At its annual awards luncheon on June 9, CMH Auxiliary President Ken Mowbray 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 new Emergency Department when it is completed next year.

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.

“We all know that in the Emergency Department every second counts,” said Xinis. “This technology is going to make us much more efficient.”

In 2005, the auxiliary celebrated its 83rd year of supporting Calvert Memorial Hospital. Through its gift shop operation and other fundraisers, the all-volunteer organization helps purchase vital medical equipment.

At the ceremony, Xinis praised the volunteers for “making our hospital the best that it can be.” During the past year, 127 volunteers provided 17,811 hours of service valued at more than $355,000.

“The things you do every day shape the experiences of our patients in a very special way,” said Xinis. “From a friendly lift to the front door, a warm welcome at the information desk, a newspaper delivered to their room or a get-well bouquet from the gift shop – your efforts make all the difference.”

He went on to add, “The list of things you do for our hospital goes on and on – assembling patient information books, helping keep track of employee training in our HR office, sending out patient satisfaction surveys, knitting bonnets for new babies – you name it.”

Xinis also thanked the 11 seventh graders from Our Lady Star of the Sea School in Solomons who volunteered to help serve the awards luncheon.

At the ceremony, 68 auxilians received awards, including: Kimberly Catterton, Kathryn Clark, Susan Dawson, Barbara Enuton, Carolyn Granville, Anthony Mazzuco and Evelyn Turner, 100 hours; Shirley Cleaver, Joanne Connell, Alan Field, Sarah Field, Nannie Mitcham, Patricia Monnett and Judy Webster, 200 hours; and John Connell, Dave Dross, Jeanine Easley, Nancy Ludka, Harlan Parrish, Nancy Ryder, Wilhelmina Schultz and Joe Showalter, 300 hours.

Other recipients included: Dorothy Gibson, Mary Hutzler, Sandra Talbot and Anna Thompson, 500 hours; Marshall Damerell, Kathleen Hammond, Priscilla Hardesty, Walter Hoelman and Jim Wise, 600 hours; Eleanor Mowbray, Ken Mowbray and Betty Tutwiler, 700 hours; Margaret Bowen and Carole Purcell, 800 hours and Becky Hartog, Patricia Durbin and Helen McConnell, 900 hours.

Some 29 honorees earned pins for more than 1,000 hours. They were: Hilda Grade and Hilda Kearns, 1,000 hours; Jean Elliott, Patricia McGovern and Patrick Murphy, 1,100 hours; Alice Burleigh and Laura Marchand, 1,300 hours; Mary Anne Schercinger, 1,500 hours; Jessie Jo Bowen, 1,600 hours; Karen Kellum, 1,700 hours; Rita Adams, 1,800 hours; Mamie Fowler, 1,900 hours; Bill Kugel, 2,000 hours; Lois Munden, 2,100 hours; Ruth Buck, 2,200 hours; Millie Kluckman, 2,800 hours; Norma Madella, 3,400 hours; Irene Norris, 3,700 hours; Romaine Mayberry, 3,900 hours; Cheryl McAllister, 4,000 hours; Janet Allyn, 4,400 hours; Nell Bowen, 4,500 hours; Donna King, 4,800 hours; Francis Miller, 5,000 hours; Eleanor Lyba, 5,100 hours; Alice Bateman, 6,000 hours; Nancy Mellem, 6,700 hours; Myrtle Rausch, 7,000 hours and Ruth Showalter, 8,300 hours.