Retiring HMNH VP melancholy, but excited about future after 3-decade career
Cardboard boxes lined up Marlee Lauffer’s office at Henry Mayo Newhall Hospital, filled with personal belongings ranging from family photos to awards and recognitions she’s earned throughout her more than three-decade career.
“I’m excited about the future, but it’s a little melancholy to leave something that I’ve always enjoyed,” she said on Tuesday while taking a break from her final duties as the hospital’s foundation president and vice president of marketing and communications.
Lauffer announced her retirement effective June 19, as she is ready to embrace a new chapter in her life filled with family, friends and new adventures, she said. Although she won’t hold an official role with the hospital, Lauffer doesn’t plan on disappearing completely. She plans on remaining heavily involved with local organizations, supporting the hospital in any capacity she can, and enjoying theater.
As she looks ahead to retirement, Lauffer and other local leaders reflected on her decades-long career, the relationships she cultivated and the lasting legacy she leaves behind.
After graduating from the University of California, Los Angeles, as a public relations and communications major, Lauffer began her career working with a state legislator before becoming a part of The Newhall Land and Farming Co., which developed the master-planned Valencia community.
Lauffer ran the marketing program for the development company for over 20 years.
“I was always impressed with her, as was the entire company back in the day, with her professionalism, poise, and character, and I mean, that’s never faltered,” Don Kimball, former executive vice president of FivePoint-Valencia operations, said during a recent phone interview with The Signal. He is also a longtime board member of the hospital.
“For her, it’s only flourished over the years,” Kimball said, and added that Lauffer was credited as the person to coin “Awesometown,” a term referencing Valencia that has stuck throughout the years among the local community.
“She cares about people and then beyond that, she cares about the community and it’s genuine with her,” Kimball said of Lauffer’s success in creating meaningful relationships. “She just has a knack for doing that with every single body she comes in contact with, and that is a unique skill.”
As Lauffer took a pause to look out her office window on Tuesday, in the distance stood the patient tower, one of the biggest accomplishments she helped lead with fundraising efforts. It was a $151 million project that was part of the hospital’s approved master plan and opened in 2019. The tower provides 119 additional patient beds to the hospital’s Valencia campus and two new surgery suites in the Center for Women and Newborns, as well as other amenities including a new cafe and blood bank.
“You really can’t accomplish anything without a partnership, whether it’s a partnership with the people you work with, whether it’s, the media, whether it’s with volunteers, that help spread the word, or with fundraising partners,” Lauffer said. “I’m really proud that we worked with our employees, and over a million dollars was raised by people that work here. That’s pretty remarkable. Another $1,000,000 came from our physicians. Significant dollars from our community people that saw the importance.”
The tower was also built right before the COVID-19 pandemic, which allowed HMNH staff to provide private rooms to patients.
Lauffer acknowledged there were plenty of challenges throughout her professional career, but, “I’m the kind of person that always looks at challenges as opportunities,” she said.
Working with Newhall Land, which was the largest land developer in the Santa Clarita Valley for many years, came controversy, she said.
Some challenges Lauffer experienced during her time at Newhall Land included handling tension with upset residents over new homes being built, road developments, and much more.
“I think what I learned through Newhall was the importance of transparency, just to be honest, and to be open,” she said. “I had to learn to not take it personally and to respect all the different opinions.”
She also noted that, during the pandemic, Henry Mayo’s biggest challenge during her decade-long run was navigating uncertainty and the impact it had on everyone beyond the local community.
“We had shortages of supplies, our staff was not sure what this meant for them, we had the public with a variety of questions and concerns. We had the state government and the federal government telling us we had to shut down certain procedures and units,” Lauffer said.
Lauffer was described as a voice of calm and reason during that time by HMNH Director of Marketing and Public Relations Patrick Moody during a recent phone interview.
“There was a lot of fear, confusion and she was really a trusted voice in the community. She really helped bring clarity and clearness to our messaging around the pandemic, what was going on, when vaccines were going to be available, how you should stay safe,” Moody said. “She cares so deeply about the community and the hospital. I think she’s really helped to elevate the hospital’s reputation and presence in the community.”
For Lauffer, the success in maintaining relationships, which she considers her biggest success, is recognizing that relationships are long-term and not transactional, she said.
“Relationships are two-way. They’re fluid. They may go for years and forever without any transaction that might occur,” she said, and added that many of her relationships stem from volunteering at local nonprofit organizations, or participating in a local 5k run.
“One of Marlee’s amazing talents is being able to see what people may not see in themselves and help connect them to opportunities and introduce them to people that will help them grow and learn,” said Holly Schroeder of DrinkPak, who is also chair of the hospital’s Community Health and Wellness Committee as well as a board member.
As part of the Community Health and Wellness Committee, Schroeder worked closely with Lauffer to identify priorities among the community. Through partnerships with Child & Family Center, the SCV Senior Center, and the Samuel Dixon Health Center, among others, they discovered mental health services were a high priority.
To tackle the need, the hospital is soon to launch the EmPATH unit, which stands for Emergency Psychiatric Assessment, Treatment, Healing. It would add a brand new environment within the hospital’s campus, where patients will be admitted when they’re in crisis. It’s aimed at opening in early summer.
“It really is an example of understanding what the needs of the community are, putting it front and center, and figuring out how to make it a reality,” Schroeder said.
Lauffer was named a Woman of the Year by the California State Senate in 2008 and 2018, received the Cheri Fleming Heart of the Community award in 2024 from the SCV Chamber of Commerce, and the Silver Spur Community Service Award from College of the Canyons in 2025, among others. She also has been featured every year in The Signal’s annual list of the SCV’s Top 51 most influential people since its inception in 2004.
Lauffer never expected any of it, but nonetheless was filled with gratitude for the recognition throughout the years. Beyond the awards, and title, Lauffer is a mother, who enjoys theater,and a wine lover.
Although she’s closing a long chapter in her life, Lauffer doesn’t plan on going anywhere and will remain active in the community working with local nonprofits and providing some consulting, she said.
Ready to embrace the third act of her life story, Lauffer had one last message to the SCV: “It’s been a great honor to serve the community. I will continue to be involved and helpful where I can.”
