Wendy Ford celebrates 40 years at North Shore Health

Forty years ago, a school counselor told Wendy Ford that North Shore Health had an opening in its café. Ford took the job — and never looked back.

“I didn’t plan it to be a career, but I had no other plans after school, and I was born and raised here,” Ford told WTIP.

Over the past four decades, Ford has done more than cook meals and serve residents. She has helped create a sense of home in a place that can feel unfamiliar, especially when people are at their most vulnerable.

“That’s how we try to make them feel — at home,” Ford said.

Ford sat with her friend and co-worker, Michele Silence, in the hospital cafeteria’s seating area. Even as they talked, someone worked in the kitchen, which always has cookies, muffins and sandwiches available for people who find themselves at the hospital outside regular dining hours.

“It’s not a restaurant,” Ford added.

When asked if she had ever had to remind someone of that, she admitted she had, with a playful laugh.

Ford said her family was what kept her in Grand Marais. Aside from a three-month stint away in fifth grade, she has lived in the community her entire life. She has seen businesses come and go, and she has worked in three different kitchens at North Shore Health.

“You get it done one way or another,” Ford said. “I’m not good at change at all, but it gets done.”

Family and friendship remain central to Ford’s life. At North Shore Health, she’s been lucky to be close to them while they spent time at the hospital’s care center.

“I’ve had a lot of family members in the care center,” Ford said when asked about a defining memory from her time at work. “I kind of feel like I’ve taken care of them at their end of life.”

Ford’s attentiveness extends beyond family and friends to everyone under the roof of North Shore Health.

“Wendy gets to know everybody,” North Shore Health CEO Kimber Wraalstad said. “You go up to the kitchen, and she knows what I will and what I won’t eat.”

“Yeah,” Ford interjected with a laugh. “No vegetables.”

“But for the people we take care of — the care center residents — she knows who’s going to eat, what they’re going to eat and what to give them,” Wraalstad continued. “You have to know that makes a difference.”

Ford has also helped guide changes to make residents feel more at home. The facility moved away from cafeteria-style trays and now serves residents meals on plates. Food is delivered directly to residents, allowing for face-to-face interaction.

Ford said the change helped her learn residents’ names and get to know them personally.

Homemade meals are always popular, but Ford said Swedish meatballs are currently the most requested dish. She said she misses having the time and staff to prepare some of her favorites, including honey lemon chicken and oven-browned potatoes.

Ford also prepares plates of cookies for North Shore Health board meetings.

“I love to bake,” Ford said. “I bake, and then I just freeze little packages. And then when I want something, I just go grab it out of the freezer.”

With four decades of experience, Ford said she has learned patience, especially when training new employees.

“It’s like, ‘Okay, keep your mouth shut, Wendy,'” Ford said, laughing.

Ford recruited Silence to work with her at North Shore Health 27 years ago. When asked what she said to Silence to join her, Ford said it didn’t take much.

“‘Come play with me!’” Ford recalled telling her.

Silence added that Ford also mentioned the job came with benefits.

“It’s a good place,” Ford said. “A lot of people have started in the kitchen and gone on to different positions in the hospital.”

Then she added, with some sadness: “But they leave me.”

Ford plans to stay at North Shore Health for three more years — a milestone that would make her the organization’s longest-tenured employee, by her estimation.

As the interview wrapped up, Ford remembered one final thing.

“I’m supposed to say hi to Patty in the kitchen,” she said with a laugh.

WTIP spoke with Ford about her time at North Shore Health. The audio of that conversation can be found below.

Josh Hinke March 11, 2026