Meg Doherty started leading the Norwell Visiting Nurse Association when it needed someone with a master’s degree to fill in twice a week. She’d already put in 20 years in acute care as an administrator and teacher in Boston.

“I thought I’d be there until they found a replacement,’’ Doherty said. “Guess what?’’

That was 30 years ago. Doherty, 69, retired June 30 as chief executive of the Norwell VNA and Hospice. Her replacement is Renee McInnes, formerly the agency’s vice president of business development, whom Doherty called “fresh, innovative — and a lot younger than me.’’

The changes over Doherty’s career were many, she said.

“When I started, there were six of us,’’ she said. “Now there are almost 300, in a variety of capacities. We had 600 home visits that first year and now have about 600 a day.’’

One key accomplishment in her years, she said, was surviving the federal balanced-budget acts of 1997 “when we were down to our last 100 bucks and hung in there and turned it around.’’

Another was developing hospice care, and opening the 12-bed Pat Roche Hospice Home in Hingham in 2013, something Doherty calls “a shining star’’ in her career.

Doherty netted several honors over the years, the most recent being the 2016 Home Care Champion award from the Home Care Alliance of Massachusetts at its annual meeting.

“I think what I brought to the table,’’ she said of the award, “was the same passion that every other director in that room felt all along the way.’’

She praised her staff, saying “it takes a certain type of person to work in home care; they have to be innovative, think on their feet, have good assessment skills. I met a group of people here who work hard and do a great job; it’s been a pleasure to work with them.’’

She won’t sit still in retirement, she said, and she is planning to travel and write a book about her home-care experience.

“I won’t be eating bonbons and watching soaps,’’ Doherty said with a laugh. “I’ll find other areas to get involved in.’’

Paul E. Kandarian can be reached at pkandarian@aol.com.