Celebration of 50 Years: Carroll Hospital Center 1961-2011

A Celebration of 50 Years

MARGARET O. KIRK

Carroll Hospital Center 1961–2011

A Celebration of 50 Years Carroll Hospital Center 1961–2011

W

hen Carroll County General Hospital

increased from 125 in 1961 to 1,763 in

opened its doors in 1961, the people

2011, and satellite and outpatient services

of the Westminster, Maryland, area filled its

have been developed and brought to

fifty-bed facility. Its slogan, “The Hospital

fruition as the facility’s footprint and vision

You Need,” could not have been more

have increased.

appropriate. For the first time, residents had medical, surgical, maternity, and surgical

Small wonder the end goal is always being

services without traveling outside the county.

revised, with new plans and dreams for how

Those who were sick or injured—and those

to serve the community better.

celebrating the joy of adding a new baby to the family—came to the hospital on the hill.

But Carroll County General Hospital was

Margaret O. Kirk, based in Philadelphia,

more than a building and more than the

has been writing professionally for over

services provided. It was a grassroots effort

thirty years, dating back to her journalism

that brought the community together like

days at the University of North Carolina

never before. Not only did residents realize

at Chapel Hill. Margaret’s vivid and fluid

they needed a hospital; they also realized

style has earned her awards and many repeat

that if their county were to grow, future

clients, such as the Philadelphia Inquirer,

residents and future generations also would

The New York Times, and the Robert Wood

come to this “renowned place of healing.”

Johnson Foundation. In addition, Margaret has written nine corporate histories and two

A Celebration of 50 Years chronicles the

biographies and is currently at work on two

story of Carroll Hospital Center as it grew

additional books. She is married and has

from a general county hospital to the

three sons.

comprehensive medical center it is today. It was not always an easy journey, but it was always one with an end goal in mind. Since its founding, hospital beds have more than quadrupled. The number of employees has

Jacket Design by Mike Oehlers PRINTED IN SINGAPORE

Copyright Š 2011 by Carroll Hospital Center Carroll Hospital Center 200 Memorial Avenue Westminster, Maryland 21157 410-848-3000 | TTY 410-871-7186 www.CarrollHospitalCenter.org

Editor: Rob Levin Publisher: Barry Levin Writer: Margaret O. Kirk

All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced or transmitted in any form, or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying, recording, or by any information storage and retrieval system, without permission in writing from Carroll Hospital Center, Westminster, Maryland.

Carroll Hospital Center Liaison: Teresa Fletcher

Carroll Hospital Center wishes to thank all those who provided images for inclusion in this book. Unfortunately, many of the other images we used were in our archives with no credits attached to them, and thus prevent us from giving their owners thanks by name. We deeply appreciate the efforts of all who, in one way or the other, provided material for this important book.

Additional Support: Carroll Hospital Center Marketing Department

ISBN: 978-1-4507-7364-5 Book Development By:

Timeline and Jacket Design, Archives, and Acquisitions: Mike Oehlers

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Contents A Letter from the President . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7 Introduction . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9

Chapter One: Forty Years of Dreaming with Little to Show . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

17

Chapter Two: A Hospital Grows in Carroll County . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

41

Chapter Three: Carroll Hospice: Providing Twenty-five Years of a “Special Kind of Caring� . . . . 67

Chapter Four: Embracing Changes and the Challenges of the Future . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 77 Timeline . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

86

Appendix . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 100 Index . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 103

A Letter from the President G

reat milestones are achieved through the

support are implied between

culmination of many great moments. This account

the lines of each page.

of Carroll Hospital Center’s first fifty years of caring

I want to express my

documents the many great moments in our history that

deepest appreciation to our

have made us what we are today—the preferred provider

board of directors, physicians,

of health care services in Carroll County and beyond.

staff, and volunteers who

With this book, we honor a community rich with

have served unselfishly and

tradition, dedication, and an unrelenting focus on

passionately over the past

making its community better—a focus that sparked the

fifty years and pay particular

creation of our organization more than a half a century

tribute to those who began their service even before

ago. It involved the work of many and the vision of a

our doors opened in 1961. I know you have a choice

few forward-thinking citizens who stopped at nothing

in where you work, practice medicine, and volunteer

to make their dream a reality.

your time and talents. Thank you for choosing Carroll

As you turn the pages that follow, I hope you find

Hospital Center.

our story a compelling one. And while it is impossible to

And most important, collectively, we are grateful

recognize every individual involved in the development,

for a community and patients whose support and

growth, and quality of the organization we have become,

confidence have spanned decades. To you, your families,

we know that our success has been a result of both those

and those generations that will follow us, we thank you

mentioned by name, as well as those whose work and

for affording us the privilege of serving you.

—John M. Sernulka President and CEO

Carroll Hospital Center: 1961–2011

7

Nearly fifteen hundred people witnessed the dedication of Carroll County General Hospital on August 27, 1961.

I N T RO D U C T I O N

“May We Comfort, Always”

T

he scorching summer sun beat down relentlessly

shade, and folded their dedication programs into hand-

that Sunday afternoon in Westminster, Maryland,

held paper fans as they stood together to witness history

creating temperatures that newspaper reporters later

being made in Carroll County.

referred to as “boiling.” But as the crowd of fifteen hun-

On this day, August 27, 1961, the citizens of Carroll

dred people gathered on a hillside plateau just below

County celebrated their dream—the completion of their

Memorial Drive, in front of a new and thoroughly mod-

very own hospital. Two days earlier, in a special section of

ern one-story building, no one seemed to mind the heat.

the Evening Sun, the paper had coined a fitting phrase in a

Men and women alike wore hats, opened umbrellas for

headline, “New Hospital Fulfills Area Dream of Decades.”

Carroll Hospital Center: 1961–2011

9

Carroll County General Hospital was, by all accounts,

At the dedication ceremony, with the hospital sched-

a hospital built by the community for the community,

uled to open its doors in a matter of weeks, the imme-

the result of an unprecedented countywide, door-to-

diate benefit was obvious to everyone: the gleaming,

door campaign that raised money from citizens in every

$1.5 million medical facility meant that Carroll County

conceivable pocket of this then-

residents no longer had to travel

rural county. Together, commu-

to neighboring counties and cit-

nity leaders, ordinary citizens, church and civic club members, and revered doctors, lawyers, and businessmen with names like Bair, Billingslea, Fisher, Fox,

C

Carroll County General Hospital was, by all accounts, a hospital built by the community for the community.

ies like Gettysburg, Frederick, Hanover, and Baltimore when they needed hospital services or emergency care.

But as Carroll County Gen-

Koontz, Mathias, Scott, Shi-

eral Hospital evolved over the

pley, Wampler, Weinstock, and

next fifty years into Carroll

Wimert had worked to build this hospital, a project that

Hospital Center, the hospital tucked into this bucolic

county leaders had been trying to develop for as long

hillside would come to represent something much more

as most in Carroll County could remember, and docu-

than the obvious, something much bigger than a new

mented as far back as 1916. The incentive, it seems, was

building in a convenient location.

always the same: If this community was going to con-

As Carroll Hospital Center celebrates its golden anni-

tinue to grow, it had to include a local hospital.

versary in 2011, it has literally grown from its original footprint into a comprehensive medical center, recognized as an innovative health care partner for the entire region. It features the latest in medical technology and facilities; experienced medical professionals in a wealth of specialties; a caring, skilled nursing staff; and a continuum of programs and services that seek to address the health care needs of the community. After five decades of caring for the sick and the injured, Carroll Hospital Center also promotes wellness and health, working tirelessly to be a health care system that understands, anticipates, and meets the lifelong needs of citizens in Carroll

The Community Gifts Division of the proposed Carroll County General Hospital conducted a campaign briefing session for representatives of the Westminster rural routes in late 1957. From left to right, Mrs. Harry E. Reese Jr., coordinator of workers; Donald Beard; Mrs. Kester Null; Mrs. Nevin Jones; Kenneth Bohn; and Francis Arnold.

County and surrounding communities. From The Family Birthplace to our inpatient hospice facility, Dove House; from satellite medical offices to a unique Access

A Celebration of 50 Years

10

Carroll medical clinic for the uninsured; from its cancer center and advanced cardiac care services to expanded emergency care and behavioral health services, Carroll Hospital Center in 2011 continues to develop services and programs that answer the questions: What do the people in our communities need, and how can we best meet those needs?

This promise to be more than just a building—indeed, more than just a hospital—resonated throughout the dedication ceremony during that hot August afternoon in 1961. As an American flag waved softly overhead on the new flagpole, the Westminster Above: Carroll Hospital Center in 2004, nearly forty-five years after it was founded by the citizens of the county and neighboring communities. Right: The dedication of the new hospital was front-page news in the local press.

Everyone at the dedication received a program that listed speakers and special guests.

Municipal Band concluded its concert around 2:30 p.m.

and the honor felt in building the county’s first hospital

By now, invited guests and local citizens were seated

was not limited to those civic leaders who had directed

under the shade of the new hospital’s portico entrance,

the hospital campaign; that pride was shared by every

positioned on the small stage that faced the hospital’s

citizen who had a role, big or small, in making this

front lawn, or mingling in clusters under the brilliant

hospital a reality.

afternoon sun. No matter where you sat or stood that

Following the invocation, master of ceremonies F. Kale

day, the pride was palpable because the credit given

Mathias, vice president of the new hospital board, introduced a host of distinguished guests, the hospital’s architects and builders, politicians, and hospital representatives from all over the state. The applause was particularly generous for Dr. Lewis K. Woodward Sr. of Westminster, the acknowledged dean of Carroll County physicians and one of the three original doctors credited with starting the idea for a hospital in 1917.

Homer Y. Myers of E. E. Stuller Construction Co., general contractors for the hospital, then presented the keys for Carroll County General Hospital to local businessman Atlee W. Wampler Jr., the new hospital board president and chairman of the successful hospital campaign. Wampler then patiently introduced every single member of three major hospital groups— the officers of the corporation and the committee leaders charged with building the hospital; the officers of the hospital auxiliary, established in 1958

by Gladys Wimert and Charles Fisher Sr. before the hospital even broke ground; and the first hospital administrator and the five physicians who now formed the hospital’s medical staff, led by surgeon and chief of staff Dr. Richard Dalrymple.

Left: As general chairman of the Carroll County General Hospital building fund campaign, Scott S. Bair wrote letters of appreciation to every campaign contributor. Opposite: Three Bair brothers— Glenn, Harvey, and Henry—dedicated the Scott and Anita Bair Intermediate Care Unit in honor of their parents.

A Celebration of 50 Years

12

Carroll Hospital Center: 1961–2011

13

Left: Dr. Richard Y. Dalrymple, the hospital’s first chief of staff, and Atlee Wampler enjoyed a game of golf. Below: Successful retail business leaders for three generations, the Wampler family name was well known in Carroll County, as this Wampler furniture store advertisement confirms.

Bair—first chairman of the board, a key contributor, and the driving force behind the fundraising campaign— spoke first. Wearing his signature bowtie, this successful advertising executive and businessman was completely comfortable on stage, a public-speaking devotee who

Former Maryland governor Theo-

once studied the art of speech making with his friend

dore R. McKeldin soon delivered the

Ted McKeldin, long before McKeldin was governor.

main address of dedication, a rousing

Today, Bair’s delivery was seamless and eloquent as he

speech that praised the community

challenged the crowd to make Carroll’s first hospital

for building the hospital primarily

more than “just another hospital.”

through private dollars and opening

“We can establish here a renowned place of heal-

without a cent of debt. But the after-

ing,” he said, setting the tone of the hospital’s mission for

noon’s most poignant and heartfelt

decades to come. “We have the best that can be had in a

remarks were spoken by two men

physical facility. The rest is up to the personnel who man

who would forever be identified

this hospital. And to that end, we shall have no place here

with bringing a hospital to Carroll

for those just looking for another day’s pay for another

County: Scott S. Bair and Dr. Charles

eight hours, but rather those who are willing to give just

L. Billingslea.

a little of themselves, those who are willing to give a little kindness, a little love, a little tenderness, a bit of cheer to those requiring the hospital’s services. . . . Yes, my friends, we are today dedicating an efficient, well-appointed, beautiful building.

But tomorrow, when this hospital comes to life with devoted men and women giving just a little of themselves in tender care, kindness, and love to those whose needs bring them here, then and only then will our vision be fulfilled. And then and only then will that for which you gave and sacrificed and worked be fully realized.”

As the crowd applauded, Dr. Billingslea stepped to the podium. The beloved gentleman was without doubt the physician most associated with the county’s drive to build a hospital,

A Celebration of 50 Years

14

and today’s ceremony was particularly poignant for him; he had recently retired from medicine, and though the hospital board of directors voted to give him hospital privileges, he would never actually practice in the new hospital he had worked so hard to create. Unlike Bair, the unassuming general practitioner had little experience in public speaking, and in the days leading up to this event, he had frequently practiced his speech in front of his daughter, Elizabeth “Betty” Scott, who also worked at the hospital as a nurse. In truth, there was no need for worry: His words captured perfectly the essence of this new hospital.

“This hospital dedication ceremony should be long remembered, for it marks the day in Carroll County when humanitarianism keeps its rendezvous with destiny,” he began. “Speaking on behalf of the healing profession, may we thank you for your generosity and congratulate you for your wisdom and vision in bringing your hospital to reality. May we mention the ideals toward which the personnel of this hospital will strive to reach in the care of the sick entrusted to our keeping.”

And then Dr. Billingslea spoke the words his daughter would never forget, words that she could still recite by heart some fifty years later. Borrowed in part from an anonymous medical folk saying, the proud physician’s words provided the perfect summation of all the hopes, dreams, and promises that the new hospital in Carroll County embodied, on this day and for decades to come.

“May we cure, sometimes. May we relieve, often. But may we comfort, always.”

Top: Mayor Perry reviewed campaign fundraising strategy with representatives from Taneytown. Right: Dr. Charles L. Billingslea delivered a memorable speech at the dedication ceremony for the new hospital.

Carroll Hospital Center: 1961–2011

15

CHAPTER ONE

forty years of dreaming with Little to Show

T

alk of a hospital for Carroll County, a newspaper

1923, six years after the three doctors’ initial efforts,

once speculated, dated back as far as the 1880s,

records show that the local Carroll County Medical

timing that corresponds to the development of some

Society voted at last to follow the doctors’ lead and

of Maryland’s earliest hospitals: St. Agnes Hospital in

support the cause: Carroll County, everyone agreed,

Baltimore (1862), Johns Hopkins Hospital in Baltimore

needed a hospital.

(1889), and Frederick City Hospital (1902). Records from the Carroll County Historical Society also note that members of the local medical society spoke of the need for a hospital as early as 1916.

But the official start of Carroll County’s dream is traditionally traced back to 1917, when three Carroll County physicians named Dr. Henry M. Fitzhugh, Dr. Theodore Englar, and Dr. Lewis K. Woodward Sr. offered to buy the three-story Montour House on Main Street in Westminster and convert it into a hospital. The purchase was never finalized, and Dr. Fitzhugh decided to build his home and physician’s office on Ridge Road. In Left: The original Carroll County General Hospital was renamed Carroll Hospital Center in 2006. Right: Local newspapers covered every phase of the hospital’s construction, often printing artist’s renderings of the new building.

17

Left: Newspapers published invitations to the open house, devoting entire special sections to information about the new hospital. Below: Carroll County General Hospital was wellpositioned to serve the area that would rapidly grow around it.

Until the 1940s, however, talk of building a hospital seemed to be just that—talk. At one point, H. Peyton Gorsuch, the longtime editor of the local newspaper, “urged the community to start a hospital,” according to a later story in the Democratic Advocate. When Gorsuch died in 1944 his will directed that twenty thousand dollars be used to start building a hospital, within five years after his death.

