Anderson Logs 43 Years with NMMC Food & Nutrition

TUPELO, Mississippi--Congratulations to Nancy Anderson, a clinical dietitian in Food and Nutrition Services, who recently retired after 43 years of service at North Mississippi Medical Center.

Nancy joined the NMMC team in September 1980. During her long career she worked with every nursing unit at NMMC except for Pediatrics and the Neonatal Intensive Care Unit, also covering nutrition assessments and consults at Women’s Hospital and the Behavioral Health Center.

“We work with sick people who are often going through some of the worst times of their lives,” Nancy says. One of the best parts of my job was coming in every day with the hope and intention of helping to make a better day in some way for at least one person.”

In the 1990s Nancy offered outpatient nutrition counseling at the Family Medicine Residency Center and led classes at the Wellness Center. She also worked with long term-care and swing bed patients in Baldwyn, Pontotoc, Eupora and Iuka, Mississippi, and Hamilton, Alabama.

NMMC Home Care and Hospice became one of the few agencies nationwide to offer nutrition services. Nancy and registered dietitian Lynn Patterson were invited to present NMMC’s program at the national convention of the American Academy of Nutrition and Dietetics. They subsequently published an article about the program in a national journal. In the late 1990s, Nancy began working as the Home Health and Hospice dietitian in addition to working at the main hospital.

A graduate of Leland High School, Nancy attended Millsaps College for two years before deciding to become a dietitian. She transferred to the University of Southern Mississippi, where she earned her bachelor’s degree in nutrition and dietetics. She completed a dietetic internship at St. Dominic’s Hospital in Jackson.

“I have appreciated my years at NMMC and all the learning experiences,” Nancy says. “I am grateful for being part of a team that values and expects excellence for our patients and families.”

Nancy and her husband, Andy, reside in Okolona. Retirement will allow her more time with her family, which includes son Van, who lives in Saltillo, and daughter Jane (husband Sam) and granddaughter Alice, who live in North Carolina.

Since retiring, Nancy has enrolled in Mississippi State University’s Master Gardener course and looks forward to learning new things.