Connect

This is the latest installment in our Connect article series “Hope at Work” — showcasing inspiring stories about how our team members contribute to UVA Health’s 10-year strategic plan: “One Future Together Health and Hope for All.”  No matter where you work, you have an opportunity to inspire hope in others. These stories show how:

When Betty Phillips, BSN, RN, arrives for work, she begins her day with a simple test. “Every time I log in, I check if I can still remember my password,” she jokes. “If I can, I say, ‘Well, I can stay today!’”

After 70 years of working at UVA Health — which is marking its own 125th anniversary in 2026 — Betty is still bringing the same humor, compassion, and dedication to each day. She continues to log in every Monday and usually one Friday a month at the Plastic Surgery Clinic, calling those shifts her “brain days.”

But her mental workouts are just one part of Betty's routine — she also exercises every morning and tries to walk at least one mile each evening, regardless of the weather. “I just think the more active you stay, the more likely you are to be healthier in old age,” she explains.

Betty's commitment to staying active appears to be serving her well, as she recently celebrated her 90th birthday with parties at home and at work!

'It's About Being Present'

Although the nursing profession has changed greatly during Betty's career, she believes patient care remains at its heart. “You have to know each patient,” she says. “I know that we’re in a rushed-up era, but you still need to take time to get to know each patient.”

She often begins by asking patients what is happening from their perspective. If someone reports pain, she asks follow-up questions rather than simply recording a number. 

Katie Arnold, MSN, RN, Clinical Manager, Plastic Surgery Clinic, says Betty continues to receive praise from patients for her kindness, her stories, and her willingness to listen. “It’s not just a clock-in, clock-out kind of job,” Arnold says. “It’s about being here. It’s about being present. And I see that with Betty every day!”

'I Can Help You Get There!'

Betty's influence extends far beyond the patients she cares for. During her years as a nurse manager, she made a point of recognizing team members' strengths and helping them imagine where their interests could lead.

“I’d say, ‘Where do you want to be in five years? I can help you get there!'"

Sometimes that meant helping team members identify classes, rearrange schedules, or return to school. Years later, former team members have told Betty that she recognized their potential before they saw it themselves.

“Over the years, it has been wonderful to work with all the people who taught me so much,” she recalls. “I also want to give a big thank you to the hundreds of team members I hired or trained. Many of those people worked for me for more than 20 years! I’ve just had a wonderful career here!”

Integral to UVA Health’s Past, Present, and Future

Listening to nurses also helped Betty introduce changes at UVA Health that continue to shape patient care today. In the early 1980s, when team members on her unit became frustrated rotating among several schedules, Betty researched 12-hour nursing shifts. She traveled to Johns Hopkins Hospital in Baltimore to study the model, piloted it on her unit, and made the schedule the subject of her research for the bachelor’s degree she earned in 1986 from UVA School of Nursing (which is also celebrating its own milestone this year: 125 years!). After the successful pilot, other UVA Health units began adopting the model.

Betty also served on a committee selecting equipment for University Hospital, which opened in 1989 to replace older buildings. During a visit to a hospital bed manufacturer, she advocated for beds that could weigh critically ill patients without requiring nurses to move them. “We now could zero the bed, and we never had to take a patient out of a bed again to weigh them,” she says.

In 1993, Betty helped establish the Charlottesville Free Clinic and volunteered there on Monday evenings after work. She enjoyed helping identify resources for the new clinic, including a phone system donated by State Farm, where her late husband, Bill, was a longtime employee. Bill passed away in 2019.

All in the Family

At 90, Betty remains grateful for the UVA Health community that has supported her throughout her career, and of course, for her family, which now includes three children, six grandchildren, and three great-grandchildren — many of whom gather with her for traditional Sunday dinners.

And Betty's dedication to healthcare and UVA Health runs in the family. Her daughter-in-law, Jennifer Phillips, RN, CCRC, is a Clinical Research Nurse Manager, UVA School of Medicine Department of Anesthesiology. Her grandson, Chase Phillips, MD, is a surgical resident at UVA Health who is interested in pursuing heart and vascular surgery.

Congratulations to Betty Phillips on celebrating her 90th birthday — and 70 years of service to UVA Health!

Read more about Betty's background and her tips for finding balance in the 2021 Connect profile, Sixty-Five Years a UVA Health Nurse.