Gorsuch’s posthumous efforts—altruistic as they were—failed to launch a hospital, but he did manage to draw attention to the idea.

Before Gorsuch died, Edward N. Chrest, a member of the local Rotary Club in Westminster and a veteran of World War I, suggested that the area consider starting a memorial for the veterans of both world wars.

In 1943 the Westminster Rotary Club named newspaper publisher Claude T. Kimmey to serve as chairman of this War Memorial Fund drive. As veterans returned to Carroll County from World War II, they asked that the War Memorial funds be instead used for a hospital.

And in 1946 the Carroll County Medical Society went on record to support a first aid and maternity hospital in Westminster “as a proper memorial to the men and women of Carroll County who served during World War II.” The coffers from the War Memorial fund drive soon grew to forty-five thousand dollars.

A Celebration of 50 Years

18

a dream comes true But Kimmey died in 1947, before an exact war memorial could be determined. In truth, not everyone wanted the war memorial to be a hospital. Several local doctors didn’t even necessarily agree that Carroll County needed a hospital. By now, some of the established physicians in the county had apparently grown comfortable practicing at other area hospitals, and had concluded that the distance to hospitals in Hanover (twenty miles away), Gettysburg (twenty-five miles), Frederick (thirty miles), or Baltimore (thirty-two miles) was not a problem for their patients.

Dr. Charles L. Billingslea was a young general practitioner with a family when Dr. Fitzhugh convinced him to return to his native Westminster to practice medicine.

After Dr. Fitzhugh died unexpectedly in 1935, Dr. Billingslea, like his mentor before him, emerged to champion the local hospital cause. Lives were being lost, he said, and pregnant women and their unborn children were at risk because there was not a hospital close by for emergency care and maternity services. Young physicians fresh out of residency did not typically want to practice in a community without a hospital, he argued, and industries would no longer choose Carroll County as a place of business without adequate health care facilities for employees. Frustrated by the stalled effort, Dr. Billingslea wrote letter after letter to the local newspapers, including one published in the Democratic Advocate on January 3, 1947: Carroll County Medical Society’s proposal for a small maternity hospital and accident room has NOT been given the proper

N

“

ew Hospital Fulfills Area Dream of Decades!” proclaimed a headline in the Evening Sun, just four days after the dedication ceremony for Carroll County General Hospital. And this dream, everyone knew, was decades in the making.

The story of how Carroll County citizens built a hospital has two distinct and starkly different phases. The first forty years of this effort, from 1917 to 1956, reveals a rambling, frustrating process that more than once appeared hopelessly stalled had it not been for a handful of local visionaries who simply refused to give up. But from 1956 to 1961, the process to build a hospital was as diligent as the early years were difficult, a veritable blueprint for how a community can come together to create a hospital it dearly needs and truly wants.

In the end, the citizens’ effort results in the hospital that everyone dreamed of, but it also accomplishes something that no one could have predicted. Carroll County General Hospital, said hospital board president Atlee W. Wampler Jr., “has united the people of this county as they have never been united before.”

consideration by the Carroll County War Memorial

who are administrators or health officers. They are

Fund Committee. During the past year, the Carroll

fine men in their line, but they do not have to wrestle

County War Fund Committee has not had the

with accident problems, or maternity cases.

advice of any practicing physician. The doctors who have attended their meetings, and presumably

Two weeks later, on January 19, 1947, Dr. Billingslea

guided them in reaching their decision on this

wrote an even more impassioned letter, again published

medical matter, are all state-employed doctors on

in the Democratic Advocate. The argument in favor of

salaries—doctors who do not practice medicine, but

building a hospital, he noted, had moved beyond the need for timely access to access of any kind: Since my letter to you of January 3rd, 1947 . . . one of the large hospitals in Baltimore has notified a Carroll County physician that he may have only one maternity bed a month in that hospital. This physician has been allowed privileges and has been shown every courtesy by this hospital for a number of years. The reason for this rationing is the enormous number of maternity cases seeking to use the existing hospital facilities. All of the other nearby hospitals are just as jam packed, but have not, as yet, started to ration the physicians on their maternity cases. The Maternity Hospital of the proposed Veterans Memorial Medical Center would aid in keeping up this fight against “death at birth� by providing proper facilities for childbirth and trained personnel to take care of the new born baby. Again the Carroll County War Memorial Fund Committee is urged to build the small maternity hospital and accident room in the proposed Veterans Memorial Medical Center.

Left: The Citizens Committee developed personalized campaign literature to help raise money for the proposed hospital in Carroll County.

A Celebration of 50 Years

20

What seemed a significant breakthrough was reported on December 19, 1947: a twenty-member review committee for the Hospital Survey and Plan for the State of Maryland had agreed that Carroll County needed a hospital. According to the report, the hospital should be “located at Westminster, which is the county seat, and is located at the approximate center of the county. On the basis of United States Public Health Service standards

Above: The many building phases of Carroll County General Hospital took place in the same location, on a hillside of rolling land tucked below Memorial Avenue in Westminster. The site was first home to the medical center for the Carroll County Health Department, also known as the Carroll County War Memorial Medical Center, shown here under construction in 1952.

for rural areas, there is a need for a 100-bed general hospital. It is recommended that a hospital of at least 50-bed capacity be established in Carroll County.”

Carroll Hospital Center: 1961–2011

21

A “Life-Giving” View

County until the county had created a stand-alone

Oddly enough, as soon as the hospital gained this

health department medical center. To the disappoint-

official stamp of approval, all momentum seemed to dis-

ment of many, the Carroll County War Memorial would

appear. In fact, everything related to the hospital stalled

not be a hospital—it would be the medical center for

completely for two years. Finally, in 1949, Scott Bair

the Carroll County Health Department. “There were

agreed to be the new chairman of the War Memorial

those who then thought the memorial should have been

Fund, picking up where former chairman Kimmey left

a hospital,” Bair stated. “But we sought the best possible

off. But it wasn’t long before Bair and others associated

advice and were told the time was not yet ready.”

with the War Memorial Fund had to accept the fact that

At the end of World War II, Bair had donated thirteen

their direction had been determined for them. According

acres to the Carroll County Commissioners, land that

to published reports, the Maryland Health Department

the county could now use to build the war memorial in

had decided that no hospital could be built in Carroll

the form of a medical center. Bair’s former property—an entire hillside of rolling land tucked below the crest of

Below: Dr. Theodore E. Woodward, Scott S. Bair, and Dr. Richard Y. Dalrymple reviewed campaign literature during the kick-off for the Carroll County General Hospital fund drive.

what eventually became Memorial Drive—overlooked what was then the Carroll County Alms House and the

A Celebration of 50 Years

22

future site of the Carroll County Farm Museum. Darthean

the war memorial effort would now move forward and

Fox, the hospital’s first employee and the secretary for

play key roles in the campaign to develop the hospital—

the hospital building campaign, respectfully described

Bair, Bonsak, Koontz, Mathias, Shipley, and Wimert. And

the location as a “hill in a hole,” a perfect description of the site’s presentation. Bair loved the spot, noting that it possessed a

by now, the early hospital sup-

O

“life-giving view of these beautiful, rolling green hills and fertile valley with the glorious Blue Ridge in the background.”

On November 11, 1952, county dignitaries and citizens officially dedicated the Carroll County War Memorial Medical Center.

It took only a year to build

porters had learned a valuable lesson from their earlier, failed campaigns: never fall in love with an idea before securing the civic and regulatory support to back it up.

Though there appeared to be minimal hospital activity

the health department medical center, a rather benign,

between the winter of 1952 and the summer of 1956,

low-slung building that stretched out on an other-

plenty was going on. In a remarkable show of support,

wise empty lot on the outskirts of Westminster. On

Bair let it be known privately that he would give

November 11, 1952, county dignitaries and citizens officially dedicated the Carroll County War Memorial Medical Center, honoring “the men and women of Carroll County who served in World War I and World War II.”

A Blueprint for Success In some ways, the health department initiative served as a dress rehearsal for building the future hospital. After all, several individuals who participated in

Right: According to state officials, Carroll County had to build a health department medical center before it could build a hospital. The Carroll County War Memorial Medical Center opened in 1952. These dedication programs were presented at the November 11, 1952, ceremony that officially opened the health department.

Carroll Hospital Center: 1961–2011

23

one hundred thousand dollars toward a hospital campaign

The plan worked. On June 11, 1956, the county com-

when it started.Thanks to efforts by Dr. Billingslea, several

missioners agreed to host the first public meeting ever to

prominent individuals directed money in their wills to

discuss the development of a hospital. Elizabeth Billings-

the care of the county commissioners for a hospital,

lea Scott—Dr. Billingslea’s daughter, a nurse and married

funds that the county later agreed to match. Gradually,

with four children to David A. Scott, also a member of

any lingering opposition to a hospital in Carroll County

the citizens committee—still remembers the day.

seemed to dissipate, due in part to the demographic reality now facing the county: its burgeoning population

I was in my kitchen after lunch, and had the radio

was close to fifty thousand people, predicted to reach

on when WTTR announced that the place for

sixty thousand before 1970. Together, Dr. Billingslea and

the public meeting about the hospital would be

Bair convinced local businessman Atlee W. Wampler Jr.

changed. The announcer said it was because of the

to work behind the scenes, to try and gain support for the

size of the anticipated audience, and they had to

hospital from the members of the Westminster Retail

have a new location. I don’t remember where it was

Merchants Association. In turn, the hospital supporters

originally—maybe the health department—but it

hoped that the businessmen would put pressure on the

was moved to the Westminster High School audi-

county commissioners to support building a hospital.

torium. I called my dad and told him, “The meeting place has been changed. I just heard it on the radio.”

Below: The kick-off festivities for the Carroll County General Hospital fund drive in 1957 included a luncheon with (left to right) Dr. Theodore Woodward, Mrs. Gladys M. Wimert, Mayor Joseph Mathias Sr., Scott S. Bair, Mrs. Mabel Reese, and Rev. Harold Hodgson.

More than four hundred people attended the meeting, the auditorium packed with representatives from nearly

A Celebration of 50 Years

24

every organization in the county. According to Wampler, support for the hospital that night was unanimous and overwhelming. “We just couldn’t believe the enthusiasm and the spirit we got,” he said.

It was a pivotal moment for everyone in the auditorium, for the citizens of Carroll County, and particularly

Top: This architectural rendering showed how the new Carroll County General Hospital would connect to the health department medical center, which is the one-story building pictured at the far left of the sketch. Above: Atlee Wampler reviewed hospital plans with Dr. D. Delmas Caples, campaign chairman for the Reisterstown area, and John T. Shanklin, Reisterstown Kiwanis president.

for Dr. Billingslea. After working essentially alone for nearly twenty years to bring a hospital to Carroll County, Dr. Billingslea now had the whole county behind him.

Carroll Hospital Center: 1961–2011

25

Momentum Builds

Ralph Bonsak, Carroll County banker.

The development of the hos-

The

pital now proceeded at a rapid

committee’s

first

task

involved conducting a survey to

pace—quite the contrast to the

help determine what kind of

previous four decades. Fol-

hospital Carroll County should

lowing the June meeting,

create. Committee members

the county commissioners

surveyed hospitals within a

quickly appointed Wampler

one-hundred-mile

to chair a citizens committee

gathering

to oversee a hospital cam-

how to run and maintain

paign. Charles O. Fisher Sr.,

different types of hospitals

a partner at the Walsh and

and systems. To help deter-

Fisher law firm in Westmin-

mine the size of the future

ster, signed on as the hospital’s

hospital,

radius,

information

the

on

committee

legal counsel, and the full slate

reported that Carroll County

of founding committee mem-

physicians referred more than

bers reads like a Carroll County

four thousand patients a year for

Who’s Who in business, finance,

admission to out-of-county hospi-

and medicine. In addition to Wampler

tals—enough, the committee report-

and Fisher, there were Bair; Billings-

ed, to “keep a 100-bed hospital operating

lea; F. Kale Mathias of

at 85 percent capacity all year long.”

Mathias Monuments; Nathan

The case study stamped a sometimes emotional,

Weinstock of Rosenstock’s Ladies

complex issue with irrefutable statistics that the com-

Dress Shop; Howard E. Koontz of

mittee needed to move forward with confidence. “We

Koontz Dairy and Creamery; A.

compiled this information in 1957 and determined that

Earl Shipley, attorney; David A.

we could, in fact, have a hospital and that it would not

Scott, Beacon Steel executive and

be a white elephant and a drain on the taxpayers,” said

Dr. Billingslea’s son-in-law; and J.

Wampler. “There would be no government ties. It would be owned by the citizens of the community.”

With input from the Carroll County Medical Society,

Top: Gladys M. Wimert, Citizens Committee chairwoman of community events and the first president of the hospital auxiliary. Left: Charles O. Fisher Sr., the hospital’s first legal counsel and future board chairman.

the committee decided to build a fifty-bed hospital that would be a nonprofit corporation owned by the citizens of Carroll County. Its infrastructure, Wampler liked

A Celebration of 50 Years

26

to point out, would actually support a one-hundredbed hospital, in case the hospital ever decided to expand. The estimated cost was just under $1 million, considered somewhat modestly priced for that time.

The committee didn’t have to buy land for the hospital; by agreeing to build the new hospital adjacent to the health department on property once owned by Bair, the land was available without cost as long as it was used to establish a new hospital. And by building close to the health department, the two organizations could share administrative space and keep costs down.

As they crunched the numbers, the Citizens Committee members realized that they already had access

Michele Burton, clinical coordinator of the Pulmonary Rehabilitation Program, and patient Sigrid “Chris” Friebel. Ms. Friebel used the newly developed Pulmonary Rehabilitation Program in 2010 to improve her lung function so she qualified for a double lung transplant and again after her transplant (performed at another hospital) to improve strength and endurance.

Fifty Years—Then and Now

1961

2011

Carroll County Population

53,000

175,305

Hospital Beds

50

213

Employees

125

1,763

Emergency Department

A room with four stretchers; patients rang a bell to enter and then a nurse called a doctor.

30,000-square-foot facility with all-private rooms and a dedicated staff.

Yearly Visits to the ER

400

53,000

Satellite Services None

roll

Access Carroll; Anchor Pharmacy; Carroll Cancer Center; Carroll County Dialysis; Carroll Hospice; Carroll Occupational Health; Med Labs; Medical office buildings in Mt. Airy, Reisterstown, Eldersburg, Taneytown, Manchester, and Westminster; Mt. Airy Health Services; Outpatient imaging in Westminster and South Car-

Outpatient Services None

ter,

Advanced minimally invasive surgical services, Wound care, Cardiac and pulmonary rehab, the Diabetes Center, Anticoagulation clinic, the Vascular Center, Carroll Home Care, Advanced Pain Management CenHigh-risk obstetrics program, Genetic counseling

Far Left: OB-GYN, Dr. T. Samuel Ahn, performs the newly developed laparoscopic hysterectomy in the early 1990s. Left: Longtime volunteer Lyndale “Red” Brandon. Below Left: (clockwise starting from bottom left) Longtime physicians: Dr. John Brock, Anesthesiology; Dr. John A. Steers, General Surgery; Dr. Alfred Lee-Young, Gastroenterology; pictured in 2003 with nurse Doreen Murray. Below: Randy Rager, hospital board chair, 1995–1999, past board member.

Bottom: Theresa Toelle, admitting manager, with manual bed board in early 1990s.

A Celebration of 50 Years

28

Left: Nurse Fran Miller (pictured right) tends to the first triplets born at Carroll County General Hospital, in January 1980. Mom, Ida Mae Gaver (center), gave birth to the triplets, two girls and one boy, all weighed over three pounds. Above: Dr. Stephan Hochuli, General Surgery, longtime physician, medical staff president, 2010–2012, pictured in 2006.

