Family Connections: The Kent Family

We like to think of Valley Health as one large family, and nothing personifies that more than when family members work together in our health system.

The Kent family has been with Valley Health for 31 years. Here is what Jim Kent, Lifeline specialist, wrote about his family's story:

"My wife Dena took her first position in 1991 as Director of Rehabilitation Services, opening Winchester Rehabilitation Center in the 'old hospital' at 333 W. Cork St. It launched her career in senior management, a long-held professional goal. She championed the construction of the Valley Health Wellness and Fitness Center in Winchester. Dena's career ended in 2012 when she retired as president of Valley Regional Enterprises. We lost her in 2014 after a long battle with cancer.

Our children, John and Eleanor, are both alumni of the WMC Child Care Center. While an engineering student at Cornell, John interned summers at WMC in the IT department from 2010-2012. Eleanor, a sports management student at James Madison University, interned at the WMC Wellness Center in 2015. She was excited to be part of her mom’s legacy there. John is now a PhD candidate in mathematics at George Mason University. Eleanor is Director of Operations for the Side-Out Foundation.

I joined WMC in 2014 as a volunteer after retiring after 20+ years in energy at ExxonMobil and Washington Gas. I was looking for a way to make a difference at WMC, which is so vital to our community and instrumental in my family's life. In 2016, I was asked to fill in as a Lifeline specialist when the paid staff member in the position suddenly left. I've been "filling in" ever since. I’m also involved in any number of projects around WMC, and I’m a board member at the Sinclair Health Clinic."

- Jim Kent