MORE THAN HALF A CENTURY OF SERVICE
Beatrice Cameron-Mayberry reflects on 50 years at UF Health Shands (photos prior to COVID-19 protocols)
In the darkness and humidity of the early morning, Beatrice “Bea” Cameron-Mayberry walked from her house to the nearest Greyhound bus station in Starke, Florida. At only 17 years old, Bea was a memorable passenger and all of the bus drivers knew her.
From May through October of 1969, this was how Cameron-Mayberry got to work at UF Health Shands — known then as W. A. Shands Teaching Hospital and Clinics. She later got a car and started a carpool for other young adults in the area who worked on the Gainesville campus.
Cameron-Mayberry had just graduated from Bradford High School when she accepted the job with Shands. A representative from the hospital had attended her high school’s career day and Cameron-Mayberry made sure to profess her love of computers to him.
“I had completed the data processing courses in high school,” Cameron-Mayberry recalled. “They told me they had jobs I could do and set me up with a test in HR.”
Now, Cameron-Mayberry works as an application system analyst for UF Health IT Services. She has worked in the same department for 51 years.
From her first day in 1969, Cameron-Mayberry said she knew UF Health Shands was the right fit for her.
In 1975, after six years at Shands, Cameron-Mayberry moved from Starke to Gainesville. She needed a bilateral mastectomy and did not want to worry her parents, whom she had lived with in Starke.
Years later, both of Cameron-Mayberry’s parents would become patients too and receive treatment for cancer at the hospital.
Despite her personal battles, Cameron-Mayberry says she “never missed a day” of work in her half-century career at UF Health Shands.
“The opportunities [and] the people I work with make it worthwhile,” Cameron-Mayberry said.
In her free time, Cameron-Mayberry enjoys going to church, reading and going for rides with her husband.
Cameron-Mayberry encourages her co-workers to stay determined, do their best in their jobs and give it their all.
“Every day you go to work, be thankful,” Cameron-Mayberry said. “I thank Shands for my job and I appreciate them giving me the opportunity to start my career.”