Left: Emma Rodkey (right), longtime associate, pictured with coworker Ms. Lamb in 1971. Both were working as ward clerks, now known as unit secretaries, on the hospital’s medical/ surgical East Wing. Above: Dr. Samuel O. Matz, Orthopaedics, longtime physician, medical staff president, 2000–2002, pictured in 2009.

Right: (Pictured left to right) Internists Dr. John Abel, member of the medical staff since 2003, and Dr. Khalil Freiji, longtime physician and medical staff president, 2002–2004, practice together in Westminster.

Carroll Hospital Center: 1961–2011

29

Left: The Citizens Committee presented a detailed needs assessment report to convince potential donors to contribute to the hospital campaign. Right: Mabel Reese, who coordinated volunteers for the Citizens Committee, was the hospital Auxiliary’s first volunteer.

She began volunteering on October 13, 1961.

to $300,000 from Carroll County coffers through tobacco tax revenue and accumulated gifts, and another $350,000 from the Federal Hospital Survey and Construction Act (known popularly as the Hill-Burton Act), designed to support hospital development. The balance—approximately $300,000—would have to come from the citizens of Carroll County.

The Citizens Committee went to work. While Fisher developed the legal articles of incorporation for the new hospital, Wampler and other members of the committee met regularly to map out the building fund campaign.

Slightly overwhelmed, they quickly realized they needed professional help, and hired Leo Connolly Associates, a professional consulting firm from Philadelphia, to help develop various strategies. Members of the Citizens Committee agreed to lead different divisions of the campaign: Bair, general chairman of the campaign; Gladys M. Wimert, chairwoman of community gifts; Mabel Reese, coordinator of volunteers; Kale Mathias, individual advanced gifts; Nathan Weinstock, commerce and industry; Dr. Billingslea, medical profession; Charles

A Celebration of 50 Years

30

Fisher Sr., professional; Ray Riley, small businesses; and

was almost unbelievable that one had not already been

Earl Shipley, corporations, utilities, and banks. In all,

built. Campaign literature was printed on easy-to-read

thirteen additional men and women were appointed

flyers, along with additional information about memo-

to be community chairpersons,

rial gifts, such as five hundred

charged with working with a

dollars for a brass plaque, and

small army of fifteen hundred volunteers to solicit pledges from every resident of every city, town, and community in Carroll County and the

T

There would be no government ties. It would be owned by the citizens of the community.

Reisterstown-Glyndon area.

various levels of giving—such as membership in the Founders Benefit Plan for sixty dollars. In case the point had not already been driven home, Scott Bair appended a final message to

Backed with statistics from

potential donors: “The success

the earlier survey, the committee developed its first

of the whole effort depends upon you. . . . I know that

slogan—“The Hospital You Need Today”—and a mes-

you will not let us down.”

sage to the community that the need for a general hos-

With nearly everything in place, ten members of

pital was so obvious and so generally recognized that it

the committee signed personal notes in the amount of ten thousand dollars to borrow money for “a used typewriter, stationery, stamps” and to hire the hospital’s first employee, Darthean Fox. Described by Wampler as an “all-around girl Friday,” Fox worked seamlessly to coordinate volunteers, architects, builders, and committee members in the office space that Wampler secured for free in the former First National Bank Building on 6 East Main Street in Westminster.

Only one thing was missing: a name for the hospital.

On July 30, 1957, the Citizens Committee met at the War Memorial Medical Left: An early sketch of the hospital showed three stories.

However, Carroll County General Hospital opened as a onestory building in 1961, and gradually added to its facility.

Carroll Hospital Center: 1961–2011

31

Center and formally adopted the articles

The town was small enough, and there was

of incorporation for the new hospital.

enough consensus and vision and ambi-

The official, nonprofit corporation

tion among the leaders of the commu-

owned by the citizens of Carroll

nity, for them to take this on.”

County now had a name: Carroll

In September 1957 the Citizens

County General Hospital, reflect-

Committee launched its fundraising

ing the founders’ wishes that the

campaign,

new fifty-bed hospital be a “general

corporations, and private solicitations.

hospital” to offer medical, surgical,

Following a kickoff luncheon on

maternity, and emergency services.

targeting

businesses,

Saturday, October 26, 1957, the committee started its Community Gifts Campaign, which

A Beautiful Experience

posted a goal of three hundred thousand dollars.

By the time Fox started to work on August 2, 1957,

Up to fifteen hundred volunteers fanned out over the

everyone was talking about the possibility of a new hos-

next few months and landed street by street, house by

pital—from church pulpits on Sunday mornings; in edi-

house, meeting by meeting into every corner of Carroll

torials printed in the local newspapers; during Gladys

County and the Reisterstown-Glyndon area, prepared to

Wimert’s “A Chat with Gladys” on WTTR, recorded at

ask each household or each individual for a sixty-dollar

Benny’s Kitchen on Main Street; or around the family

pledge over a three-year period. “Of course,” said Fox,

dinner table at night. Charles O. Fisher Jr., a high school

who helped Mabel Reese and Gladys Wimert coordinate

student during the hospital campaign, remembers know-

this outstanding community volunteer effort, “all the

ing that “this was a major project

donations were accounted for and typed on three-by-

going on in town. I can recall my

five cards. Computers were not present at that time.

father talking at the dinner table about Scott Bair, Kale Mathias, Atlee Wampler, and Dr. Billingslea.

Left: Darthean Fox is remembered as the secretary for the building campaign and therefore the hospital’s first employee when she reported for work on August 2, 1957.

Above: A service pin given to honor hospital volunteers. Right: Scott S. Bair, chairman of the Carroll County General Hospital Fund Raising Committee, presented the the final campaign report in early February 1958 to Atlee W. Wampler, chairman of the Hospital Committee, as committee chairmen observed.

A Celebration of 50 Years

32

the citizens committee A brief look at three citizens who helped make Carroll County’s dream a reality.

SCOTT S. BAIR Sr., chairman of the War Memorial Committee; chairman of the Fund Raising Drive for the Hospital Campaign; chairman of the board, Carroll County General Hospital: “My father had a charisma that drew people to him,” remembers Glenn Bair, Scott and Anita Bair’s son and head of Development Company of America LLP in Westminster.

“Everyone I’ve known over the years wanted to do their best to accomplish whatever goal he set out. I can see him now, pointing his finger and saying, ‘I’m depending on you to do this and to get this done.’ People took that seriously. He worked very hard on this, and so did a lot of other people, too. They all played an important role. It’s amazing how the community came together years ago to bring this about.”

births, and funerals. She was everywhere, a woman of great energy and initiative. Moreover, with all of this, she was a housewife, a mother, one of the charter members of the Soroptomist Club for Professional Women, and one of the founders of the March of Dimes. There was no one in Carroll County who didn’t know personally of Gladys M. Wimert.”

ATLEE W. WAMPLER Jr., chairman of the Citizens Committee and first hospital board president: The family name had been synonymous with Carroll County since L. Lewis Wampler made the original county survey in 1819. So it was no surprise when the county commissioners turned to Wampler to lead the Citizens Committee. True to his nature, Wampler shared the responsibilities with an exceptional team of community leaders, and always gave credit for the project’s success to everyone around him. His greatest source of pride, he said at the hospital’s groundbreaking ceremony in 1958, was “Dr. Richard Dalrymple’s acceptance to be our surgeon, some two and a half years ago,” when the hospital was barely more than a wish and a prayer. A general practitioner in Hanover, Dr. Dalrymple “willingly chose to return to the Maryland General Hospital for two additional years of surgical training in order that he may be a fully accredited surgeon with the title of Diplomate of Surgery. We are indeed most fortunate in having such a man to be chief of our medical and surgical staff.”

GLADYS M. WIMERT, chairman of the Community Gifts Phase of the Fund Campaign, president and founder of the Carroll County General Hospital Auxiliary, and a devotee of large and small hats: “Gladys is one of the most unforgettable characters I have known,” said Charles O. Fisher Sr., the hospital’s first legal counsel. “She was an emancipated woman before it became a popular term. From 1926 until 1969, she was the sole Carroll County reporter for the Hanover Evening Sun, which from the twenties to the seventies was Carroll County’s only daily newspaper. Nothing of interest in Carroll County escaped her—from church socials and affairs of county government to opening and closing of businesses, awards,

Carroll Hospital Center: 1961–2011

33

When they worked in the fundraising headquarters, our volunteers brought their own typewriters with them for many, many months to keep up with this task. We all worked and laughed a lot.”

No one was laughing in February 1958 when the Citizens Committee gathered at the Medical Center and announced the final results of its campaign. “The Campaign For $300,000” had raised a whopping $674,695—more than double what the citizens of Carroll County expected to collect. As the results were announced, newspaper reporters described a jubilant scene, “a happy meeting, under laid with spirituality and sparked with humor.” The campaign volunteers were positively giddy, and their spoken accolades for each other and what they had accomplished seemed to flow that night much like expensive, imported champagne.

“It was extraordinary,” said Earl Shipley, “but most of my praise goes to Scott S. Bair.” Noted Nathan Weinstock, a tireless worker on several committees: Left: The Democratic Advocate provided full-page coverage of every facet of the new hospital, from fundraising and groundbreaking ceremonies to staffing and open house announcements in its August 31, 1961, edition.

35

“The campaign is not over—I have more to contact!” Dr. D. D. Caples, campaign chairman of the Reisterstown-Glyndon area, said, “When we came to Westminster to commit ourselves to the campaign, I never dreamed it would be a $32,935.25 trip.”

Both Bair and Wimert pointed to Mabel Reese as the outstanding volunteer worker on this campaign. Charles Fisher Sr., who had called himself an “optimist” at the beginning of the campaign, just shook his head. “The amount we have reached,” he said, “proves that I was a pessimist.”

Top: Captains lined up to show the citizens of Carroll County their new hospital during open house events. Above: These official greeters delivered a prepared “Greeter’s Welcome” to the nearly twelve-thousand visitors who toured the hospital over three days. Right: This image of the entrance of Carroll County General Hospital was used on an early postcard.

And Leo Connolly, the fundraising consultant, said it was the most successful campaign he had seen in his entire fifteen years of executing capital campaigns.

A Celebration of 50 Years

36

And then it was Bair’s turn. “This,” said the fund

equipment and furnishings. Weinstock, president of the

committee chairman, “has been one of the most beautiful

building and grounds committee, interviewed architects

experiences of my life. Never before have I received so

and contractors, with the bid to build the hospital going

much support and cooperation from so many people.”

to E. E. Stuller Construction Co. When an early architect

To which a grateful and slightly awed Atlee Wampler

returned a rendering of the new hospital that “looked

replied, “Carroll County will remember you for this.”

just like a school building, just the rooms and so forth,” Charles Fisher Sr. said he “realized that this wouldn’t

Design Takes Shape

work, and we began to investigate.” In conjunction with

For the next eighteen months, the Citizens Committee

architect B. E. Starr (for construction documents) and

shifted from fundraising to putting together all the pieces

associate architect Edward H. Noakes (for design and

required to build a new hospital. Scott, chairman of the

construction supervision), the committee hired the

equipment committee, became an expert in hospital

innovative and forward-thinking Gordon Friesen of

Carroll Hospital Center: 1961–2011

37

Washington, D.C., to act as a consultant on the project.

greeting. On your walking tour, you will surely see that

Friesen, who would become quite famous for his

Carroll County General’s main objective now is to give

efficient hospital designs, ultimately put his stamp on the

the finest medical care for its patients. You are in for a

new hospital with an efficient layout that emphasized

wonderful hour.”

private patient rooms and a well-equipped nursing

In truth, there was reason to gush. The hospital

station and supply cubicles. Dr. Richard Y. Dalrymple

founders frequently noted that the fifty-bed hospital

of Hanover General agreed to become the hospital’s chief of staff and head of surgery, but he would wait until the hospital was built to hire the rest of the hospital staff and provide input into

employee

hiring. And

because there were still more

designed

I

In the week following the dedication ceremony, an astonishing 11,643 visitors toured the new hospital during three days of open houses.

funds to be raised and a hospital

under

Gordon

Friesen’s watchful eye featured “the best that can be had in a physical facility,” and the tour guides were quick to point them out: design and layout innovations that allowed for maximum efficiencies, from surgical

suites

to

nursing

gift shop to open and curtains for new windows to be

stations; state-of-the-art diagnostic, treatment, and

sewn, Gladys Wimert started the hospital auxiliary on

surgical equipment; a stand-alone obstetrical and

September 2, 1958.

maternity department; a new central supply system;

On October 31, 1959, Dr. Dalrymple and hospital

private and semiprivate rooms instead of traditional

president Atlee Wampler gripped a wooden shovel

hospital wards; an ambulance entrance at the front

together and broke ground for the new hospital. Nearly

of the hospital, closer to operating rooms and X-ray

two years later, on August 27, 1961, the two men stood

departments than typically found; and a hospital

on the same piece of land to dedicate the brand-new

filled with luxuries both big and small, including a

Carroll County General Hospital.

cafeteria, electronic hi-lo beds that moved with the

In the week following the dedication ceremony, an

flick of a switch, the cool comfort of air conditioning,

astonishing 11,643 visitors toured the new hospital

a thermostat in every room, and new dictation devices

during three days of open houses. “It is my pleasure

for busy physicians.

to welcome you to the new Carroll County General

Carroll County General Hospital, a dream that began

Hospital,” each of the auxiliary’s specially trained

over forty years prior, was ready for patients.

volunteers told visitors before embarking on an hourRight: Homer Y. Myers of E. E. Stuller Construction Co., general contractors for the hospital, presented the keys to Carroll County General Hospital to Atlee W. Wampler, the new hospital board president, during the grand opening ceremony, August 27, 1961.

long tour of the hospital that ended with refreshments in the cafeteria. “We know that you will be thrilled and fascinated with the exciting tour that will follow my

A Celebration of 50 Years

38

Carroll Hospital Center: 1961–2011

39

C H A P T E R T WO

a hospital grows in Carroll County

O

n Sunday, October 1, 1961—the same day New

Since the day Carroll Gamber was born five decades

York Yankees outfielder Roger Maris became the

ago, CCGH has evolved from a 50-bed community

first-ever Major League Baseball player to hit more than

hospital with six physicians and 125 employees to a

sixty home runs in a single season—Carroll County

213-bed medical center with more than four hundred

General Hospital (CCGH) officially opened at 1 p.m.

physicians in over thirty-eight medical specialties, an

Thirty minutes later, between two rows of dignitaries

annual budget of $249 million, and a new name: Carroll

and staff standing at the front entrance, Lucille and

Hospital Center (CHC).

Philip Gamber of Flohrville entered the hospital to prepare for the birth of their fourth child. At 8:48 p.m., Dr. Charles Mawhinney Jr., head of obstetrics, recorded his own home run of sorts when he delivered the first baby ever born at CCGH. Naming the 6-pound, 15½-ounce baby boy was easy, according to his mom. “It had to be Carroll,” Mrs. Gamber said.

Left: Clutching her “pinkie” comfort toy handmade by volunteer workers at the hospital, eight-year-old Gail Lynn Wardenfelt of Westminster becomes the first patient ever discharged from Carroll County General Hospital. Right: On October 1, 1961, the day the hospital officially opened, Philip Gamber of Flohrville greeted his newborn son, Carroll, the first baby born at the hospital.

Carroll Hospital Center: 1961–2011

41

Left: Smiles, a magazine published by the new hospital to comfort new patients, was distributed through the support of Carroll County Bank and Trust Co. Below: Pinkie the puppet comforted hospitalized children for many years. (Pinkie provided by Doug Crowl, Westminster resident and longtime employee of Carroll Hospital Center.)

