Montgomery Retires from Surgery Center

Congratulations to Jackie Montgomery, RN, who retired Oct. 31 from Pre-Admission Testing at North Mississippi Surgery Center with more than 26 years of service.

A graduate of Lafayette County High School in Oxford, Jackie earned her associate degree in nursing in 1996 from Itawamba Community College. In August 1997, she joined the North Mississippi Health Services team as a staff nurse on 3 West. After transferring to the Surgery Center, she also worked as an OR circulating nurse and pre-op nurse before assuming her last role.

“I've met many people that I've grown to love on a personal level, many that would do anything in the world for me. This retirement is bittersweet,” Jackie says. “North Mississippi-Surgery Center is a gold star facility in my opinion. I watched the hospital take excellent care of my husband as he suffered with lung cancer, NMMC Home Hospice care until he passed, and the aftercare provided to me for a year. My Surgery Center family provided me the opportunity to be with him. For that I will be forever grateful.”

Jackie says the best part of her job was “meeting people every day and knowing that I made a difference in the way that they felt going into their surgeries,” and she will miss interacting with patients. She found it rewarding when former patients remembered her from Surgery Center.

“I will miss my co-workers that I have known for years—people who have been there for me in the ups and downs of life,” says Jackie, who lives in Tupelo. “Without them, my life would have been much different. I consider my co-workers my family.”

In retirement, she looks forward to spending more time with her family -- Erica, Sam and Connor Moore, and Matt Montgomery. “I'm going to watch my grandson grow, clean out my flower beds and do a little traveling,” she says, “and of course, there are tons of closets that need to be cleaned out.”