THIS IS the first of a four-part Sunday series on the Mon Health Medical Center Auxiliary and its work. The fourth story, set to run Nov. 3, will focus on the Auxiliary’s Ball of the Year.
MORGANTOWN – Eighty years ago, a group of area women gathered to form the Women’s Auxiliary to the Monongalia General Hospital, dedicated to supporting the mission and work of what was known as – and what many people still call – Mon General.
That formation was actually a re-formation of a group created back in December 1921 by female members of the Presbyterian Church’s Missionary Society. They had determined the community needed a hospital and formed The Women’s Hospital Association to meet that need.
Luella Gunter, Mon Health Medical Center executive director of philanthropy, and Chris Battin, the Auxiliary’s immediate past president, talked with The Dominion Post about some of the history and shared some historical records from across the years.
Handwritten notes from 1959 say The Women’s Hospital Association obtained county approval to create a charity hospital. They raised the money to buy most of the equipment for the 50-bed County Hospital.
“That’s how this whole thing started,” Battin said.
The notes say, “Doors were thrown open Oct. 22, 1922, with a 50-bed hospital, 15 nurses, a nurse training school, a dietitian, technician and a staff of physicians.”
The association remained active until 1933. Mon County operated the hospital until 1943, then appointed trustees to take over the operation. The trustees asked for help, which led to the formation of the Women’s Auxiliary of the Monongalia General Hospital in December 1943, with 104 charter members.
But they count October 1944 as the time they began their work, and this month marks the Auxiliary’s 80th anniversary.
Raising money to support the hospital and its projects remained a primary mission. From 1945-55 they raised $25,000. From 1958-69 they more than doubled that, to $56,814.
From 1978 on, the single-year numbers easily topped those prior 10-year spans: $61,500 in 1978; $118,000 in 1980; $167,000 in 1986; $200,000 in 1992 and 1993.
The auxiliary president’s report for 1995-96 talked about making the fourth installment of a $1 million capital campaign begun in 1992. They fell short that year but pledged to reach to full goal by September 1998.
How do they raise money? The gift shop is an obvious one.
Santa’s workshop – an ancillary gift shop – in 1994 raised $4,000. A gold sale raised $3,618.
And in an era when we can watch TV on our cell phones and every room – even in the ER – has a flat screen, one fundraiser might seem a bit odd and amusing: TV rentals in the patient rooms. Yes, patients paid to watch TV.
The March 1998 annual report notes they raised $68,713.40 in the prior year. Family members could buy TV Service gift certificates. “It makes a very nice gift for patients.”
In August 2002, a jewelry sale raised $4,180. The auxiliary presented the hospital with $100,000 for a six-bed cardiac care expansion and $5,000 for an employee emergency relief fund.
Women who want to join the auxiliary and volunteer countless hours pay for the privilege. But that cost has defied inflation: A lifetime membership was $125 in 1962, now it’s $150, Battin said.
Auxiliaries from across the state meet together every spring, Battin said, to share ideas and offer some instruction on such things as how to work as officers.
And while hospitals may compete – think Certificate of Need – it’s not that way with auxiliaries, she said. “We all have the same goal, so there’s no politics.”
An auxiliary pledge for $350,000 paid for getting the Emergency Department certified as geriatric friendly. They installed non-skid floors, large-face clocks and step stools to help achieve that certification.
In 2022, during COVID, the auxiliary raised $30,000 for the F.R.O.G. – Free Rides On Ground – the green golf cart that can transport patients and visitors between the hospital and their vehicles or between the hospital and the lower campus by W.Va. 705.
Of course, the big event is the Ball of the Year. This year’s ball is the 60th, set for Nov. 2 with the theme Wild and Wonderful and Whimsical.
Proceeds from last year’s ball paid for the construction of the first Caring Cottage, going up on a lot on Pineview Driver near the hospital campus. This year’s proceeds will also go toward the project, Gunter said. Their goal is to put $1 million into an endowment to sustain and expand the project.
More on the history and achievements of the ball in a future story.
Email: dbeard@dominionpost.com