Finding Its Footing The first year at Carroll County General Hospital was extremely difficult. Though the Citizens Campaign ultimately raised $722,430 for the hospital and the total collected from all sources totaled $1.441 million, the money was quickly accounted for: the hospital cost $1.326 million to build, and the remaining $115,500 was barely enough to cover payroll, operations, and final expenses. The hospital delayed opening a month after its dedication ceremony, publicly claiming that it had considerable cleaning and sanitizing to do after thousands walked through the hospital during the three days of open house tours in September. But in truth, many hospital officials were afraid to open, pointing to only

The evolution has been punctuated by building

$11,000 cash left in the bank.

campaigns that over the years supported a dramatic expansion in services—driven by the needs of the com-

“Despite all the success of the fund drive, there was

munity, a desire to attract and retain an excellent medical

a near-crisis as the hospital prepared to open its doors,”

staff, and an overarching commitment by CHC to not

said Charles O. Fisher Sr., the hospital’s first legal coun-

only treat the sick and injured but to provide

sel and one of its founders. “We had spent all of our

services that help keep people healthy and strong in their own communities.

More than a building, more than a hospital, the hospital founders promised. And from 1961 to 2011, as a succession of hospital administrators, board presidents, medical staff chiefs, talented nurses, and dedicated employees delivered on that promise, a hospital grew in Carroll County, Maryland.

A Celebration of 50 Years

42

CHC-1132

money. So six of us from the board of directors went to Westminster Trust Co. and signed personal notes for thirty thousand dollars to open the hospital.”

Ignoring suggestions to delay the opening even further, the board opened on October 1, 1961, with Dr. Dalrymple as head of the medical staff and Beatrice Newkirk, R.N., as the first director of nursing. James A. McCallum Jr. of Wilmington, Delaware, was the first administrator, and Darthean Fox was named assistant administrator. The growing pains were immediately apparent, with challenges for the board, the medical staff, and the administration. Census for the fifty beds was difficult to anticipate, and quite frankly no one on the board had any experience running a hospital before.

Financing was fragile, often payroll-to-payroll. The hospital lost a reported two thousand dollars a week for the first six to eight months. In an effort to meet expenses, some staff were let go in the first few months of operation. This situation prompted the medical staff to issue a resolution stating that it “no longer had confidence in the activities” of the executive board.

The infighting and operational stress took its toll.

By the end of the hospital’s first full year in 1962, Dalrymple had resigned as head of the medical staff, replaced by Dr. Daniel Welliver. McCallum had resigned as administrator to accept a position at Franklin Square Hospital in Baltimore; the board asked Fox to fill the position until a new Top: Beatrice Newkirk, the hospital’s first director of nurses, explained the new equipment in the hospital’s first X-ray unit.

Bottom: Atlee Wampler, the hospital’s first president, congratulated F. Kale Mathias on his election as the hospital’s new president in 1964. Hospital administrator James McFerron stands between the two men.

Carroll Hospital Center: 1961–2011

43

Left: Willella Stansbury Kriel, a wealthy businesswoman and civic leader from Hampstead, died in 1963 and named Carroll County General Hospital a beneficiary of her $3 million estate. The hospital built the Stansbury-Kriel Memorial Addition in her honor, and continued to use her gift to help grow the hospital for years to come.

administrator could be hired. Years later, Wampler, then board president, minced no words describing the situation: “You had these people fighting at each other’s throats.”

The tension spilled out into the newspapers—an embarrassment that actually seemed to help stop the bickering and begin the healing. “Carroll Board, Staff Act To End Dissension,” noted one newspaper headline on January 8, 1963. A month later, Wampler was reelected president, and James R. McFerron, assistant administrator of the Doctors Hospital in Cleveland Heights, Ohio, accepted an offer to be the new CCGH administrator, effective May 1. Through it all, Director of Nursing Bea Newkirk used her former military background to keep the hospital nursing staff in shape and the patients well cared for, recalled Jean Dull, R.N., who joined CCGH as night supervisor in September 1962 and remained for nearly twenty years. “What a grand powerhouse she was.

Heaven help you if she caught you chewing gum! She was quite a lady—a tough sergeant. She fought with us, but always for us, too.”

By September 1963, one week before the auxiliary’s fifth annual Silvery Moon Ball, the newspaper headlines indicated that the worst was over: “C.C. Hospital Shows Gain,” shouted the Carroll County Times on September 19, 1963. During its first full fiscal year, the hospital reported 2,773 admissions and 552 births, with a 75 percent occupancy rate for its fifty beds and an average length of stay of 6.25 days. Even more

A Celebration of 50 Years

44

encouraging was the tiny profit—$1,721 in income on revenues of $733,039, even though the hospital was still operating at a $57,473 loss after depreciation.

Within one year, the ever-climbing hospital census and continued operating efficiencies helped edge the hospital toward the black. But more than anything else, an announcement by the board on May 19, 1964, all but sealed the hospital’s financial fate for the better: Carroll County General Hospital was a beneficiary of the estate of Willella Stansbury Kriel, a wealthy businesswoman and civic leader from Hampstead. Kriel was an early supporter of the hospital and had, in fact, made an anonymous $100,000 donation to the Citizens Campaign to help start the hospital.

When she passed away in 1963 the value of Mrs. Kriel’s estate was estimated at more than $3 mil-

caring for the overflow of patients in the sun porches;

lion, including over four hundred acres of donated land

the availability of capital from the Stansbury-Kriel gift

near Hampstead that would provide financial benefits

that meant the hospital didn’t have to raise money to

for years to come for the new hospital.

pay for the new wing; and an existing hospital infra-

The fortuitous Kriel bequest meant but one thing to

structure that meant the hospital already had the capac-

the hospital: It was time to grow.

ity to expand.

The contract for the new $1.5 million wing was

One New Hospital Wing, One Renovated Hospital Wing

issued in June 1966, with the groundbreaking in Octo-

The first new addition to Carroll County General

ber. Known as the new Stansbury-Kriel wing (or West

Hospital was the result of a near perfect storm of four

and North wings because the new wing was actu-

factors: a rapidly growing patient population, as Carroll

ally divided into two corridors), the addition adjoined

County grew to nearly sixty thousand residents in the

the west end of the existing hospital and allowed the

mid-1960s; a hospital that was routinely filled, operat-

Above: An early hospital Volunteer’s Handbook reviewed tray serving for hospital patients’ meals, a key duty of early volunteers.

ing at “103 percent” capacity some weeks, with nurses

Carroll Hospital Center: 1961–2011

45

“We’re Going to Have an Auxiliary”

I

n the summer of 1958, fresh off the successful campaign to raise money for the county’s first hospital, Gladys M. Wimert sat behind the wheel of her little yellow Opel, “going from Hanover to Westminster” when she had an idea.

Wimert—the well-known Westminster civic leader, newspaper columnist, and radio show host—turned to her roadtrip companions and announced, “We’re going to have an auxiliary for our hospital.” Mabel S. Reese, her good friend with a kindred volunteer spirit, knew instantly that it would happen. Wimert was a “woman of action,” Reese once noted in an article for Heartbeat, the hospital’s quarterly publication.

“She was a real go-getter. And everybody was enthusiastic.”

Older than the hospital itself, the Carroll County General Hospital Auxiliary officially organized on September 2, 1958, during a meeting in the auditorium at the Westminster Elementary School. Wimert was elected the first president of the auxiliary, along with Doris C. Pinckney, first vice president; Mrs. Katherine Lawyer, second vice president; Darthean Fox, recording secretary; and Mabel Reese, coordinator of volunteer workers.

In September 1959, the auxilliary staged its first Silvery Moon Ball, an elegant affair that became the group’s signature fundraising event for the next fifty years. Charles O. Fisher Sr., a hospital founder, legal counsel, and a member of the board of directors continu-

ously since 1961, never forgot the sheer magic the auxiliary created for that first ball: “The Westminster Armory was draped in silk parachutes, creating billowing clouds overhead and underneath, a sold-out crowd of enthusiastic revelers.”

Auxiliary members have always worn two hats. As fund-raisers from 1958 until 2010, they have contributed just over $3.5 million to the hospital through such long-standing traditions as the Ball, the Candy Striper Gift Shop, the Spring Fashion Show, Casino Night, the Tree of Lights, and more recently the White Rabbit Thrift Shop (opened in 2006)—money used not only to support and enhance existing services like the pediatric unit and cardiovascular services but also to establish new patient services.

Among its three hundred members, over two hundred auxiliary members are devoted volunteers, joining other community and junior volunteers

Top: A hospital Auxiliary patch. Right: Dr. Richard Y. Dalrymple, auxiliary president and founder Gladys M. Wimert, and hospital board president Atlee Wampler received guests at the auxiliary’s first Silvery Moon Ball on September 11, 1959. Far Right: A ticket to the auxiliary’s first Silvery Moon Ball and a program for the third Silvery Moon Ball in 1961.

A Celebration of 50 Years

46

drive in Mt. Airy,” she recalls. “Everyone wanted to help the hospital. We loved the hospital. It was like family.”

Dottie Cole, president of the auxiliary from 2002 to 2006, agreed. The auxiliary, she noted, is “an amazing group of people who are constantly giving of their time, energy, and resources.

Their only motivation has been the love of this community and their desire to make it a great place to live and work.”

Over time, the auxiliary’s projects have expanded and its fundraising goals have increased dramatically. In 2010 the Carroll Hospital Center Auxiliary pledged $325,000 for the expansion of the hospital’s cardiovascular services—a pledge that is particularly significant because it also honors the auxiliary founder, Gladys Wimert. When Wimert died unexpectedly in her sleep in 1969, the Gladys Wimert Memorial Fund was created to raise money for what eventually became the hospital’s first Coronary Care Unit, a forerunner to the excellent cardiovascular services offered at the hospital today.

When the auxiliary celebrated its fiftieth anniversary in 2008, Darthean Fox was one of nine charter members who attended the celebration dinner, along with Thelma Coleman, S. LaRue Crowl, Charles O. Fisher Sr., Erma Frock, Arawana Leckron, Betty Mathias, Priscilla Teeter, and Lucille Wright. “Building a new hospital is like building a house—we started with a dream,” Fox noted during a special presentation. “Times were so different then in some ways, but still the same in others. It still takes volunteers to make things happen.”

In a beautiful setting that served up a delicious menu and an evening filled with dancing, the hospital auxiliary hosted its 50th ball, the Golden Gala, in 2009. Cris Coleman, assistant vice president of Finance, and his wife Karen dance at the gala.

to contribute more than fifty thousand hours of volunteer service each year—saving the hospital almost $1 million a year in staffing and benefits. Granted, auxiliary members no longer give hospital tours or make curtains and patient gowns for the hospital the way they did in 1961. But for fifty years they have continued to run the hospital gift shop, greet visitors, distribute flowers and magazines, comfort patients, and improve the hospital’s services. Though they no longer provide homemade puppets—known as “Pinkies”—auxiliary members still provide knitted hats for newborns and stuffed animals for young patients.

“Everyone took pride in what they were doing,” said Phyllis Ullman, former auxiliary president who moved to Carroll County from Ohio in 1982 and began volunteering five years later. “The first day that I filled out my application, I helped organize a blood

Right: Anesthesiologist Dr. Andrew Green and his wife Vicki Campbell Green, auxiliary president 2007–2010, enjoyed the auxiliary’s Golden Gala.

Carroll Hospital Center: 1961–2011

47

A Celebration of 50 Years

48

hospital to expand to 122 beds. At the same time, the

specialists in plastic surgery, urology, thoracic surgery, and

board authorized the renovation of the seven-year-old,

ophthalmology. And in accordance with new state laws,

original hospital building, incorporating cosmetic changes such as vinyl wall covering and new lighting, as well as more exten-

the hospital hired its first staff

T

sive renovations to the nursery, emergency room, and laboratory. When both projects were completed in 1968, the beauty of adding the new wing and finishing all renovations on the existing hospital, said Charles

“The fact that our hospital— in this day of grave shortages in the medical profession— is continuing to attract young specialists to its staff speaks more eloquently than words of this institution and its future.”

O. Fisher Sr., board president at

physicians to cover weekends in the emergency room.

In a speech delivered when the 1968 addition was completed, Fisher called the hospital “unique in its class for the variety of medical specialties represented on its medical staff and for the number of full-time specialists.

The fact that our hospital—in this day of grave shortages in the

the time, “is that we don’t have an ‘old’ building with

medical profession—is continuing to attract young spe-

a ‘new’ wing, but we have a single modern integrated

cialists to its staff speaks more eloquently than words of

hospital building of 122 beds.” With occupancy at an

this institution and its future.”

all-time high in December 1969 and January 1970, “We feel secure in our knowledge that the beds are available when the need exists,” Fisher added.

And for the first time—in a move that foreshadowed the future direction of the hospital—Carroll County General Hospital started to move away from offering only “general” medical and surgical services with a staff dominated by general practitioners, and extended staff privileges to Left: An early 1970s aerial view of the hospital showed its location on the outskirts of Westminster, across from the Carroll County Farm Museum. Right: The floor plan of the original hospital, connected to the county Health Department’s medical center.

Carroll Hospital Center: 1961–2011

49

A Three-Story Addition, Just in Time

and its growing lists of specialists. But the qualified specialists who did practice at

In the next decade, the explosive growth of Carroll County’s population nearly

CCGH often discovered a facility in

threatened to overwhelm the hospital.

need of more adequate equipment and

With more than eighty thousand people

additional rooms for patients. When Dr.

living in the county by 1976, the demand

Chitrachedu Naganna joined CCGH as

on CCGH began to exceed its capacity

the hospital’s first cardiologist in 1975,

to provide care. Mired somewhat in

“I had to buy all of my own equipment,”

new government regulations and a state

he remembers. “Treadmill, holter monitor, echo machine—there was no heart test

certificate-of-need process, the hospital’s

available at the hospital at this time.” Doctors

leadership team was facing significant challenges

claimed that the waiting time for elective surgery

in keeping pace with the health care needs of the community. “As more people moved to the area, the

was two to four weeks. With a 94 percent occupancy

hospital simply became overtaxed,” said Dr. Dalrymple,

rate, the hospital was constantly on “red alert” (no cardiac

former chief of staff.

In the mid- to late seventies, the hospital administration, now led by Charles R. Graf, focused on keeping pace with the growing county by continuing to increase its medical staff

Top: Administrator Charles R. Graf holds the hospital’s first two-year accreditation from the Joint Commission (JCAHO) in 1975. Left and Above: The entrance and parking areas for the hospital, from 1978 and 2002.

A Celebration of 50 Years

50

JOHN M. SERNULKA admissions) or “yellow alert” (no admissions of any kind) because the beds were full; all too often, ambulances were rerouted.

Some familiar faces and names such as Atlee Wampler, Mabel Reese, Scott Bair, and Kale Mathias returned in the spring of 1976 to launch a campaign to raise $2.5 million from the community, funds to anchor a long-overdue $9.5 million expansion program at the hospital. The expansion increased the number of beds to 183 by adding a second floor to the existing facility that incorporated a 26-bed medical/surgical unit. The expansion also addressed many needed improvements in the hospital’s ancillary services. For instance, it created new emergency and operating rooms, renovated the X-ray department and laboratory, and developed a new seven-bed intensive unit and an eight-bed coronary care unit. “The hospital has not asked the people of this area for financial support in more than 18 years,” the expansion campaign literature announced, a direct reference to the successful campaign that launched the hospital.

The newspaper headline on June 11, 1976, said it all: “Carroll Countians Rally to Help Hospital Drive.” The expanded facility opened in 1979.

Below: From its original footprint on thirteen rural acres, in 1979, Carroll County General Hospital had completed a $9.5 million expansion that added a second floor and gave the hospital a total of 183 beds.

J

ohn M. Sernulka has been called the “driving force behind transformational change,” the president and chief executive officer who not only had the vision for what Carroll County General Hospital could become but the ability to mold this aspiring community hospital into the vision that is now Carroll Hospital Center.

