Barbara Lum

Barbara Lum joined Intercommunity Memorial Hospital in 1966, and became director of maternity services in 1973. After 40 years of service, Barbara Lum retired from Northbay Healthcare where she worked as a registered nurse, longtime manager of maternity services, and laid the groundwork for the creation of NorthBay's Neonatal Intensive Care Unit in 1985.

"Barbara was the obstetrical department," recalled Mary Dickey, director of maternal and child health services for NorthBay. "She set very high standards for the department."

"As a young nurse seeking a job, I walked into the hospital maternity department, met the people and fell in love," Barbara recalled in 2006, when she retired from NorthBay after a 40-year career. "Since then, NorthBay has been my second family."

After her retirement, she continued to serve NorthBay as an instructor for NorthBay's Human Resources Department, and continued as a NorthBay Guild volunteer where she was able to combine her love of nursing with her love for tennis, by serving as chair of the Golf & Tennis Classic's tennis tournament.

Barbara was passionate about her mission of providing compassionate care and advanced medicine for the tiniest, most vulnerable members of our community, and their parents. So passionate, in fact, that she endorsed the creation of a special endowment fund to benefit families of NICU babies. The Robert and Barbara Lum Endowment fund was established when her husband, Robert, passed away in December 2014.

In keeping with Barbara's wishes, funds generated from the endowment will be used to help families in need whose children are being cared for in NorthBay Medical Center's Neonatal Intensive Care Unit. It's a fitting - and perpetual tribute - for a couple who made Northbay Healthcare a significant part of their lives for so many year.