Auxiliary donates $85,000 to hospital
Volunteers honored for 17,905 hours of service

At its annual awards luncheon in June, CMH Auxiliary President Mary Anne Schercinger presented a check for $85,000 to Calvert Memorial Hospital President and CEO Jim Xinis. The funds will be used to purchase digital radiography for the Emergency Department when it is expanded.

The contribution represents the first step toward their commitment to raise $400,000 over the next five years for the CMH Capital Campaign. At the ceremony, Xinis praised the volunteers for their “legacy of generosity.”

“The fundraising that you do is critical to the hospital,” he said. “It is through your efforts that CMH is able to offer the latest advances in healthcare technology to the residents of Southern Maryland.”

In 2004, the auxiliary celebrated its 82nd year of supporting Calvert Memorial Hospital. Through the gift shop operation and other fundraisers, the all-volunteer organization helps purchase vital medical equipment.

The digital radiography, which will replace conventional X-rays, represents a major timesaver. The new equipment will eliminate film and allow physicians to see images instantly and start treatment.

This technology provides many advantages, said Bobbie Vess, director of radiology at CMH. “Now, patients will not have to be wheeled to another area for diagnostic imaging,” she said. “The ability to reprocess images (without repeat X-rays) greatly reduces cost, time, and inconvenience or painful movement to the patients.”

During the past year, 127 volunteers provided 17,905 hours of service valued at more than $357,000. Membership was up 16 percent. The group also added several new projects under Schercinger’s leadership including bereavement boxes, T-shirts for Emergency Department patients and a special collectible of the original hospital to celebrate its 85th birthday.

The hand-painted memento boxes include a white smocked gown, crocheted blanket and a special card, all done by volunteers. The boxes are given to parents who lose a child at birth. The auxiliary also donates T-shirts to ED patients to wear home if their clothing is damaged or soiled.

At the ceremony, 75 auxilians received awards, including: Shirley Arbogast, Shirley Cleaver, Barbara Esworthy, Holly Harris, Carolyn Henegan, Gloria Hickey, Kitty Hoffman, JoAnne Kemerer and Virginia Mackall, less than 100 hours; Jennifer Allen, Herta Buckmaster, Linda Collins, Lawrence Hatch, Margo Hughes, Walter Kendall, Pete Parrish, Nancy Ryder, Rose Ann Van Dyke and Jennifer Waller, 100 hours and Dorothy Chaney, Dave Drose, Jeanine Easley, JoAnne Hildebrand, Joe Showalter and Anna Thompson, 200 hours;

Other recipients included: Kathleen Hammond, Mary Hutzler and Sandra Talbot, 300 hours; James Wise, 400 hours; Margaret Bowen, Marshall Damerell, Priscilla Hardesty, Walter Hoelman Litell Matthews, Patricia Miles, Eleanor Mowbray, Ken Mowbray and Betty Tutwiler, 500 hours; Carole Purcell and Mary Evans Robinson, 600 hours; Hilda Grade, 700 hours; Becky den Hartog, Patricia Durbin and Helen McConnell, 800 hours and Alice Burleigh, Hilda Kearns and Patrick Murphy, 900 hours.

Some 28 honorees earned pins for more than 1,000 hours. They were: Betty Burley, Laura Marchand and Patricia McGovern, 1100 hours; Mary Anne Schercinger, 1200 hours; Karen Kellum, 1400 hours; Jessie Jo Bowen and Lois Munden, 1500 hours; Tim Hale and Bill Kugel, 1600 hours; Rita Adams and Mamie Fowler, 1700 hours; Ruth Buck, 2000 hours; Millie Kluckman, 2700 hours; Marie Barrett and Norma Madella, 2900 hours; Romaine Mayberry, 3200 hours; Irene Norris, 3400 hours; Cheryl McAllister, 3700 hours; Janet Allyn and Winola Moore, 4100 hours; Nell Bowen, 4200 hours; Donna King, 4400 hours; Francis Miller, 4500 hours; Eleanor Lyba, 4700 hours; Alice Bateman, 5000 hours; Nancy Mellem, 5500 hours; Myrtle Rausch, 6500 hours and Ruth Showalter, 8200 hours.

The incoming officers are Ken Mowbray, president; Janet Allyn, vice president; Carole Purcell, secretary and Barbara Enuton, treasurer. For more information or to join, call the auxiliary at 410-535-8373.