After thirteen years of senior management experience at Baltimore Washington Medical Center, Sernulka joined CCGH’s executive team as chief operating officer in 1988, and became president and CEO in 1996. “We had to find someone with a vision who could help us determine what our hospital needed and make that happen,” said Steve Bohn, a member of the board of directors during Sernulka’s tenure. “And of course, John has been that person. It’s amazing to me how much the hospital has grown and changed over the past twentyplus years under his direction. We have become the health care leader to the communities we serve by never resting on our past success and never forgetting our responsibility to our patients.”

Under Sernulka, Carroll Hospital Center developed modern technology, sophisticated clinical service lines, centers of excellence, and a reputation for high-quality health care—all while experiencing significant growth in facilities, programs, and services.

“I see myself as a change agent,” said Sernulka, who attributes his success to having a strong leadership team, a dedicated staff, and skilled physicians who want to practice at CHC, along with an excellent working relationship with the board of directors. “One thing is certain. Together we have moved this organization forward, and from that I take a very deep and sincere sense of satisfaction.”

Within the next five years, Sernulka predicts that the Carroll Hospital Center leadership “will transition from me to others in the organization. I actually feel good about turning it over to the next group of leaders, and look forward to them taking it to the next level. It’s exciting.”

Continued Modernization, Expanding Boundaries Now that physicians and staff had more space, they weren’t shy about asking for more sophisticated equipment. And the hospital did not disappoint.

From 1980 to 1986 the hospital embraced advances in technology that helped to improve the staff’s ability to diagnose illnesses and diseases. To name a few: computerized tomography (CT) to provide images of the body, low-dose mammography for the detection of breast disease, and echocardiograms that Left, Above, and Right: Dr. Paul Vietz and his colleague Dr. T. Samuel Ahn pioneered a new procedure for laparoscopic hysterectomies at Carroll County General Hospital in 1992, leading to news coverage in Carroll County and throughout the country.

A Celebration of 50 Years

52

The hospital invested in state-of-the-art diagnostic equipment like this computed tomography or CT medical imaging machine.

Unlike the expansion campaign of 1976 the strides made by the hospital beginning in the 1980s and 1990s were not designed to play catch-up. Instead, they represented stepping-stones for the hospital toward more sophisticated equipment and services, a greater diversity of services for patients, and the chance to play a larger role in the community’s well-being by anticipating its growth and health care needs.

Below: In honor of Dr. Charles L. Billingslea, the hospital built the Billingslea Medical Office Building and opened the new facility in 1985.

used ultrasound to display heart structures on a monitor screen. The presence and use of these machines gave patients confidence that they were getting stateof-the-art care at CCGH, and also paved the way for the hospital to offer more services in the future, such as the Philips 64-channel CT scanner, the most advanced CT technology available in 2009; magnetic resonance imaging (MRI); positron emission technology (PET); and capsule endoscopy for visualization of the body’s gastrointestinal tract.

The 1980s and early 1990s also brought a wave of minimally invasive surgical techniques, led regionally

by OB-GYN Dr. Paul Vietz, with the introduction of laparoscopic hysterectomy, and followed by arthroscopy and lasers for cataracts. Due to the popularity (and, in some cases, insurance-driven preferred choice) of outpatient procedures, the hospital expanded its outpatient surgical program in 1985 with a twelve-bed ambulatory surgery center and opened a new outpatient cardiac rehabilitation program. In 1985 the Billingslea Medical Office Building opened, honoring the Westminster physician who never gave up on the idea that Carroll County needed its own hospital.

Carroll Hospital Center: 1961–2011

53

Starting in the early 1980s CCGH began

CPR training to stress management, exercise

to clearly define what Scott Bair meant

classes, and healthy cooking programs. The

when he challenged the institution to

movement’s capstone project, the Wom-

be “more than just a hospital” and

en’s Place, offering health and wellness

to develop programs that actually

resources for women, opened in

served the community. Fran Miller,

1999.

R.N., one of the hospital’s first

Helping lead Carroll County

nurses, became one of its first

General

community

into

health

educators,

the

Hospital’s community

was

an

John

M.

teaching prenatal classes in her

administrator

home to help families prepare

Sernulka, a leader who not only

for

understood the hospital’s needs and

the

childbirth

experience.

“As the hospital began providing

named

expansion

responsibilities but who envisioned

more patient services,” she said, “it

how to move the hospital into the

became important to offer programs

future. “When I started my career here,

that helped them to continue leading

I made the assumption that the hospital

healthy lifestyles.”

would remain a viable community hospital—

Over time, the hospital’s reach extended far

robust, with a growing population. It needed

beyond its structural walls with the introduction of several community outreach programs, which included

Top Photo Panel: A ribbon-cutting ceremony in 1999 officially opened the Women’s Place, an innovative hospital initiative that combines health and wellness resources for women in one setting. Center: Fran Miller, R.N., one of the hospital’s first nurses, helped introduce community health education in the 1980s.

educational offerings on prenatal care, heart disease, and diabetes—as well as a roster of programs and events that covered everything from arthritis support groups and

A Celebration of 50 Years

54

high-quality

services

and

Left: Carroll County General Hospital employees celebrated the hospital’s thirty-fifth anniversary in 1996. Below: In 2008 Carroll Hospital Center launched expanded cardiovascular services, including an emergency angioplasty program in partnership with the University of Maryland Heart Center.

high-quality

physician care,” said Sernulka, who joined the hospital as chief operating officer in 1989 and became CEO and president in 1996. “We have always had wonderful nursing care here, and

ing, cardiac rehabilitation, and pediatric

an awesome, caring, compassionate,

cardiology. Then in 2008 CHC began

true bond with the community. It was

offering emergency angioplasty onsite, in

exciting to watch us build a community

partnership with the University of Maryland

around that core value system.”

Heart Center. That partnership eliminated the

Under Sernulka’s leadership, hospital expansion

need for patients suffering certain types of heart attacks

projects both inside the hospital and out in the com-

to be transferred—saving 160 lives in its first two years

munity were driven by answers to the question, “What

of operation.

does the community need?” For instance, when statistics showed that many Carroll County citizens were in critical need of inpatient psychiatric care, CCGH opened a twenty-bed Behavioral Health unit in 1991 during a multimillion-dollar expansion that created third and fourth floors on the west patient tower. When heart disease presented as one of the leading causes of death and sickness for Carroll County citizens, a cardiac catheterization unit and angiography lab were opened in 1992 to help cardiologists diagnose and treat cardiovascular disease. The hospital’s cardiovascular services continued to expand over the next two decades to include critical, intermediate, and progressive cardiac care monitorLeft: John M. Sernulka joined the hospital as chief operating officer in 1988, and advanced to CEO and president in 1996.

Carroll Hospital Center: 1961–2011

55

All in the Family

G

enerations of families have made Carroll Hospital Center their professional home. Here’s a look at a few of Carroll Hospital Center’s “All in the Family” connections.

he received the Dr. Janet Neslen Award for outstanding contributions.

FATHER-SON

Donald Saltzman, M.D., orthopaedist, and son Robert Saltzman, M.D., orthopaedist “It’s heartening to know that my son is making contributions to a field and community that I have devoted so much of my life to,” said the elder Saltzman. Noted the son: “Unlike many family businesses, I have the opportunity to work alongside, rather than for, my father. It’s been both a gratifying and wonderful experience.”

Danilo Santos, M.D., OB/GYN & Daniel Santos, M.D., otolaryngologist Jules Scherr, M.D., OB/GYN & Adam Scherr, M.D., radiologist John E. Steers, M.D., general surgeon, and son John A. Steers, M.D., general surgeon “I’ve learned from my own experience, as well as by observing my father, that the best referral service any doctor has is his or her patients,” the son once said. “I’m happy here because I take care of people I know.” Added the father: “I came here mainly because I thought it was a situation where it would be more likely to maintain ongoing doctor-patient relationships.

I still think the doctor-patient relationship, whether you were practicing medicine in 1960 or 2000, is more important than anything else.” After he retired, John E. Steers affiliated with Access Carroll as a volunteer physician in 2005, providing primary care services to uninsured, low-income patients. In 2007 he was honored for his work with Access Carroll when

A Celebration of 50 Years

56

Paul Vietz, M.D., gynecologist, and son Michael Vietz, M.D., obstetrician/gynecologist “We are very similar in many ways, and when I look at the way he does things, it’s almost like looking in the mirror,” said the elder Dr. Vietz, who introduced advanced laparoscopic surgery to the hospital and the region and helped develop the first minimally invasive procedure for hysterectomy, known as classical intrafascial supracervical hysterectomy (CISH), after working with renowned professor Dr. Kurt Semm in Germany. The elder Dr. Vietz still practices in an office on Ridge Road that was once owned by Dr. Henry M. Fitzhugh, one of three Carroll County physicians who first dreamed of a hospital for the county in 1917. Said Dr. Michael Vietz, “Since I have a personal interest in laparoscopic surgery, it’s been nice to continue on with some of my father’s work. To have the opportunity to tap into the knowledge of someone who is internationally known in laparoscopic surgery is a tremendous experience.”

HUSBAND, WIFE, SON, DAUGHTER, DAUGHTER—THE NAGANNAS

Chitrachedu Naganna, M.D., cardiology; Vimala Naganna, M.D., family practice; Gourishankar Naganna, M.D., internal medicine; Hemalatha Naganna, M.D., cardiology; and Anitha Naganna Rangarajan, physical therapist Prominent physicians at Carroll Hospital Center who have contributed significantly to Carroll County since moving to Westminster in 1975, Chitrachedu and Vimala Naganna once said they would like to be described as “physicians who are hardworking, caring, and dedicated to their profession and their patients.” They can also be described as the proud parents of three more medical professionals—son Gourishankar Naganna, M.D., internal medicine; daughter Hemalatha Naganna, M.D., who followed her father into a career in cardiology; and daughter Anitha Naganna Rangarajan, a physical therapist. Said Hema-latha Naganna, “My parents built

Above: In 1997 Carroll County General Hospital opened the Richard N. Dixon Ambulatory Care Center, the county’s first full-service outpatient surgical facility. The new ambulatory care center was named for State Delegate Dixon in honor of his support of the hospital. Dixon is pictured in 1997 between Dr. Reynaldo Madrinan, president of the medical staff, and Rebecca Vasse, assistant vice president of Patient Care Services.

The growth in outpatient procedures across all medical specialties drove the hospital in 1997 to open the Richard N. Dixon Ambulatory Care Center, named in honor of State Delegate Dixon and his unwavering support of CHC throughout his career. The center was the county’s first full-service, freestanding, outpatient surgery center, complete with preadmission testing facilities and a pain management center. The hospital’s first chief of staff was, simply, amazed. “Procedures that used to require five to seven days in the hospital,” Dr. Dalrymple said, “are now done in a few hours and patients go home the same day.” Interestingly enough, the Dixon Center is located in what was once the county health department building, purchased by the hospital from the county in 1995 in exchange for one hundred acres of land bequeathed to the hospital over thirty years before by the Kriel family.

Left: The hospital opened The Family Birthplace in 1996, one of the first in the area to offer a LaborDelivery-Recovery-Postpartum (LDRP) approach to childbirth. Below: The new service was featured in the summer 1995 issue of Hospital News with baby Ben Fletcher on the cover. Bottom Left and Right: The advanced LDRP suites allowed families to experience the entire birthing process in the comfort of one room, combining the latest in comfort and technology for modern childbirth.

With the county’s population continuing to climb, the hospital in 1996 completed The Family Birthplace, one of the hospital’s premier services and among the first facilities in the region to offer a labor-delivery-recoverypostpartum (LDRP) approach to childbirth. Five years later, a $2.5 million expansion of The Family Birthplace added five LDRP suites to the existing fifteen.

By the late 1990s Carroll County General Hospital was not alone in working to find the best answer to the question, “What does the community need?”

Together with the Carroll County Health Department in 1999, Carroll County General Hospital formed The Partnership for a Healthier Carroll County, a unique collaboration designed to coordinate agendas, agencies, individuals, and programs in pursuit of a healthier community. To help define the community’s health care needs, the Partnership produced documented studies that identified eight key areas of community health concerns in Carroll County: heart disease, substance abuse, mental health, wellness, disease prevention, elder health, and the uninsured.

The results, everyone agreed, were significant. When the Maryland Cancer Registry showed that Carroll County had a higher incidence of all cancers than the state average, the hospital worked to bring on medical oncologist Dr. Flavio Kruter in 1993. In 2001, through a partnership with Dr. Kruter and U.S. Oncology, the Carroll County

A Celebration of 50 Years

58

Cancer Center opened. The thirteen-thousand-square-foot facility, located on the hospital campus, offers advanced care in radiation and chemotherapy, as well as cutting-edge research

T

“The Cancer Center brought the hospital to a new, competitive level and is able to provide the cancer treatment and medicine the community is looking for.”

and clinical trials. “The Cancer Center brought the hospital to a new, competitive level and is able to provide the cancer treatment and medicine the community is looking for,” said Dr. Kruter. “There is still work to do. But we

Medical oncologist Dr. Flavio Kruter joined the hospital in 1993. In 2001, through a partnership with Dr. Kruter and U.S. Oncology, the Carroll County Cancer Center opened on the hospital campus.

have been able to improve how the community perceives this hospital. No one wants to call it a ‘community’ hospital anymore because it has grown so far beyond that image of the small hospital in a rural community.”

A New Name Indeed, by 2003, Carroll County General Hospital was no longer a mere “general” hospital. To reflect its transformation to a comprehensive hospital center with state-of-the-art technology and a broad range of specialized care, the hospital’s board of directors approved the name change to Carroll Hospital Center. “When we looked at all the positive changes and growth of services that were taking place here, it was clear we should be called a hospital center,” said Todd Brown, past board chairman and a member of the name change task force.

“We strongly felt that the word ‘Carroll’ should remain in the new name to show our connection to the community and commitment to improving its future.”

Top Left: A flyer explained the expansion and renovation project from 2002 to 2004. Left: Hospital representatives broke ground for the hospital’s $80 million expansion and renovation project, fueled by a capital campaign called Fulfilling the Promise. Above: Maryland Governor Bob Ehrlich attended the grand opening of the new Carroll Hospital Center on December 4, 2003.

A Celebration of 50 Years

60

Left: Junior hospital volunteers at Carroll Hospital Center continue a fifty-year tradition that started the moment the hospital opened in 1961.

Along with its new name, Carroll Hospital Center also embarked on the largest campaign in the hospital’s history, an $80 million expansion and renovation project that affected virtually every area of patient care and gave the hospital a completely new footprint on the same land where it was founded. The name of the capital campaign was

Above: Jack Tevis, chairman of the Fulfilling the Promise campaign, with his wife Beth, was recognized for the success of the $10 million campaign at the December 4, 2003, VIP Opening Reception. Right and Below: The VIP Program for the 2003 Grand Opening Celebration and Open House paid tribute to those who contributed to the campaign.

“Fulfilling the Promise.” When completed, the hospital landscape had changed dramatically, with a new, larger emergency department designed to accommodate the hospital’s steady increase in emergency admissions; a five-floor bed tower that featured all private patient rooms, designed to promote innovations in patient care while revolving around a pod concept that rivaled Gordon Friesen efficiency designs fifty years before; an inviting new main entrance; a new outpatient center; a new, expanded gift shop (the Candy Striper, named in honor of young volunteers of the past); and expanded parking. The expansion campaign, said Jack Tevis, foundation board member and chairman of the successful $10 million fundraising campaign, “really created, for the first time, a hospital campus. It looks like a campus, with multiple entrances and a total reshaping of the hospital.”

Carroll Hospital Center: 1961–2011

61

As the hospital expanded, the ever-loyal army of hospital volunteers discovered new assignments. Irene Danner, who started volunteering at the hospital in 1977 and has accumulated more volunteer hours than any other volunteer in the history of the hospital, no longer helps discharge patients; instead, the woman everyone calls “Miss Irene” now volunteers at the main entrance’s front desk, answering phones and taking messages as she greets visitors and patients alike. “I like meeting people and seeing the young adults who were once junior volunteers from way back,” Danner said. “I’m amazed they still remember me.”

