Behavioral health nurse bids Tropical Texas farewell after half a century

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Amelia “Molly” Bluhm recalls her most cherished memories like a proud mother flipping through a photo album, pointing to endearing moments in life that helped shape her and those she loves. She speaks of them like snapshots of a smile here, a thank you there, and a collection of joyous occasions.

Now, after more than half a century serving the mental health needs of South Texans, Bluhm is retiring and decided to take out that proverbial photo album Tuesday not just to evoke the memories she made, but to detail the life of a young woman who went from knowing little about behavioral health into becoming a beloved mainstay in her field.

Bluhm, a licensed vocational nurse, began her career at Tropical Texas Behavioral Health nearly 56 years ago, where she found what she referred to as another family.

Before moving to Tropical Texas, Bluhm worked as a nurse at a hospital nursing home where she often had random shifts. After her daughter was born she searched for a job that would allow her to work regular hours and still spend time with her daughter.

Following a trip to the employment agency, she was hired at the Edinburg Diagnostic and Evaluation Center, which is now known as Tropical Texas Behavioral Health. And thus began a journey helping others through their journeys through struggle.

But at first, she took the job without any idea of what exactly the facility did.

“At that time there were no mental health facilities here, when someone got mentally ill they were sent to San Antonio State Hospital,” Bluhm said Tuesday.

She began her work there Jan. 6, 1969 and went on to serve the psychiatry department under Dr. Clarence Lee Tumberg, who Bluhm continues to admire to this day.

“He was a great teacher,” Bluhm said. “He would explain to me every patient that he saw, he would teach me about why he was giving the medications.”

She found her place as she continued working there taking on roles such as working in the day activity center, helping with state school applications, making home visits and other tasks.

Bluhm became so dedicated to her work and patients that she would often arrive at work 45 minutes before she had to clock in.

“I was ready to go, I didn’t like to keep my patients waiting,” Bluhm said. “I treated them the way I would’ve wanted to be treated.”

Over the years she has seen mental health services improve and increase in the Rio Grande Valley, including through both medication and treatments.

She recalled prior to Tropical Texas’s presence in the Valley those dealing with mental health issues had to travel to a state hospital and would often stay there.

Now patients are able to return home after one visit and manage their mental health problems with the proper medications.

She added that being able to see the growth in the profession and applying that help to patients has been one of the most rewarding aspects of her career.

For Bluhm, there is one moment in her career that helped her realize she was doing the job that was meant for her.

Early in her career she would make home visits to give patients their necessary injections and would often meet her patients’ families.

She recalled a day when a woman visited her at her office to tell Bluhm how she inspired her to pursue a career in health care.

“She told me that she had become an RN (registered nurse). She said, ‘I remember when you used to go see my father and give him an injection … and he was well when you would give him the injection,’” Bluhm said with joy in her voice, adding that moment helped the woman decide to become a nurse in the future.

“She said, ‘I did it because of you,’ and that was really rewarding, I felt like oh my God I made a difference.”

For the past 25 years, Bluhm worked in the children’s department of the facility.

She would spend each day listening and building trust with each of her patients, something she said she is going to miss the most about her job.

“I’m going to miss them, seeing them, talking to them, feeling like I was making a difference in their lives,” Bluhm said, adding that many patients would ask for her specifically. “It was a wonderful feeling. It was rewarding to see the difference.”

She added that she loved working there so much that it took a lot of convincing from her family to finally retire at 81 years old.

Now after nearly 56 years working at Tropical Texas, Bluhm explained that it was difficult saying goodbye to the people who had become her family.

“When I started telling some of my patients that I was going to retire they were like, ‘no, no, don’t leave,’” Bluhm said, adding they hated to see her go after building a long-standing relationship.

Bluhm explained that she loved her job so much that it never actually felt like work.

This is advice she passes on to anyone deciding on a career to pursue — choose something you love.

She also reminds anyone pursuing a career in mental health to remember that it requires patience.

“You’re going to see them for a long time, they’re going to have their ups and downs but you have to stick with them,” Bluhm said.

After a career taking care of others, now it’s Bluhm’s turn to take care of herself and plans to sleep in, travel more, exercise, spend time with friends and even watch Netflix. Just taking it easy.

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