Patti and Hal Harris have served Mayo Clinic patients for 40 years. Now their son Ben Harris, M.D., has joined the fold. Read what Mayo Clinic means to the Harris family and what their hopes are for the future.

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The Harris family bleeds blue, they like to say — Mayo blue, that is.

And July is a month that holds special significance for the family when it comes to their ties to Mayo.

Patti Harris started her first job as a nurse in the medical ICU on July 9, 1979. Her husband, Hal Harris, who she met while working in the Emergency Department, started a few years later on July 5, 1983. Ben Harris, M.D., their son, a fellow in Pulmonary Care and Critical Medicine, started at Mayo on July 3 this year.

Hal Harris' first job at Mayo Clinic was as a nursing assistant in the Emergency Department. He's now a systems analyst in the Revenue Cycle Technology unit. 

"I treasure my memories of working in the Emergency Department," he says. "Most importantly, it's where I met my wife and Ben's mother, Patti. She was working in the Emergency Department, and during her career, she was a nursing supervisor in the Pulmonary Care and Critical Medicine outpatient practice."

Pulmonary Care and Critical Medicine is where their son, Dr. Ben Harris, is now a fellow.

Serendipity is what the Harris family calls the three of them working at Mayo. When it comes to Mayo Clinic, Hal Harris says, "It's a family affair in service to Mayo's patients."

Remembering the history

Patti Harris retired late last year, but Hal Harris and Dr. Ben Harris still are part of Mayo Clinic. The family has seen many changes in the more than 40 years they have been part of the organization.

Patti Harris remembers when patient charts were on paper charts and taped to the patient's room door.

"When I started, it was paper charting," she says. "Some patients would have multi-part history packets. If you lost a page or a packet, you'd be lost."

History — especially that of Mayo Clinic and the Sisters of Saint Francis — is near and dear to the Harris family. Their connections to Mayo include connections to the Sisters of Saint Francis.

"The Sisters would actually work with us in the Emergency Department," Hal Harris says. "When we had busy days, they would bring sandwiches, pop and milk. And they would help us with patients either gowning the patients and or by going out there and talking to the relatives."

It's a family affair in service to Mayo's patients.Hal Harris

Hal and Patti Harris pause to honor Sister Lauren's recent passing. Patti Harris says she thinks of the Sisters as Mayo royalty.

"They were just a pleasure," Patti Harris says. "You were kind of in awe of them, too. They had such a sense of humor."

The rummage sale the Sisters put on is a fond memory for the Harris family. Sister Generose's pickles, the jellies and the rag rugs — those are some of their favorite memories.

Many years ago, Patti Harris led an effort where they created a cookbook for their division. And she wrote to Sister Generose asking, "Can I get your pickle recipe?"

She got her wish, and the recipe made it into the cookbook.

When Hal and Patti Harris started working at Mayo, there was a parking ramp where the Gonda Building now sits. There was a Mayo museum in the basement of the building.

Hal Harris used to transport patients, and if someone needed an IV pole, it was just him hustling to find one.

They're losing track of all the changes that have come since.

Creating community

A big part of the connection and allegiance to Mayo is the diverse community that Mayo has brought to and created in Rochester, the Harris family says.

"We've met so many people and have so many friends across the campus," Patti Harris says. "Staff at Mayo are so diverse, and they live in our communities."

Their twin sons, Ben and Chad, were into sports, and at their sporting events, even when the boys went off to their separate colleges — Winona State for Chad and the University of Wisconsin–La Crosse for Ben — they kept running into people who knew their parents or knew that they worked at Mayo.

Patti and Hal Harris note that their long careers at Mayo have not been a solo act. There have been many Mayo mentors along the way.

We've met so many people and have so many friends across the campus. Staff at Mayo are so diverse and they live in our communities.Patti Harris

For Patti Harris, it was Dale Pfrimmer, a nurse administrator and a supervisor where she worked. Pfrimmer gave his staff autonomy, she says, but was always available to help sort out issues, whenever they came up.

"He would let me run with what I did," she recalls. "But when I called him, he was there like a rock star. He was there within minutes because things sometimes go south."

Hal Harris has followed his philosophy of finding the person with the most knowledge in his area to be his mentor and shadowing that person to learn what he could.

The people they've met along the way at Mayo are not just colleagues and mentors, but great friends as well.

"One of our dearest friends, Pam, was a nurse in the Emergency Department," Patti recalls of their early days. "I can still hear her giggle. She has since passed away."

One of Pam's sons, who used to babysit the Harris boys, is now a colleague of Hal Harris in Revenue Cycle. It's serendipity at work again.

Advice for others

Patti Harris says her advice for others at Mayo is to find someone you can talk to. She refers to it as a vault — a resource to tap into. There will be times in your career when talking to someone, or voicing your fears, can help you gain a new perspective.

She also advises not taking it home with you.

"When your shift is done, you did the best you can," she says. "But do the best you can while you're here."

And don't be afraid to ask questions. The person next to you might have the same question, she says, and you might help them by voicing yours.

Hal Harris wishes that all staff could walk in the shoes of staff caring for patients in the hospital setting.  

"When you're at the hospital, no matter where you're at in the hospital, you know you have those patients waiting on you," he says. "I did a stint in surgery, and our patients would come directly from the Emergency Department into the operating room. And we would have to help them the best we could. In the hospital, they work really hard."

Passing the baton to the next generation

Patti and Hal Harris have passed the Mayo baton on to their son, Dr. Ben Harris. He attended the University of Wisconsin–La Crosse before medical school. He did breast cancer research at Hormel and was proud to share the science with his family.

"He came home and talked to us about what they found or didn't find," Patti Harris says.

He went to the University of Minnesota–Duluth for medical school and hoped to be matched at Mayo Clinic for his residency. But he matched at the University of Utah in Salt Lake City.

When he decided on a fellowship in Pulmonary Care and Critical Medicine and was waiting to be matched, Patti Harris wanted to be there when it happened.

My new colleagues are effusive about my mom, who worked with them for many years. It's a fun legacy to continue. Mom says it will be nice to be known as Ben Harris' mom.Ben Harris, M.D.

Dr. Harris had to pull up the email on his phone for his mom to believe it was true — he'd matched at Mayo Clinic. That's when the tears started flowing.

Patti Harris initially didn't get her hopes up.

"It was still during COVID when I went out there last November, and on Match Day, Ben was at work, and his wife and I went to the hospital," she says, choking up a little. "He came down to the lobby. They send them letters of match by email, and everybody gets them at the same time. He opened it up, and he said, 'Well, we're going to Mayo.'"

"We are both so proud of him," Patti Harris says.

Dr. Ben Harris is excited to be at Mayo, even if he's known as "Pat Harris' son."

"My new colleagues are effusive about my mom, who worked with them for many years," he says. "It's a fun legacy to continue. Mom says it will be nice to be known as Ben Harris' mom."

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