Chris Mintz, an RN with ECU Health’s Enterprise Resource Team (ERT), has always felt drawn to community health rather than inpatient bedside care.
“I’ve worked in a pediatric clinic, same-day surgery, home health and hospice care, and inpatient and outpatient case management,” Chris said. “I was a supervisor and manager in case management and hospice care, and then director of nursing for mental health and substance abuse treatment.”
When the priorities for integrated health care shifted, she needed a new path.
“I decided I wasn’t too old to learn something new, so I joined the Beaufort Hospital emergency department (ED) to work at the bedside,” she said. “The rest is history.”
That serendipitous job change led Chris to meet Randy Mintz, her now husband and fellow nurse.
“Much of the work in the ED is community health,” Chris said. “The ED is full of people without access to care. It is all some people have, and we take care of them the best way we can.”
Meant to be
Randy was working night shift in the ED when he received a call.
“The manager asked me if I could precept someone new to the ED who needed extra help,” he recalled. “Funny enough, I really didn’t want to do it.”
“Originally, I was assigned to another seasoned nurse as a preceptor,” Chris added. “But she didn’t feel like she wanted to do it at the time, so they asked Randy for a favor. Now we thank that nurse all the time for putting us together.”
Randy took the time Chris needed to help her learn the ropes.
“It meant a lot to me. I was nervous and wanted to be sure I had the skills I needed to take care of our patients,” Chris said.
From there, Chris and Randy said they discovered they shared a higher level of compatibility.
“We laughed at the same jokes, and she got my dark sense of humor,” Randy said.
But even better, they found they made each other better nurses.
“I had worked in the ED for a while and was a little hardened. She was like a marshmallow. She oriented me on how to interact with people and to look at things differently. As much as I taught her about the ED, she taught me how to be better with people,” Randy said.
“I am 100% positive that had she not come to the ED, and if that other nurse had agreed to be her preceptor, all the good things that have come my way would not have happened. It’s all her doing.”
“The only way I have been able to work at this level is because of him,” Chris said.
Love takes flight
“Four years went by like a flash, and we got engaged. But I was hesitant about getting remarried,” Chris shared. “One day, I saw there was a hot air balloon festival in Statesville, and I said to Randy, ‘You want to get married in a hot air balloon?’ He said, ‘absolutely!’ and that’s what we did.”
Randy and Chris married at sunrise on Oct. 19, 2025.
“We found a company that marries people all over the world, with real officiants. We had a small, very personalized ceremony right there in the balloon. Then we got to enjoy the rest of the festival and our wedding funnel cake,” Chris said.
Now they get to work together on the same team.
“After my interim assistant nurse manager role in the ED at Beaufort, I heard about the Enterprise Resource Team, and it was an easy transition,” Randy said. Chris joined shortly thereafter.
The Enterprise Resource Team meets staffing needs at ECU Health Medical Center and ECU Health Community Hospitals based on census and staffing.
“The Resource Management team assesses needs based on feedback from the medical center and our community hospitals, where they find out about staffing deficits and prioritize who needs what. That’s not an easy job,” Chris said.
“You can choose the region and specific department or specialty you want to serve,” Randy added. “Then you get a text at 5 a.m. or 5 p.m. to tell you where you need to go.”
Randy and Chris said it is nice to be able to work in the area they chose, but at different locations where they are needed.
“Our goal is to lighten the load for the staff where we are assigned and to take great care of their patients,” Chris said.
It’s an added bonus to work together.
“There are some days we might be able to grab a coffee together or only say hello as we’re walking by, but we always know the other one is there,” Randy said. “Other days, we’re working side by side, and those days are the best. You have a person you know and trust, and you know their strengths, and they know yours. It makes it nice.”