Celebrating seven decades of service

'A job for life' is increasingly rare these days, but Esther Haslam spent nearly seven decades working solely for the Seventh Day Adventist Church's healthcare operations before recently retiring.

Ms Haslam began her career in the United Kingdom in December 1954 at Stanborough Nursing and Maternity home in Watford, before migrating to Australia.

In July 1967 she joined what would become Sydney Adventist Hospital, and was a stalwart there in a total of 69 years of service with the church.

"For the first seven years I performed clerical duties and then when the Clifford Tower was being constructed I worked for the Deputy Project Manager," Ms Haslam said.

The opening of the eight-storey Clifford Tower in the 1970s was marked by a change to the hospital's current name – the former sanitarium is still also known as 'the San'.

It has since grown into New South Wales' largest private hospital, and Ms Haslam was a valued member of staff throughout that development – often being the first point of contact.

"She was incredibly diligent and professional, and when you rang the hospital you knew who you were talking to," Adventist Healthcare CEO Brett Goods said.

"She also did it by the book, so when the CEO rang and said, 'I am having trouble with the computer, can you call an IS person for me', she would say to me, 'I need to page them and then when they ring me back, I will tell them to call you'."

Former colleague Sandra Andrew echoed Mr Goods' sentiments.

"Esther was always very helpful and loved to share humorous stories with us. She was very attentive to detail and made sure the on-call rosters were up to date," she said.

Ms Haslam has now officially retired and is enjoying having some spare time on her hands.

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