At 104, Alma Walsh has a lifetime of stories to tell. Some of her fondest are centered around her nursing career in the Kaiser shipyards and at Kaiser Permanente in Oakland.

Recently, Walsh was a patient in the Roseville Medical Center where she shared stories with her care team and expressed admiration for the nurses.

Once nurse Rebeca Haynes realized Walsh’s rich history with Kaiser Permanente, she went to the volunteer center to get quilts to give her as a thank you for her service. Several other nurses joined her in meeting and applauding Walsh’s time in the shipyards and her career as one of the first Kaiser Permanente nurses.

Patient shares about shipyard life

The shipyards along the West Coast operated by Henry J. Kaiser’s companies during World War II became the American home front. Kaiser’s Richmond shipyards built Liberty and Victory ships for carrying men and supplies to U.S. armies.

Meanwhile, Walsh was fulfilling a childhood dream of becoming a nurse.

“It was a lifelong dream,” Walsh recalled. “In 1942, I graduated from a 3-year nursing school in North Dakota and made the move to California.”

Needing to support his workforce, Kaiser turned to Sidney R. Garfield, MD, who previously operated a health plan for Kaiser’s Grand Coulee Dam workers and families in Washington state. Dr. Garfield designed the plans for the on-site first aid stations to handle minor injuries, and hired nurses, including Walsh at the Richmond shipyards.

The demands of working the first-aid station were relentless, but Walsh, who had 2 brothers serving in the war, was dedicated, she said. She provided care to both men and women workers who often worked long hours under challenging conditions.

One of the more dangerous hazards included fumes from welding and paint spraying. Common injuries recorded at the Richmond shipyards were those to the eyes, burns and scars, collisions with objects, and strains and sprains.

“The workers would get hurt often,” recalled Walsh. “We removed a lot of metal from their eyes.”  

Breaking barriers

By mid-1943, more than 57 doctors, 266 nurses, and 345 staff provided medical care to more than 90,000 workers in the Richmond shipyards, according to the Permanente Health Plan’s 1943 annual report.

In addition to providing medical care, her time at the shipyards was also about breaking barriers.

Walsh was part of a pioneering generation of women who stepped into traditionally male roles. These women challenged societal norms and paved the way for future generations of female professionals.

The shipyard’s Oakland Medical Center opened in 1942, which became Kaiser Permanente’s first hospital after the war. A year later in 1943, Walsh was hired at the hospital.

From 1943 until 1960, Walsh worked in many departments, including surgical, pediatrics, ob-gyn, and lastly outpatient orthopedics. She retired from nursing to raise her daughter.

Walsh remembered her days in nursing with a mix of nostalgia and pride, noting how much nursing has changed in the 65 years since she retired.

“There are so many instruments, new drugs, and computer programs nurses today have to know. During the war, we sterilized and reused a lot of things that today are strictly single-use items.”

As she looks back over a century of life and nearly 2 decades of nursing, Walsh’s eyes still sparkle with the passion.

“You have to like it, you have to want to do it,” Walsh said of choosing a career in nursing. “I loved it.”

Haynes said she felt honored to meet her.

“We all left the room smiling,” Haynes said. “We went back to work, happy we made time to meet and talk to her.  She was smiling and so happy.”