Above: A hospital presence since 1977, Irene Danner has accumulated more volunteer hours than any other volunteer in the auxiliary’s fifty-two-year history.

Left: Literature for the grand opening celebration, open house, and name change described recent advancements at the hospital as “momentous.”

A Celebration of 50 Years

62

Left: Charles O. Fisher Sr. and Charles O. Fisher Jr., chairmen of the Carroll Hospital Center board of directors from 1967 to 1970 and 2007 to 2011, respectively. Right: President and CEO John Sernulka congratulates Fisher at the opening of the medical building named in his honor on November 19, 2009.

In

the

hospital’s

years Fulfilling

following the

the

Promise

campaign, the growth continued with a new parking garage, an inpatient hospice facility named Dove House, and a new medical office building named after Charles O. Fisher Sr., a hospital founder, former board president, and board member since 1961.

“We know that the people we serve want quality health care that is convenient, reliable, and close to home,” said Sernulka. “We have worked very hard to make this happen by creating a comprehensive medical campus that centers care around our patients and families.”

Left: Hospital CEO and president John Sernulka stood atop the new parking garage during construction in September 2008. Above: The Charles O. Fisher Medical Building—named after Charles O. Fisher Sr., an original hospital founder and former board chairman—opened in 2009.

Carroll Hospital Center: 1961–2011

63

Beyond Its Hillside Footprint With its central campus fully established, Carroll Hospital Center has continued to expand its programs and services to other parts of its service area. The hospital

has

established

medical

office buildings and outpatient laboratory facilities in Mt. Airy, Reisterstown, Eldersburg, Taneytown, and Manchester.

Dedicated to ensuring the health

and

wellness

of

the

community it serves, Carroll Hospital Center—together with the Carroll County Health Department and the Partnership for a Healthier Carroll County—opened Access Carroll Inc., a nationally recognized clinic that provides free health care to uninsured, low-income county residents in an office in downtown Westminster.

Tammy Black, Access Carroll’s executive director, noted that thirty-five hundred patients accounted for just over seven thousand office visits to the clinic in fiscal year 2010, with sixty-five new patients every month. Doctors volunteer their time to provide care at Access Carroll, and Access Carroll also provided nearly $850,000 in pharmacy assistance to cover prescription costs for the uninsured in 2010. Tricia Supik, the executive director of the Partnership for a Healthier Left Column, Top to Bottom: Carroll Hospital Center has expanded into the surrounding communities with medical office buildings like these in Mt. Airy, Reisterstown, and Taneytown. Above: Tammy Black is executive director of Access Carroll, a nationally recognized program that provides free health care and prescriptions to the uninsured. Many doctors and staff members from Carroll Hospital Center volunteer their time and expertise to Access Carroll.

64

Carroll County, unabashedly admits that Access Carroll

before agreeing last year to lead the hospital’s home care

is “the crown jewel” of the many partnership programs.

and hospice services.

“I am most proud of the Partnership being able to tap

“I’ve always liked the sense of community that is

into the incredible spirit and talent of this community,”

here, something that you don’t see in other hospitals,”

she said. “Through Access Carroll we have been able to

said Link. “I am always taking care of my neighbors or

build that sense of, ‘I live here, this is my community, I

someone who knew my family. There are so many times

wanted to do something to change it and improve it.’”

when I have looked over at someone and said, ‘I know

There is something almost intangible about starting

you. I’m fourth-generation Carroll County and we know

out as a community hospital and respecting the culture

each other.’ It makes a difference. I know that we are

of the community where you began, that sense of tak-

no longer a ‘community’ hospital, but I hope we never

ing care of someone you know. No one recognizes this

lose the sense that we exist because of the community

more than Diane Link, who was born in Carroll County

and for the community. I really think that it’s that

General Hospital in 1968, worked as a candy striper in

continuum of lifelong care that we provide that makes

high school, and was employed as a nurse at the hospital

Carroll Hospital Center so central to this community.”

Above: Carroll Hospital Center’s community expansion resulted in a new medical office building in Eldersburg, where hospital and community leaders gathered for the groundbreaking ceremony. Right: The South Carroll medical office building.

Carroll Hospital Center: 1961–2011

65

CHAPTER THREE

carroll hospice Providing Twenty-five Years of a “Special Kind of Caring”

T

ime and again, Jill Englar patiently listens as

you can’t say ‘good-bye,’ you

family members struggle to say “good-bye” to some-

can say ‘thank you.’”

one they love, someone who doesn’t have long to live.

For

twenty-five

years,

And then Englar, the manager of support services for

hospice workers and volun-

Carroll Hospice, gently helps the grieving family realize

teers like Jill Englar have

that “there are no answers in hospice. It’s just listening

provided a very special kind

and caring. The death process is a very profound experi-

of caring to the people of

ence. It’s very spiritual, and I try to help a family see it

Carroll

as a moment of comfort and peace. And I tell them, ‘If

medical care, support ser-

County,

giving

vices, pain management, and emotional and spiritual support for people in the final stages of their lives.

Left: Jill Englar, director of support services. Right: 2011 Carroll Hospice brochure cover.

Carroll Hospital Center: 1961–2011

67

Left: The Chapel at Dove House, the inpatient facility of Carroll Hospice, represents a place of comfort to all who enter. Below: The literature and counselors available at the McGinnis Bereavement Resource Center help families deal with grief. Bottom: Rendering of Dove House, the first freestanding inpatient hospice facility in Carroll County.

Founded by volunteers in 1986, Carroll Hospice originally provided services solely in the patients’ home, a nursing home, or assisted-living facility. But those services expanded in January 2007 when Carroll Hospice opened Dove House, an inpatient facility that gives terminally ill patients a place to receive around-theclock care in a homelike setting, with family and friends close by. The beautiful inpatient facility and adjoining administrative offices, located on the corner of Stoner Avenue and Washington Road, is the first freestanding, inpatient hospice facility in Carroll County. From its anchoring position on the edge of the Carroll Hospital Center campus, Carroll Hospice is yet another reminder

Carroll Hospital Center: 1961–2011

69

Left and Right: Carroll Hospice caregivers (Donna Metz, LPN Hospice Nurse pictured left, and Candace Rutter, RN Hospice Manager pictured right) provide services in the patients’ homes, nursing homes, assisted-living facilities, and at Dove House, Carroll Hospice’s own inpatient facility. Below: Bedrooms and a large, centralized family room at Dove House re-create a homelike setting and offer plenty of space to keep family and friends close by.

of the spectrum of services provided by the hospital in an effort to fulfill the promise made by its founders to “comfort, always.”

“Carroll Hospice is a part of what makes our family of services so successful,” said Leslie Simmons, chief operating officer of CHC. “From the moment you arrive on this earth to the moment you leave, there is a great health care organization right here that will take care of all of your needs.”

After operating as a nonprofit organization for nearly ten years on its own, Carroll Hospice affiliated with

A Celebration of 50 Years

70

Carroll Hospital Center: 1961–2011

71

Carroll Hospital Center in 1997. That same year, Carroll Hospice began sharing resources and coordinating home-based care for patients with another new CHC affiliate, Carroll Home Care, a service that provides comprehensive health care for patients at home. A former independent home health agency developed by the hospital in 1997 Carroll Home Care became a department of the hospital in 2005, and celebrates fifteen years of serving the community in 2012.

Over the years, Carroll Hospice has grown from serving fifty people in a year to serving more than seventy a day through its home-based and inpatient

services.

It has expanded its programs, too. In an effort

to

improve

the quality of life

and home health aides; and the McGinnis Bereavement

for patients needing

Resource Center at Dove House. The center is named

end-of-life care, Car-

in honor of the first major donors of the campaign to

roll Hospice offers

build the facility, John and Hedy McGinnis of Sykes-

expert

palliative

ville. Together, Carroll Hospice and Carroll Home Care

care; effective pain

also offer a unique bridge program to help identify and

and symptom man-

support patients who need to make a transition from

agement; coordina-

a hospital or home care to hospice care, and it offers a

tion of home and

special weekend bereavement camp for children, Camp

inpatient services;

T.R. Camp T.R. is named in memory of Thomas Richard

support

O’Farrell III. His family established the camp as a trib-

groups

ute to their son and his caring, adventurous spirit.

and programs; an interdisciplinary team

Left: Carroll Hospice and Carroll Home Care offer a special weekend bereavement camp for children called Camp T.R. Top: A very poignant and special occasion: A wedding takes place in Carroll Hospital Center, just before the patient is moved to Carroll Hospice later that evening.

including

physicians, nurses, social

workers,

A Celebration of 50 Years

72

VOICES OF HOSPICE

T

en years ago, when my sister Kathy became ill—she had cerebral palsy and was in her mid-forties—we just didn’t know what to do. We had no idea she was near the end of life, but my sister-in-law suggested we call hospice. That’s how we became involved. I had no idea about their level of care, their bridge plans, their remarkable volunteers.

We were able to work with them for about six months, and they helped us manage my sister’s pain and make her comfortable. I don’t know how we would have managed without them.

—Bob Kirkner, former board member of Carroll Hospice and Carroll Hospital Center, and founder of Kathy’s Dinner, an event honoring the memory of his sister that has raised over $250,000 for Carroll Hospice

The greatest gift that hospice gives? From my perspective, it’s peace of mind. A nurse will be there, the family can call at any time. They are just made comfortable, they are not suffering.

I got involved because my brother was a hospice volunteer in California, and when he died, I went out there to be with him, and his hospice friends were so good at letting me know what to do, what to expect. As soon as I got back, I called Carroll Hospice and got the training as soon as possible to be a volunteer.

Why do I enjoy it? It’s just the satisfaction of being able to help people. They let me be a part of their family at the most difficult time, when someone is dying. People say to me, “How can you do that?” And I say to them, “I don’t know how I couldn’t.”

—Frances Thomas, Carroll Hospice volunteer for twelve years Our patients have taught me so much about living. It’s a privilege to be a part of their journey. We get back tenfold what we give. Each family’s grief is unique, telling us a story that gives us hope and inspiration to keep going.

—Jill Englar, director of support services, Carroll Hospice

Top Left: The devoted care Kathy Kirkner (pictured here) received through Carroll Hospice inspired her family to give back to the hospice community in Kathy’s memory. Above: Members of the Kirkner family established Kathy’s Dinner. (From left to right) Brett Kanther, Chrissy (Kirkner) Kanther, Janice Kirkner, Bob Kirkner, Denise Kirkner-Vourlos, Dimitrios Vourlos.

Carroll Hospital Center: 1961–2011

73

“Something Satisfying”

were able to make a difference in a very short amount of time.”

The Carroll Hospice staff is supported by the efforts

As it celebrates its twenty-fifth anniversary, the

of 130 active volunteers, who in 2010 contributed

fact that Carroll Hospice makes a difference

thousands of hours of volunteer service.

is without dispute. Two of the three early

“There is something very satisfying about helping people at a very intimate

fundraisers associated with the hospice

time of their life. It’s intangible,” said

program—Kathy’s Dinner, the Jim Buck-

Debbie Zepp, volunteer coordinator at

ley Golf Tournament, along with Taste

Carroll Hospice who often describes vol-

of Carroll—were all started by families

unteering as “the essence of human love.”

Above: One of Carroll County’s premier fundraising events for eleven years, Taste of Carroll helps support Carroll Hospice, raising over half a million dollars for the program. VIP guest, John Harbaugh, head coach of the Baltimore Ravens, and Taste of Carroll Chairwoman Jill Rosner at the 2009 event.

Adds Zepp, “Our volunteers have a true calling to do this work. It is a mission for them. It is difficult and depressing at times, but it is very rewarding. We

A Celebration of 50 Years

74

to honor their loved ones and the care they received

“One of our primary, overarching goals is to promote

at Carroll Hospice. A new giving group called DASH—

the importance of early admission to hospice,” Link said.

Dedicated to Awareness and

“Experience has shown that the

Support of Hospice—includes

best benefit of hospice care

families who have close connections to Carroll Hospice and

T

want to give something back to the organization. And the value of Carroll Hospice to the entire

“There is something very satisfying about helping people at a very intimate time of their life.”

comes to those who see us early into their terminal illness. This gives patients and families more time to develop relationships with the hospice team and gain

health care system is surely evi-

more support during this diffi-

dent by the thousands of people

cult time. This is the work we

who support the organization financially each year.

Diane Link, the executive director of Carroll Home Care and Carroll Hospice, noted that in 2010, exciting programs were developed for these two special caring services, including expansion into Frederick and Baltimore counties, a pediatric palliative care program and bereavement support to include pediatric family support groups, and increased awareness of hospice services among veterans who live in the community. The organization even provides support to those who have lost pets.

Left: Frank Buckley (pictured) started an annual golf tournament in honor of his father Jim Buckley to raise money for Carroll Hospice, one of the many fundraisers started by families to remember loved ones and the hospice care they received. Right: Carroll Hospice literature includes the mantra from Dame Cicely Saunders, who founded the modern hospice movement.

are meant to do at Carroll Hospice, and we want people to know they can turn to us.”

CHAPTER FOUR

embracing change and the Challenges of the Future

F

ormer hospital board member Steve Bohn still

said of his parents, “they would

recalls sitting on the hill on Washington Road,

be amazed at the changes that

watching as construction workers built the new hospital

have taken place.”

that both of his parents, Kenneth and Catherine, sup-

At Carroll Hospital Center,

ported and helped raise money to build. But when he

for instance, patients no longer

walks into Carroll Hospital Center today, Bohn is the

ring a bell to get into an

first to admit that the original community hospital has

emergency room that was once

changed dramatically at every level, including the gift

loosely defined by four stretchers

shop that his mother used to manage as a founding

and a switchboard operator

member of the hospital auxiliary. “Like so many people

who would alert a nurse or

who were part of the hospital at the beginning,” Bohn

doctor that someone needed care; today, automatic doors open to a state-of-the-art emergency department with

Far Left: Opened in 2004, the new Emergency Department was specifically designed to accommodate the hospital’s increase in emergency room visits and improve patient comfort. Left: Kenneth and Catherine Bohn supported the hospital from its very beginning. Top: Steve Bohn.

Right: The landscape of hospital expansion projects from 2002 to 2003.

the most advanced lifesaving technology available, provided within forty private treatment

rooms

staffed by emergency medicine specialists who

serve

more

than fifty thousand

Carroll Hospital Center: 1961–2011

77

patients each year. In addition, the medical advances championed by the administration, medical and nursing staffs, and board of directors for the past fifty years have positioned Carroll Hospital Center far beyond the basic medical care it provided when the general hospital first opened in 1961. Today, patients who need advanced cancer treatment and the latest in emergency, lifesaving cardiac care can trust that they will find the best medicine can offer within their own Carroll Hospital Center.

While the hospital still overlooks the Carroll County Farm Museum and acres of rolling hillside, it is no longer a one-story building attached to the county health department; its original footprint has grown dramatically.

“The hospital is still such a source of pride. It really is,” said Charles O. Fisher Sr., the only surviving founder of Carroll County General Hospital, who is now honored with a new medical building named after him on the far edge of the vastly expanded campus. “In the beginning, did we have that sense that we were building something that would last? I didn’t envision what it looks like

Top: Gastroenterologists Dr. Cristian Alba and Dr. Choon Kim introduced capsule camera endoscopy in the late 1990s. Above: Carroll Hospital Center’s new, technologically advanced operating suites opened in July 2007. Right: Dr. Timothy Hsu, Chief of Emergency Medicine (pictured), and the entire Emergency Department team provide the latest in emergency medicine. Far Right: Hospital associates support the hospital not only with their skill and dedication but through donations to the hospital’s foundation as well.

