospital, and we had many many talented people that came in for different things and it was just a matter of keeping up with new stuff and so we would gather up people that we knew were knowledgeable. We would search for people that were very good at one thing and then we tried to say, ‘could you help us with our hospital?’ We always had the support of the people in the county. People were always ready to say ‘oh yes, I’ll help. What would you like for me to do?’ Life was not hard because people were good. Like I said, I wasn’t driving the bus. I was just trying to get it all put together and many of the people were so happy to have a hospital right here.”
Most of Matthies’ career as a nurse was spent operating under the name Guadalupe Valley Hospital. However, she said it was until 2005 that the hospital was renamed Guadalupe Regional Medical Center (GRMC) – a change that she said reflects the incredible reputation that the facility has built over the years, not only regionally but nationally.
“If there was anyone to be able to talk about how good the hospital is – not only because I worked there but for four months, I was in this hospital these past years,” she said. “I was admitted for a lot of different things because I had a lot of surgeries. I had a lot of things, and I got the best care and I know now that nobody needs to worry about if it’s going to be good or bad. It’s going to be good.”
And although, over the years, Matthies had a hand in many of the administrative decisions that came to the table, her passion has always been directly treating and helping patients as a nurse.
“The nurses that we got were first class,” Matthies said. “I was a nurse all year because I had been a scrub nurse in San Antonio and that’s where I had been before I came. I always loved the operating room and I had been in it for years.”
Not only was she a nurse, but for years, she oversaw the many nurses that made their way through the hospital. However, it wasn’t until 43 years later at Guadalupe Valley Hospital that Matthies finally retired as the nursing supervisor in 2004.
Among those privileged to have seen Matthies’ work in action are current GRMC CEO, Robert Haynes. Haynes said it was in 1981 as a part-time respiratory therapist that he quickly learned all about Matthies. He said it was also about this time, that he found himself “walking the long way around her office.”
“I will speak from 42 years of interactions on multiple fronts,” Haynes said. “BAM as we refer to her respectfully short for (Betty Ann Mathis) is the Margaret Thatcher personality – they speak their mind and echo the common sense of the issue at hand which most seem not to see because common sense is quite uncommon. ‘You can’t make a silk purse out of a cow’s ear’ or many other similar remarks would echo from her office as challenges were presented. Her personality came from the strength of the generation born in the depression era and molded by dutiful gratitude for the ability and freedoms they cherished. But by far, I watched her here at the hospital command respect, from all – physicians included.”
GRMC Project Manager Michelle Rumbaut also remembers clearly the first day she met BAM.
“As a student at the master’s program in hospital administration at Trinity University, I first interviewed with Mr. Don Richey for an internship at (then) Guadalupe Valley Hospital in 1985,” Rumbaut said. “He offered me the opportunity but warned me that I first needed to pass the ‘Betty Ann test.’ Fortunately for me, Betty Ann and I hit it off on our first meeting and I passed the test. She became a second mother, wise mentor, and dear friend to me over the 36 years since that first meeting.”
Over those years and even today, Rumbaut said she has realized that Matthies deserves every ounce of recognition that this community has to offer. She said despite her retirement, that drive and passion still exist and are even embedded in the hospital’s approach to treating its patients.
“Betty Ann’s personality comes through in the many sayings and quotes she offers for every occasion. Top among those was ‘Always do what is best for the patient.’ Whether the decision at hand is small or large, individual or big picture – her guiding principle of always doing what is best for the patient continues to be the foundation of our hospital philosophy,” Rumbaut stated. “Her myriad other sayings are a mixture of philosophical, hilarious, biblical, and deep-rooted Texan. She is like the Ann Richards of Seguin.”
The Seguin community today also recognizes Matthies for her leadership, having served as Seguin Mayor. Many say her hospital leadership allowed her to springboard those skills over to city politics.
It was in 2000 when Matthies’ husband C.H. “Pokey” Matthies, died while serving on the Seguin City Council. At that time, Betty Ann was provided the opportunity to serve her husband’s seat for District 7, and she was elected to the position. She then stepped down from the council position in 2004 to run for mayor where she went on to serve two full terms until 2012.
When asked about her success while serving the city of Seguin, Matthies jokingly answers, “I just know that when I got there, I never missed a day for seven years.”
But jokes aside, Matthies said her dedication to the hospital and the community it serves initially sparked her interest in running for mayor.
“I thought perhaps accepting the opportunity to be mayor would give me a little bit of clout to fix some things that I thought maybe had not been fixed before,” Matthies said. “So, I didn’t want to be a mayor forever, but I wanted to be mayor long enough to make a change.”
Haynes said there again, amongst the members of the Seguin City Council, Matthies was described as the voice of reason – a voice that in the end helped her fulfill that vision “to make a change.”
“In her second career as a city council person and a mayor and in my role as SEDC (Seguin Economic Development Corporation) chair, I watched as she brought down the walls between waring opinions Anglo/ Hispanic, county, school districts and brought a consensus so that much could get done. She was as comfortable in the governor’s office as she was in a contingent of local citizens. Her presence commanded attention,” Haynes said.
Haynes attributes much of her success at the city to the solid leadership illustrated at the hospital.
