|
$121,756 raised for hospital
Editor's note: This article was gleaned from the Thursday, Sept. 27, 1979 edition of The Recorder. Joseph C. Pritchard was editor and publisher.
WARM SPRINGS — $121,756 in advance gifts to the $350,000 Bath County Community Hospital building fund were reported here last Thursday evening at a "social supper" held at the Bath County High School gymnasium to officially launch the fund raising effort. One hundred and twenty residents from the communities who make up the hospital's service area were in attendance for the supper. Included in the advance gifts report was a $60,000 pledge by the board of Virginia Hot Springs, Inc. Also included was $61,756 pledged by hospital employees and hospital board members. The Virginia Hot Springs gift was voted by its board on Sept. 8, according to its president Thomas J. Lennon. It will be paid over a four-year period and was said to be in recognition of the need for "better facilities for the employees and families of The Homestead." Campaign chairman Rene Dufour called the initial report "an encouraging response to a vital community concern." He said the Virginia Hot Springs pledge, which is in addition to the company's gift of land on which the new hospital wing is being built, is "further demonstration of the company's continuing support of projects which are important to all the families of the Valley and all of the entire region." Clarence F. McMullen, president of the hospital's board of managers, noted that the land donated by the company is valued at about $40,000.
James L. Clarkson, chairman of the hospital board of managers committee, reported that as of last night, six hospital board members had contributed $53,000. "Obviously," Clarkson said, "there's more to come." On behalf of the hospital employees' committee, chairman Samuel H. Merchant Sr. reported that his group has raised $8,756. This total, from 33 employees, reflects an average of $256.36, payable by payroll deduction over 36 months. Merchant particularly complimented the hospital's dietary department for its 100 percent participation. The department's nine employees, he told the gathering, pledged $2,223 — more than a fourth of the hospital's total.
Needs outlined
McMullen told the group that overcrowding and inflexibility of patient accommodations are the major problems with which the hospital must deal. "These two factors," he said, "have created insurmountable problems in quality patient care." Hospital board member and campaign treasurer Franz von Schilling III introduced five members of the "hospital family" who described the needs that led to the current expansion program. Raymond S. Rodgers, a hospital board member, spoke on the construction and engineering aspects of the building program. Lucy V. Linkenhoker, director of nursing, told of the nursing view of patient's needs. Dr. Donald S. Myers, a member of the active medical staff, discussed the medical concerns. Cathy B. Kirkland, the hospital's physical therapist, commented on the expansion services, which will be available to patients her department treats. Jack M. Calhoun, the hospital's administrator, gave an overview of the construction and renovation program and its effects upon hospital services in the future. Each speaker emphasized that key improvements in hospital services will be made possible through relocation of the hospital's patient care facilities in the wing on the hill above the present hospital. A specialized coronary/intensive care unit will be provided as well as a three-bed obstetrics unit. Isolation rooms in both areas will be created to help prevent cross infection. It was also stressed that outpatient care is considered a major concern of the construction and renovation program. Improvements in emergency and ambulatory services, X-ray, physical therapy and laboratory departments are urgently needed, according to statistics which show enormous growth in those services in the past several years. Hugh S. Gwin, president of the Bath County Historical Society, put the hospital's present services in perspective by relating incidents of health care in this area in earlier years. Gwin noted that the salary for a visiting nurse in 1916 was $80 per month and half that for her assistants. He also pointed out that the cost for construction of the original "Community House" in 1916 was a "staggering" $9,000. Gwin pointed out parallels between this dinner and the original "social suppers" held to benefit the Hot Springs Valley Nursing Association. He reminded the audience that Miss Gladys Ingalls, of Hot Springs, was the driving force behind both the creation of the H.S.V.N.A. and the construction of the "Community House" which became the Bath County Community Hospital. During the evening it was stated that the new construction is being financed by a $1.5 million industrial development bond issue. Equipping the new wing and renovating the existing hospital is expected to be funded by the current com- munity fund-raising campaign. Donald R. Kleinberg, representing the fund raising firm of Haney Associates of Concord, Mass., discussed the organization of the several committees, which will enlist the support of the communities served by the hospital. Chairman Dufour identified the campaign organization: A.H. Cauley, vice chairman and chairman for Millboro; James L. Clarkson, vice chairman and chairman, board of managers committee; Mrs. Daniel H.H. Ingalls, chairman, major gifts committee; Mrs. Thomas J. Lennon, associate chairman, major gifts committee; Samuel H. Merchant Sr., chairman, hospital employees committee; Dr. Larry R. Denius, chairman, doctors' committee; Gerald Jacques, chairman, clubs and organizations committee; Mrs. Duncan M. Byrd Jr., chairman of the community division; Mrs. Clayton Plecker, associate chairman of the community division for Millboro; and Mrs. Patrick J. Lennon, community division associate chairman for Warm Springs Valley.
No comments have been posted. Be the first!
|