A Celebration of 50 Years

78

Carroll Hospital Center: 1961–2011

79

today, but we knew that we had a project that we could

about how they were fulfilling the dream when they

be proud of and that we would probably spend time on

opened the hospital. And that has certainly been carried

for the rest of our lives, which

on in the extension of the hos-

we have.”

pital as the county changed and

“I don’t think anyone could ever have envisioned the growth that has taken place here,” said Glenn Bair, the son of Scott Bair, a hospital founder and chair of

W

Without a doubt, Carroll Hospital Center continues to fulfill the promise its founders made.

it grew to meet those changes and the health care needs of its citizens.”

Without a doubt, Carroll Hospital Center continues to

the hospital’s first capital cam-

fulfill the promise its founders

paign. “I think my father would

made to provide exceptional

be shocked by the growth, but he would be pleased by

medical care to the citizens of Carroll County. With

the care that the hospital provides to the community.

over sixteen thousand inpatient admissions, more than

In the dedication speech that he gave in 1961 he talked

thirty-eight thousand outpatient visits, and nearly fifty-

A Celebration of 50 Years

80

As the only hospital in Carroll County, Carroll Hospital Center has consistently been a strong partner in providing health care for its citizens and those in surrounding areas. It has enjoyed increased patient volumes, and high patient satisfaction rates.

Over the last fifty years, the push to develop new buildings and provide more and better services around a growing list of specialties was “driven by what is best for the community,” said Jack Tevis, chairman of the board of trustees for the Carroll Hospital Center Foundation and volunteer for more than a decade. “That drive to quality, three thousand emergency department visits in any

what drives everything, is our mission, our vision.”

given year, Carroll Hospital Center has more than lived up to the challenge presented by Dr. Charles Billingslea in 1961 to “cure, sometimes . . . relieve, often . . . comfort, always.”

The backbone of that care, many would argue, is the nursing staff at Carroll Hospital Center. “The strength of the nursing staff is one of the things that attracts doctors here,” said Dr. Samuel O. Matz, Orthopaedics.

“The nurses care about the patients, about their experiences, how they feel and how they recover. This allows physicians to do their part, and be a part of the care team in a much better way. This is only accentuated by the ancillary staff—the technicians, housekeeping staff, security, dietary. Everyone who works at this hospital works together to make sure our patients have the best care possible, and nothing but a good experience.”

Left: The hospital meditation garden provides a place of respite to patients, family members, and staff. Above: Nurse Leslie McLeod. Right: Carroll Hospital Center’s orthopaedic surgeons offer the latest advances in joint replacement procedures.

81

The result, said Dr. Michael P. Vietz, Obstetrics and

always hard is managing the demand and the need for

Gynecology, “is that the hospital has outgrown its repu-

growth and the need for bringing programs and ser-

tation as a community hospital that you go to because you have to. It is now the hospital that you want to come to.”

The Rules Changed But just as Carroll Hospital Center reached unprecedented levels in medical and surgical services, just as it reached

vices to our community.”

In 2011 Carroll Hospital

T

“The result is that the hospital has outgrown its reputation as a community hospital that you go to because you have to.

It is now the hospital that you want to come to.”

its goals to increase physician

Center anticipates growth in medical services such as cancer, orthopaedics, and cardiovascular care. Still, lingering questions focus on how Carroll Hospital Center can continue to serve its community—complex questions with no easy answers.

“I

see

Carroll

Hospital

strength and depth, and just as it advanced commu-

Center continuing to provide very high-quality services

nity wellness and preventative health care initiatives,

to the community,” said Helen Whitehead, president

the rules changed. Carroll Hospital Center—like hos-

of Enterprise Business Partners and a Carroll Hospital

pitals across America—was caught in the roiling wake

Center board member since 2007. She noted that the

between national health care reform and a deep eco-

“cards are in our favor” to continue to grow, observing

nomic recession in 2009. Carroll Hospital Center faces

that the very characteristics that make the hospital

the challenges of maintaining and

attractive to other potential partners—strong market

sustaining its vision in the ever-

share in a growing community and a reputation as a well-

changing health care landscape. It

run facility—are also the very qualities that are capable

won’t be easy.

of sustaining Carroll Hospital Center through the

“There is always a challenge

economic challenges America faces in

in health care, and this is the

2011 and beyond. “Although the

challenge for this era,” said Kevin

health care industry is facing

Kelbly, chief financial officer and

significant change, I believe

senior vice president of corpo-

the hospital is poised to

rate and fiscal affairs. “What is

successfully navigate the changes and will emerge

Left: Executive team member Kevin Kelbly helps the hospital anticipate growth and expenses.

Right: The Joint Commission (JCAHO) seal of approval for Carroll Hospital Center.

even stronger and more capable of meeting all the community’s health care needs.”

A Celebration of 50 Years

82

Left: Providing services the community needs most is a top priority of executive team member Leslie Simmons. Below: The hospital’s annual Doctor’s Day Celebration honors the contributions of the medical staff with an evening of dining and special recognition.

Charles O. Fisher Jr., chairman of the board of directors, a board member since 2003, and son of founder Charles O. Fisher Sr., believes strongly that “being able to control the services you offer to a community is the biggest argument in favor of remaining an independent, stand-alone hospital.”

Leslie Simmons, chief operating officer and senior vice president of Carroll Hospital Center, does not allow any discussion over the hospital’s future to impact her devotion to provide the services the community needs most.

Carroll Hospital Center: 1961–2011

83

Left: The Billingslea Medical Building provides a visible reminder of Dr. Billingslea’s pledge to “comfort, always.” Right: The hospital’s Vision, Mission, and Values.

from our community. At the beginning of the day, in the middle of the day, at the end of the day, that’s what’s most important.”

CEO John M. Sernulka couldn’t agree more. “I believe this hospital represents decades of community leadership and community pride, all devoted to what’s best for our patients. If I had to state in one sentence the essence of Carroll Hospital Center, I would have to say that it is a commitment from its core culture to focus on superior, high-quality health care with a very caring and special touch for patients who enter our hospital for treatment, from birth to end of life,” said Sernulka.

“The board of directors is working hard to look at the future, to figure out how we can stand alone and be an independent organization while fitting into the everchanging health care paradigm.”

As the hospital celebrates its fiftieth anniversary in 2011, no one doubts that Carroll and surrounding counties need Carroll Hospital Center, founded by a community for a community. No one doubts that Carroll Hospital Center will be around for years and generations to come. Sernulka has even echoed that promise, made

by Dr. Billingslea in the hospital dedication ceremony “There are just some services that, as a hospital, you have

five decades ago.

to provide because it is the right thing for the commu-

“When you think about it, the future is always uncer-

nity. It is our mission,” said Simmons, who has worked

tain,” Sernulka wrote to the Carroll Hospital Center

diligently over the last several years to make the quality

community in the summer of 2010. “But no matter

of Carroll Hospital Center’s nursing care and medical

what the future has in store for your health, you can

services transparent to the entire community. “We are

count on us to be here to see you through.”

here to do a job, and that’s to take care of the patients

May we comfort, always.

A Celebration of 50 Years

84

Carroll Hospital Center: 1961–2011

85

1950s

1956

1958

Citizens committee forms to support building a hospital in Carroll County. The committee consists of local businessmen and members of the Carroll County Medical Society.

First board of directors at Carroll County General Hospital is established with Atlee W. Wampler serving as president. (pictured above)

1957

Auxiliary established by community members.

Gladys Wimert is auxiliary’s first president. (pictured below)

Fundraisers hired to begin campaign with help of community volunteers.

Hospital name—Carroll County General Hospital—is chosen by the board on July 30, 1957.

3

2 4 86

See timeline index on pages 98–99

1959

Richard Y. Dalrymple is named first surgeon and chief of medical staff.

First Annual Silvery Moon Ball held September 11, hosted by hospital auxiliary.

1 6

5 87

1960s

1961

First medical staff officers: Dr. Charles I. Billingslea, Dr. Richard Y. Dalrymple, Dr. Wilbur H. Foard, Dr. Howard Hall, Dr. Charles Mawhinney Jr., and Dr. Daniel Welliver.

1960

Construction of Carroll County General Hospital begins.

1961

More than 1,500 people attend the hospital’s dedication on August 27. (pictured below)

First baby born at the hospital, a boy, is delivered on October 1 by Dr. Charles Mawhinney.

Eight-year-old Gail Lynn Wardenfelt is the first patient discharged from the hospital.

1961

Over 10,000 community members attend open house on September 2–4.

Carroll County General Hospital opens 50-bed acute care facility on October 1 with 125 employees. Admissions for the first month of operation total 134.

4

1

2 88

3

See timeline index on pages 98–99

1968

First expansion project is completed and adds 60 beds to the north and west wings, increasing patient beds to 110.

Mrs. Willella Kriel (pictured above) donates over 400 acres in Hampstead; a wing is dedicated in her honor.

6

5

7 89

1970s 1976

Fundraising for the hospital’s second addition begins with a goal of $2.5 million.

1975

Hospital is awarded first two-year accreditation from the Joint Commission for the Accreditation of Healthcare Organizations (JCAHO). Administrator Charles R. Graf (pictured above) holds the official certificate from JCAHO.

1979

1

Thirty-nine beds are added, including 24 medical-surgical, 8 coronary care, and 7 intensive care.

X-ray and emergency departments, operating room suite, and laboratory are enlarged.

4 90

See timeline index on pages 98–99

3

2

1979

Childbirth services are enhanced with introduction of fetal monitor and prenatal education program.

The hospital implements an outpatient cancer therapy program.

5 91

6

7

1980s 1982

Launch of Children’s Hospital Orientation Program (CHOPS), designed to acquaint first-grade students with the hospital experience.

With help of local charity, the hospital obtains its first pediatric respirator.

1

2

1984

Outpatient surgery at Carroll County General Hospital expands to include a 12-bed ambulatory surgery center.

The Carroll County Children’s Fund is launched by pediatrician Dr. Karl Green, to help families pay for needed medical services for children under age 19.

92

4

See timeline index on pages 98–99

1987

3

Billingslea Medical Building, for physician offices, is completed. (pictured below)

1985

New mammography unit promotes better, earlier detection of breast abnormalities.

Hospital introduces new outpatient cardiac rehabilitation program that promotes a heart-healthy lifestyle through exercise, nutrition, education, and counseling.

93

1990s 1990

Laparoscopic cholecystectomy becomes available as minimally invasive approach to remove the gallbladder.

1992

Hospital adds Sleep Lab to help patients affected by sleep apnea and other related disorders.

Endoscopic sinus surgery first performed.

Opening of Carroll County Dialysis Center provides convenient access to kidney dialysis services.

2

Patient-controlled anesthesia pumps allow patients to administer their own pain medication.

1993

1991

Pediatric cardiology is introduced.

A new medical nursing unit, 3 West, opens with focus on cancer and hospice patients.

Hospital institutes program to make physicians in obstetrics/gynecology and pediatrics available 24 hours a day.

1

Construction of third and fourth floors complete.

1994

Emergency Department completes $1.8 million expansion.

A 20-bed behavioral health unit opens for adults and adolescents with psychiatric conditions.

Cardiovascular and angiography lab opens with state-of-the-art equipment for diagnosis of heart and vascular disease.

Dr. Paul Vietz and his colleague Dr. T. Samuel Ahn (pictured right) pioneered a new procedure for laparoscopic hysterectomies on December 26, 1991.

5

A Surgical Intensive Care Unit is added with advanced capabilities to care for seriously ill patients.

7

6 94

See timeline index on pages 98–99

1995

Renovations to north and west nursing units are completed.

1996

The Family Birthplace (pictured below) opens as one of the first units in the area to offer the Labor-Delivery-Recovery-Postpartum (LDRP) approach to childbirth.

1997

The Richard N. Dixon Ambulatory Care Center (pictured above), the county’s first full-service outpatient surgical facility, is completed.

1999

The Women’s Place opens as a center dedicated to the health and wellness of women. The center includes a resource library (pictured above) and provides a range of educational programs, screenings, and support services.

New outpatient radiology center is added through a partnership with Advanced Radiology.

3

Partial Hospitalization Program is introduced as part of the hospital’s Behavioral Health Services.

The Partnership for a Healthier Carroll County is formed by Carroll Hospital Center and the Carroll County Health Department.

4

8

9

10 95

11

2000s 2000

Geriatric Evaluation and Management (GEM) Unit opens for patients age 75 and over who require short-term inpatient care.

The Carroll County Cancer Center opens, offering comprehensive outpatient cancer services, including radiation therapy.

The Sleep Lab is relocated and expanded to accommodate increased demand.

The Breast Center opens for women with breast cancer.

2003

Carroll County General Hospital becomes Carroll Hospital Center.

Completion of $80 million expansion, the largest to date, including new ED, main lobby, the Candy Striper Gift Shop, and four-story bed tower.

2004

Governor Ehrlich (pictured below) attends the Grand Opening VIP reception on December 6, 2003, along with over 400 guests.

2001

2

Access Carroll Inc. opens for uninsured and low-income patients.

1

New oncology unit provides inpatient and outpatient cancer services within one area of the hospital.

Bed Tower opens, housing four floors of all-private patient rooms.

Stent-graph procedure becomes available to repair abdominal aortic aneurysms.

Advanced Pain Management Center opens.

Nursing department implements a mentoring program for new hires.

Outpatient Center opens, featuring an anticoagulation clinic, diabetes center, wound care, cardiac, and pulmonary rehab.

Second expansion to The Family Birthplace is completed, adding five LDRP suites among other enhancements.

Center for Wound Care and Hyperbaric Medicine opens.

7

4 6

8

5 96

See timeline index on pages 98–99

2005

Carroll Hospital Center unveils American Veteran’s Memorial and rededicates Memorial Avenue. (pictured below) Auxiliary opens the White Rabbit Thrift Shop.

2007

Carroll Hospice opens the Dove House inpatient facility.

2010

Four brand-new operating rooms open with latest instrumentation for minimally invasive procedures.

Level II Special Care Nursery expansion begins and launch of Perinatal Program for high-risk pregnancies.

Carroll Hospital Center joins forces with Frederick Memorial Hospital to establish Mt. Airy Health Services.

Auxiliary celebrates its 50th anniversary.

Opening and dedication of multifaith chapel and meditation garden.

High-resolution breast MRIs now available.

Picture Archiving and Communication System (PACS) arrives, allowing radiologists to instantaneously view digital images and transfer those images and reports into the patient’s electronic medical record for other providers to reference.

New Pediatric Unit opens.

Cancer Program earns accreditation from the American College of Surgeons Commission on Cancer.

CPOE (Computerized Provider Order Entry) system goes live.

Genetic counseling offered in partnership with the University of Maryland Marlene and Stewart Greenebaum Cancer Center.

2011

2008

2006

Specialized orthopaedic unit opens on 3 West.

Emergency angioplasty services offered through a partnership with the University of Maryland Heart Center.

Lymphedema treatment services added to The Women’s Place.

Groundbreaking held for a new medical office building.

2009

Cancer program reaccredited by the American College of Surgeons.

Five-level parking garage opens.

A $1 million gift, the first $1 million donation from a board member, pledged

by Jack and Beth Tevis of Westminster. (pictured here) Pediatric palliative care offered by Carroll Home Care.

Direct Anterior Hip replacement is offered for the first time.

Carroll Hospital Center celebrates its 50th Anniversary!

Charles O. Fisher Medical Building opens.

Vascular Center opens.

50th Silvery Moon Ball “The Golden Gala” is held.

