Lt. Gov. Nancy Wyman was presented with the Bristol Hospital Champion Award by president and CEO, Kurt Barwis on behalf of the hospital staff.
“We get to recognize a person who I think the world of, and, that feeling is shared by so many people here, so many people throughout the state,” said Barwis.
Wyman, a Democrat, was first elected as lietenant governor in 2011, and will be retiring from a 40 year long career in politics this November. She previously worked as an X-ray technician before working in politics.
State representatives Whit Betts, Dr. William Petit, and Chris Ziogas, attended the Hospital Champion Breakfast, Tuesday, Oct. 2, to share kind words about Wyman.
Betts referred to Wyman’s retirement as an “end of an era” of good public servants who made “friends across the aisle,” regarding Wyman’s effort to work in a bipartisan manner.
Petit described Wyman as “warm, generous, and welcoming,” and said she was the person to turn to when you wanted to get things done.
Ziogas shared sentiments on behalf of Bristol mayor, Ellen Zoppo-Sassu, who said Wyman has been a “friend of the city for close to 30 years.”
Wyman said helping people makes her feel proud, even if the help doesn’t appear to be grandiose. She hopes to leave behind a legacy of bipartisanship, and said she was most proud of her efforts in healthcare.