“Someone had to clear the fields and ready the soil for the prosperity that occurred in Seguin with the additions of Caterpillar and other great opportunities. Betty Ann’s greatest contribution was her action in bringing the parties aforementioned to the table for a common cause. She had the ability to get past the irrelevant and bring the relevant issue to hand for all parties to debate — skills she learned in working the many areas of the hospital and (among) the many types of egos and physicians. In our lives, we cross paths with many, but rarely with someone whose presence grabs our attention and whose words we not only hear but listen to. I am better for knowing her and glad to call her, friend,” Haynes stated.
Even during her time with the city, Matthies remained an important component of the leadership team at GRMC. It was also certain that her voice of reason played a major role while continuing to delegate amongst the members of the hospital’s board of managers – again, a position she held until recently.
“When I got on the board, we had a board and like all people, not everybody likes the other one, and it was just like a mad house to go to the board meeting. There were ones that didn’t like this, and they didn’t like this or the other and then the people that were over in the hospital didn’t want to work with somebody else and I finally said, this is not a kids’ party. You the people here are going to have to work with the people over there and you are going to have to get along and work together or we are never going to get going and I’m telling you, it wasn’t long that the county was working with the city and the city was working with (these folks) and everybody was happy. It was like a miracle. When they all started working together, we just moved up and it wasn’t about me. It was just the people wanting the best and they were willing to give in and not be so bossy to each other and not fuss with one another. Everybody worked together so well,” Matthies said.
Also privileged to have worked alongside Betty Ann is Fay Bennett, GRMC vice-president of employee services. Like most people who worked under her wings, she said BAM always encouraged an individual’s pathway up the career ladder.
“I first met Betty Ann in July 1989 when I began working at the hospital as the receptionist in personnel. I felt quite intimidated by her in her starched white uniform and white hat! I shouldn’t have been. She was very welcoming and extremely helpful and encouraging! I quickly learned that when I needed a creative solution or had what seemed like an unsolvable problem, she was my ‘go to.’ She was always an encouraging force in my career path at GRMC and I truly feel she helped to shape my path here,” Bennett said.
Bennett said Matthies has always been “the calm in the storm.”
“She taught me so much about nurses, working in healthcare and life in general. She became my’ work mom,’ She managed conflict with logic. She always listened to all sides of an issue. Betty Ann’s office was across the hall from mine and that was to my advantage. I watched for years her interactions with others. She always made time to listen. Whether it was an employee, physician, patient, or family member of a patient, she always made time to listen. She is so quick witted and always had a response or solution to a problem. She is logical. I would go to her with a situation that had me completely at a loss and after talking it through with her, (I’d) would walk away with an answer and marvel at how easy she made it seem,” Bennett said.
More importantly, Bennett says Matthies showed an enormous loyalty to GVH/GRMC.
“She understood the importance of our community having a local hospital and worked hard to ensure our success. She never complained about her responsibilities. She did what needed to be done and made it look effortless. Her outcomes speak for themselves. She, in my opinion is one of the best Mayors Seguin has ever had,” Bennett added.
While most celebrate her today as a nurse and former mayor, others recognize her for titles a little more personal – titles of best wife, mother, grandmother, friend and family member.
No matter the timeframe of her mother’s community leadership, daughter Elizabeth Matthies Kelly, said she takes notice of all her mom’s accomplishments – those before she was born and those that continue until this day.
“When I was a kid, she was the pharmacist, she was the OR (operating room) nurse on call and she was the nursing director, she delivered babies if they needed help,” Kelly said. “She would even every year on Christmas Eve, she worked so that other people could be off because she didn’t think it was fair for her to be off all holidays. She set the standards pretty high and I have been a nurse for many years and I couldn’t really work at the hospital because of her but in my time as a nurse, I have met people all over that worked for my mom and they will say things like ‘You know, I would not be where I am today if it had not been for your mom and she made me go work in this area and I told her I didn’t want to and I got there and I loved it or I started as a nurse aid under your mother when I was a HOSA student and then she helped me get into LVN school and had the supervisors work around my schedule and then she helped me get into RN school. While mother has been ill this past year, I’ve heard it from so many people.”
Among all her accomplishments, Kelly is most proud of her role as a mom.
“You know that she ran a hospital and did all of that stuff and she still had time to be the president of the PTA. I had two kids, and I didn’t have time for any of that stuff. I mean how do you do all of this stuff? I was going through some stuff at her house and there was an article that someone had written when she was the president of the PTA and she said ‘we have to contribute. We have to be part of this because we are building our children’s’ futures and if we are not part of the PTA, how are we going to help with that? And, I’m like, well I guess I failed pretty good here,” Kelly laughed.
The passion for nursing was passed down to her and to her granddaughter, who followed in BAM’s footsteps. She said her daughter is a product of the nursing school at Texas Lutheran University – a school that was also established with the help of her mother who sat on its board.
When asked today, Matthies described her time spent at GRMC as “wonderful.” She said not only did she work hard but enjoyed every single day. She also credited and thanked the many talented people who have come through those hospital doors and made contributions, as well as all those who have stayed. Many folks say Matthies’ love for the hospital is illustrated in the vision, leadership, and training that she has left behind.
Although she and a few founders are applauded for creating the hospital’s vision, Haynes, today’s CEO, and every single employee at GRMC continue to drive that vision into the next chapters for the local hospital’s future. She said local patients remain in good hands with this team in place.
