Women Leaders … with Kelly Barbazette: St. Louise Hospital leader enjoys caring for others, working with staff

Gloria Dela Merced is in her 22nd year at hospital

By Kelly Barbazette

Kelly Barbazette

Growing up, Gloria Dela Merced, RN, MSN, was the friend and resident “Mother Goose” who everyone turned to for encouragement, a kind word, or bandage. Now at the helm of St. Louise Regional Hospital, she found her dream come true as she leads the next generation of health care workers and makes a difference in South Valley people’s lives.

“I love what I do,” the 56-year-old hospital executive said. “Growing up and going into this now, I can’t imagine myself in a different career. I love people and taking care of people.”

I recently had the pleasure of chatting with Dela Merced via Zoom, learning about her more than 30-year career that began when she became a nurse caring for people and mentoring colleagues.

Dela Merced came to St. Louise in 2000 and has held various roles at the hospital. When Santa Clara County acquired the hospital in March 2019, she was promoted to nurse executive. By the end of that year, she advanced to hospital executive.

While excited with her new role, Dela Merced said the next several months, inextricably altered by the shooting at the 2019 Gilroy Garlic Festival and the COVID-19 pandemic, would prove to be a “test of my character and leadership.”

“Learning my new role during this challenge without a workbook,” she said, “we were very appreciative that we are part of a county that has leverage with resources and excellent leadership. We’re able to survive on a day-to-day basis. We’re able to survive the adversity that we’re going through.”

She is very proud of her team at the hospital. “We’ve had all of these adversities, the Garlic Festival shooting and pandemic, and we’ve focused on what’s the most important — taking care of our patients as they come in.”

Taking care of people comes naturally to Dela Merced. The second of six children, she was often the designated leader, whether among her siblings, neighborhood friends, or the Girl Scouts, dispensing First Aid or taking care of the neighborhood pets.

Born and raised in the southern part of the Philippines in the Basilan Province, Dela Merced remembers her aunt, who had migrated to the United States, sending her postcards of the snow and scenic landmarks.

“I was so fascinated. I said, ‘I wish someday I could go to the United States and see all these beautiful things.’ My aunt was a nurse and I thought if I became a nurse I could go to the United States. She inspired me.”

When it came time to pick a major, she chose nursing, studying at Western Mindanao State University in the Philippines. She completed her bachelor of science degree in nursing and her master’s degree in nursing with an emphasis in medical surgery. Upon graduation, she accepted a job in the college of nursing at the university as a clinical instructor from 1985 to 1988.

“I love teaching and I love mentoring others. That really inspired me to continue with what I do,” she said.

Migrating to the United States in 1988, she settled in Houston, Texas, with her husband of 30 years. She worked in the neuro-surgical intensive care unit at Ben Taub Hospital, a teaching hospital, becoming the charge nurse a few years later.

“That was a great learning experience because I was working alongside world renowned neurosurgeons,” she said.

Soon after, Dela Merced served as an ICU nurse and an open-heart surgery nurse at medical centers in Texas. She worked on more complex cases and improved her nursing skills before moving to Salinas in 2000. She also received a master’s degree in nursing, majoring in leadership and management from Walden University. She worked as an assistant nurse manager at Salinas Valley Memorial Hospital. Around that time, Dela Merced recalls visiting the Gilroy Premium Outlets and smelling the scent of garlic in the air. She was curious about the small town.

“I came to St. Louise and fell in love. At the time it was the Daughters of Charity who were managing it. I fell in love with the people and the culture and 22 years later I’m still here.”

Dela Merced and her family moved to Gilroy in 2004. She continues to be excited to come to work each day, energized in seeing what she and her team have been working on come to fruition.

“I’m very proud of our hospital and the services that we do,” she said. “St. Louise is small, but we are able to do great things. We’re able to provide big city services in a small setting.”

A designated primary stroke center, St. Louise is the only acute care hospital in the area, complete with an intensive care unit, emergency care services, and CALSTAR 2 emergency helicopter transport. Dela Merced said she takes pride in the flawless Joint Commission inspections — a regulatory organization that accredits and certifies more than 22,000 health care organizations in the United States. Her team motivates her every day, coming to her with suggestions and ideas.

“I’m so proud of our staff. They’re embedded in our community. They genuinely care for the patients and they genuinely care for the community.”

The South Valley community has also been a huge motivator for her and all of the hospital staff during the pandemic, supplying the hospital with a steady stream of donations – from face masks to cookies. Dela Merced said one high school student even made a template for a face shield in his garage.

“We are grateful to feel supported and be a part of this amazing community.”

Dela Merced said she also has enjoyed teaching co-workers advanced trauma life support and advanced cardiovascular life support, and mentoring colleagues and friends in and out of the hospital.

“At one time I was mentoring seven (people) at the same time. I was very happy because they all completed their degrees and are nursing leaders in their communities. It’s very fulfilling.”

In her free time, Dela Merced and her family — which includes two daughters and two sons, ranging in age from 21 to 28 — enjoy volunteering in the community. Their involvement includes the Gilroy Garlic Festival, Mushroom Mardi Gras, and St. Mary Church.

Her two oldest children are following in their mother’s footsteps with careers as nurses. Her youngest son attends San Jose State University and her middle daughter recently completed her first tour with the United States Air Force as a staff surgeon.

Dela Merced also enjoys singing karaoke and walking every evening with her husband, calling it her “down time.” They hope to soon return to traveling and visit the church in the Philippines where they were married.

Asked what advice she’d give to other women pursuing their goals, she said to remember to be kind to yourself.

“Every morning in the huddle with the management team, I always say, ‘Be kind to yourself.’ I have this card here to remind myself. I have it in front of me,” she said, holding up a card with the words printed on the front. “And I remind my staff, my team to be kind to yourself so you can lead with integrity, especially during hardships.”