Celebrating a Fifty-Year Career in Allergy Care

Longevity in any career is impressive—especially when that career helps people lead healthier, happier lives. For Mary Gardner, CEENTA’s allergy technician lead at our Matthews office, her work has brought patients relief from the constant irritations caused by ragweed, pollen, and pet dander.

Having reached the milestone of fifty years with CEENTA, Mary has seen it all when it comes to allergy care. Between mixing vials and preparing allergy shots for patients, she took a moment to reflect on her storied career.

What brought you to CEENTA at the start of your career?

I initially came to interview in 1975 as a new graduate and was looking for my place in the medical field. ENT was not even on my radar – and surely not allergy care – as I had done my externship for medical assisting in OBGYN and then in urology. However, the college I attended had a work assistance program and I received a call one day asking if asking if I’d be interested in interviewing for a medical assistant position in ENT at CEENTA.

Even though the position was more on the clerical front end, I was ready to work and had the chance to take an American Academy of Otolaryngic Allergy basic training course at Tulane University in New Orleans. I went and tried to learn all I could about ENT and allergy and the rest is history.

How have you seen the practice grow over the years?

We have had much growth. I remember being at the old Charlotte Eye Ear Nose & Throat Hospital on 3rd Street. We didn’t have computers—just paper charts and handwritten notes carried to providers for things like medication refills and surgery questions. Now it is just so simple to send the provider and their team a message via Epic messenger or Teams or email.

We still had paper charts though, and paper allergy records to document each injection or each vial that was mixed. Then EMRs came on board, and we had programs to do our allergy records. It was amazing to have all of this at our fingertips after those years of relying on paper.

I also remember the days when you did not use gloves, did not have sharps containers, did not have safety glide sharps/needles, and had to test two patients in the same room at the same time. We have grown in a lot of good ways to help our patients over the years, including HIPAA guidelines and better practices that create a safer environment for both patients and staff.

What are some of your favorite memories at CEENTA?

My favorite memories would be just all the people I have worked with over the years. What an honor it has been to work with incredible physicians, especially at the Matthews office.

Allergy care gives you such a wonderful experience to be close and build a relationship with your patients that you care for each week. When I am training new allergy techs, I remind them that they will have lots of one-on-one patient contact and this must be something that you love. So many memories of "employee family fun days" as well.

But, most importantly, it’s the people and the relationships. My first manager who saw something in me and hired me was named Mary as well. And I treasure the one coworker with whom I worked side by side for 38 years, Maryanne.

What do you want people to walk away with when they come to CEENTA?

I just want people to know that we are here to serve the community and their allergy needs. We share a love of helping someone feel better when they come to our office and have tried everything else, and how grateful they are once they start to feel better. That is the reward for all we do here.

On behalf of the entire CEENTA family, we would like to congratulate Mary Gardner on fifty years of dedicated service to patient care! You can see Mary during your own allergy test in Matthews by scheduling today through our online scheduling tool or myCEENTAchart if you are an existing patient.