10

9

97

11

3

Timeline Index 1950s

5. Founding members Kenneth and Catherine Bohn, 1972

1. Mrs. Betty Kunkel with hand-washing unit in nursery

6. Dr. Sherman Chang, 1973, pediatrician, medical staff president, 1972–1974

2. Mabel Reese, Building Fund Committee member, presenting at Union Bridge, New Windsor, and Middleburg Town Meeting

7. A. Olin Grimes, board chair, 1972–1974

3. Anita and Scott Bair, founders

1980s

4. Dr. Theodore K. Woodward, one of hospital’s first physicians, Building Fund Committee member

1. Dr. Paul Vietz, OB-GYN, one of the hospital’s first OBGYNs and longtime physician, with laparoscopic surgical equipment

5. Edward H. Noakes, architect of original hospital

2. Volunteer Catherine Bohn (second from right) is recognized for volunteer hours by Darthean Fox, Dorothy Walsh, and CEO Charles R. Graf.

6. 1957 Building Fund Kick-Off Luncheon, Pictured: Dr. Theodore Woodward, Mrs. Gladys M. Wimert, Mayor Joseph Mathias Sr., Scott S. Bair, Mabel Reese, and Rev. Harold Hodgson

3. John “Jack” F. Gambatese, longtime board member and board chair, 1986–1988

1960s

4. Dr. Daniel Welliver, family medicine, one of hospital’s first physicians and longtime physician

1. Mabel Reese, coordinator of volunteers for the Citizens Committee and auxiliary’s first volunteer

1990s

2. Dr. Vincent J. Fiocco Jr., internist, longtime physician, medical staff president, 1975–1977

1. Dr. Natvarlal Rajpara, sleep and respiratory medicine, and sleep lab coordinator Tinia Byers in hospital’s first sleep lab in early 1990s

3. Katie Long, nurse, 1961 4. Glenn A. Fisher, administrator, 1966–1974

2. Cardiovascular technologist Tony Pinson reviews images in the hospital’s new cardiac catheterization lab in the early 1990s.

5. Nurses on unit, 1963 6. Nurse Dorothy Eppler with ultrasonic decontamination unit

3. Hospital administrators and board members met in the mid-1990s with county commissioners to transfer ownership of the land and building previously occupied by the Carroll County Health Department to the hospital.

After major renovations and expansion, the site would become the Richard N. Dixon Building, opened in 1997, and house the county’s first outpatient surgery center, the Women’s Place, and expanded outpatient imaging services.

Pictured: Seated (left to right): County commissioners Elmer Lippy, Julia Gouge, and Donald Dell; Standing (left to right): Board members Charles Fisher Sr., William Gavin, Steve Bohn; Chief Operating Officer John Sernulka; and Chief Executive Officer Charles R. Graf.

7. Jean Dull, nurse, longtime associate

1970s 1. Darthean Fox, hospital’s first employee 2. Dr. John E. Steers, 1972, general surgeon, longtime physician, medical staff president, 1986–1987 3. Left: Dr. Richard Y. Dalrymple, hospital’s first general surgeon and medical staff chief, and founder and first board chair Atlee Wampler. Inset: Wampler Cup trophy, named in honor of founder Atlee Wampler, is given to winners of the hospital’s annual Carroll Golf Classic Tournament.

4. Dr. Robert F. Bell, one of the hospital’s first general surgeons and medical staff president, 1970–1971

A Celebration of 50 Years

98

2000s

4. Dr. Michael Kane, Urology, pictured in 1996 with ultrasound equipment he used when performing prostate brachytherapy for the treatment of prostate cancer. The innovative treatment was highlighted in Baltimore Sun article that featured Dr. Kane.

1. The boutique in the Women’s Place, opened in 2000, was designed to provide patients undergoing cancer treatment breast prostheses, wigs, head pieces, and undergarments.

2. Edward W. Lister Jr., hospice board member and hospice board chair, 2004–2008

5. Drs. Robert Ricketts and Dinesh Kalaria, Cardiology, stand in the hospital’s new cardiac catheterization lab in the early 1990s.

3. CEO John Sernulka and COO Leslie Simmons, pictured 2011

6. Board member Edwin Shauck, assistant vice president Tricia Supik, and CEO Charles R. Graf review plans in 1994 for the hospital’s new medical-surgical unit (3 West) in shelled-out space that would soon house twenty-two semiprivate and six private patient beds.

4. Melvin Mills, longtime foundation board member and foundation board chair, 2001–2005 5. Retired nurses (clockwise, starting lower left) Katherine Dukehart, Helen Thomas, and Nancy Bickel devote time visiting patients on various hospital units as Angel Volunteers.

7. Longtime associates, nurse Steven Haugh (various units including behavioral health, oncology, and hospice) and Executive Director of Behavioral Health Services Larry Welsh pictured in 2001.

6. Hope Hale, 2005, longtime hospital employee (Finance) and Associate of the Year in 2005 7. Large snowstorm in the winter of 2010, coined “Snowmageddon,” dumped more than four feet of snow in Carroll County over seven days. Mike Chrobot, facilities team leader, takes a well-deserved break from the overwhelming task of removing snow from the roof.

8. Dr. Kurt Semm, prominent German OB-GYN and researcher who pioneered advanced laparoscopic hysterectomy, taught an advanced course on the procedure at Carroll County General Hospital in October 1992 that was attended by more than 50 physicians from as far away as Israel, Venezuela, and Canada.

8. Maurice Spielman, longtime hospital employee, pictured in 2006, has managed numerous construction projects during his more than thirty years of service.

9. Nursing Director Rebecca Vasse, CEO Charles R. Graf, Assistant Vice President Dennis Kephart, and Dr. Niel Borrelli, radiology, review plans for the expansion of the Emergency Department in early 1994.

9. Dr. Kevin Smothers, chief medical officer; Emily Runser, Human Resources; and Tracey Ellison, vice president of human resources, receive the 2008 Alliance for Workplace Excellence Award, certifying Carroll Hospital Center as a great place to work.

10. New Emergency Department grand opening, 1994.

Pictured (speaking): Senator Larry Haines; Standing (left to right): Delegate Richard Dixon, Commissioners Elmer Lippy and Donald Dell, and Chief of Emergency Medicine Dr. Michael Stang.

10. Dr. Hemalatha Naganna, 2009, Cardiology, began practicing with her father, Dr. Chitrachedu Naganna, Cardiology; mother, Dr. Vimala Naganna, Internal Medicine; and brother, Dr. Gourishankar C. Naganna, Internal Medicine, in 2005.

11. Longtime board member and board chairman (2003–2007) Marcus Lee Primm (left) and CEO John Sernulka (right) look on while Dr. Jose Gonzalez (standing), Pediatrics, demonstrates the hospital’s new portable infant cardiac monitor in the early 1990s.

11. Dr. Michael Vietz, OB-GYN, longtime physician, son of Dr. Paul Vietz, OB-GYN, one of the hospital’s first physicians

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APPENDIX

Carroll Hospital Center

All the information here is accurate to the best of our knowledge, based on material available to us at time of publication. Please notify us of any omissions so that we might include it in future editions.

Medical Staff Presidents 1961–1962 1962–1963 1963–1964 1964–1965 1966–1967 1968–1970 1970–1972 1972–1974 1974–1975 1975–1977 1977–1978 1978–1979 1979–1980 1980–1983 1983–1986 1986–1987 1987–1988 1988–1990 1990–1993 1993–1995 1995–1997 1997–2000 2000–2002 2002–2004 2004–2006 2006–2008 2008–2010 2010–2012

Carroll Hospital Center Administrators / Presidents and CEOs 1961–1963 1963–1965 1965–1974 1974–1996 1996–Present

James A. McCallum Jr. Administrator James R. McFerron, Administrator Glenn Fisher, Administrator Charles R. Graf, CEO John M. Sernulka, President & CEO

Carroll Hospital Center Board of Directors Chairmen 1961–1964 1964–1967 1967–1970 1970–1972 1972–1974 1974–1976 1976–1978 1978–1980 1980–1982 1982–1984 1984–1986 1986–1988 1988–1991 1991–1995 1995–1999 1999–2003 2003–2007 2007–2011

Atlee W. Wampler Jr. F. Kale Mathias Charles O. Fisher Sr. David A. Scott A. Olin Grimes James C. Snyder Harry Dougherty Irvin Goodman Edwin Shauck Ralph S. Walsh F. David Schaeffer John F. Gambatese William Gavin Steve Bohn Randy E. Rager C. Todd Brown Marcus Lee Primm Charles O. Fisher Jr.

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Richard Y. Dalrymple, M.D. Wilbur Foard, M.D. Delphin Caples, M.D. Maurice Porterfield, M.D. Julius Chepko, M.D. John S. Harshey, M.D. Robert F. Bell, M.D. Sherman S. Chang, M.D. Hans O. Nipkow, M.D. Vincent J. Fiocco Jr., M.D. Reynaldo P. Madrinan, M.D. John S. Harshey, M.D. Iraj Haghighat, M.D. Alva S. Baker, M.D. Paul F. Vietz, M.D. John E. Steers, M.D. Niel J. Borrelli, M.D. Vincent J. Fiocco Jr., M.D. Edward A. Carter, M.D. Noel S. Gressieux, M.D. Thomas K. Galvin, M.D. Harry C. Knipp, M.D. Samuel O. Matz, M.D. Khalil A. Freiji, M.D. Flavio W. Kruter, M.D. J. Mark Blue, M.D. Mokhtar Nasir, M.D. Stephan U. Hochuli, M.D.

Carroll Hospital Center

Carroll Hospital Center

Foundation Board of Trustees Chairmen/Chairwomen

Auxiliary Presidents

1975 1975–1976 1976–1980 1982–1984 1986–1987 1987–1991 1991–1993 1993–1995 1995–1997 1997–1998 1998–1999 1999–2001 2001–2005 2005–2007 2007–2011

1958–1962 1963–1964 1965–1967 1968–1969 1969–1970 1971–1972 1973–1974 1975–1976 1977–1978 1979–1980 1981–1982 1983–1984 1985–1986 1987–1988 1989–1990 1991–1992 1993–1996 1997–1999 1999–2002 2003–2006 2007–2010 2011–2012

James C. Snyder Harry B. Dougherty Sr. Clifton W. Warner F. David Schaeffer Edwin W. Shauck H. Hugh Dawkins Jr. Maurice E. Good Niel J. Borrelli, M.D. Linda C. Galvin Frank W. Neubauer Virginia W. Smith Michael L. Oster G. Melvin Mills Jr. Mark G. Pohlhaus Stanley H. Tevis III

Carroll Hospice Board of Trustees Chairmen/Chairwomen 1986–1988 1988–1990 1990–1992 1992–1994 1994–1996 1996–1999 1999–2002 2002–2004 2004–2008 2008–2012

Susan Humbert Lorraine Dutterer Evelyn Welch Charles Brown Joseph Shields Charles Brown Gregory Lewis Brooks J. Leahy Edward W. Lister Jr. Mark Blacksten

Gladys Wimert Helen Grimes Norma Strobel Betty Speicher Elsie Albaugh Hellen Siegman Audrey Buffington Arawana Leckron Joyce Fair Dorothy Walsh Betty Wise Eileen Johnson Margaret Bell Marie Kelley Ellenora Holtzople Arawana Leckron Joe Schaum Carol Steers Phyllis Ullman Dottie Cole Vicky Campbell Green Kelly W. Hill

Carroll County Med-Services Board Presidents 1985–1988 1988–1992 1992–1997 1997–2001 2001–2010 2010–2011

Ralph S. Walsh K. Wayne Lockard John F. Gambatese William Gavin William Klinger Charles O. Fisher Jr.

Cen-Mar Assurance Company Board of Directors Chairmen 2008–2011

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Harold Walsh

Index

C

Numbers in italics indicate photographs and figures.

Camp T.R., 72 Candy Striper Gift Shop, 46, 61 Caples, D. Delmas, 25, 36 cardiovascular services, 55 Carroll County Alms House, 22 Carroll County Bank and Trust Co., 42 Carroll County Cancer Center, 59–60 Carroll County Farm Museum, 23 Carroll County General Hospital, 50

aerial view of, 48

architectural rendering for, 25

building campaign (mid-1970s), 51

case study for development of, 26

Community Gifts Campaign, 32–37

Community Gifts Division, 10

dedication of, 8–9, 10, 11–15, 38

delay in opening of, 42–43

demand for, exceeding capacity, 50–51

Democratic Advocate’s full-page coverage of opening, 34–35

design of, 37–38

developing community programs, 54–55

development of, first public meeting for, 24–25

door-to-door campaign, for, 10, 32

early planning for, 17–25

early sketch of, 31

entrance to, 37

expansion of (1960s), 45–49

expansion of (1970s), 51

expansion of (1990s), 55

expansion of (2000s), 60–63

first baby born at, 41

first patient discharged from, 40

first slogan for, 31

first year of, 42–45

floor plan of, 49

———

A

Abel, John, 29 Access Carroll Inc., 10–11, 56, 64–65 Ahn, T. Samuel, 28, 52, 56 Alba, Cristian, 78 Arnold, Francis, 10 auxiliary, 38, 46–47

B

Bair, Glenn, 13, 33, 80 Bair, Harvey, 13 Bair, Henry, 13 Bair, Scott S., 12, 14, 22–24, 26, 30–37 (passim), 51, 54, 80 Bair (Scott and Anita) Intermediate Care Unit, 12, 13 Beard, Donald, 10 Becker, Kerry 57 Becker, Randy 57 Behavioral Health unit, 55 Benny’s Kitchen, 32 Billingslea, Charles L., 14–15, 19–20, 24, 25, 26, 30, 32, 81 Billingslea Medical Building, 53, 84 Black, Tammy, 64 Bohn, Catherine, 77 Bohn, Kenneth, 10, 77 Bohn, Steve, 51, 77 Bonsak, J. Ralph, 23, 26 Brandon, Lyndale “Red,” 28 Brock, John, 28 Brown, Todd, 60 Buckley, Frank, 75 Burton, Michele, 27

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founding committee, 26

fund drive kick-off for, 24

fundraising campaign for, 10, 32–37

Fund Raising Committee, 32

groundbreaking for, 38

initial cost of, 27

modernization of (1980s), 52–53

money and property bequeathed to, 24, 58

moving away from general medical services, 49

name change, to Carroll Hospital Center, 60

naming of, 31–32

official opening of, 41

Open House for, 36, 38

opening of, 41

ownership and nonprofit structure of, 26–27

site of, 21

start-up funding for, 27–31

statistics for (1961), 27 Carroll County General Hospital Auxiliary. See auxiliary Carroll County Health Department (Carroll County War Memorial Medical Center), 21, 22–23, 58, 59, 64 Carroll County Medical Society, 17, 18, 26 Carroll County War Memorial Fund Committee, 19 Carroll Home Care, 72, 75 Carroll Hospice, 67–75 Carroll Hospital Center, 10–11, 16

CCGH’s name change to, 60

Emergency Department, 76

evolution of, 41–42, 77–81

expanding into surrounding communities, 64, 65

families at, 56–57

future of, 82–84

growth of, under Sernulka’s leadership, 51

meditation garden, 80

operating suites, 78

serving the community, 82–84

statistics for (2011), 27, 80–81

vision, mission, and values statements, 85 Carroll Hospital Center Auxiliary. See auxiliary Casino Night, 46 “Chat with Gladys, A,” 32 Cho, Inwha, 57 Cho, Youna Ja, 57 Chrest, Edward N., 18 Citizens Campaign, 42, 45 Citizens Committee, 20, 27–32, 35 classical intrafascial supracervical hysterectomy (CISH), 56 Cole, Dottie, 47 Coleman, Cris, 47

Coleman, Karen, 47 Coleman, Thelma, 47 community programs, 54–55 Connolly, Leo, 36 Coronary Care Unit, 47 Crowl, S. LaRue, 47

D

Dalrymple, Richard Y., 12, 14, 22, 33, 38, 43, 46, 50, 58 Danner, Irene, 62 DASH (Dedicated to Awareness and Support of Hospice), 75 Dixon, Richard N., 58 Dixon (Richard N.) Ambulatory Care Center, 58 Doctor’s Day Celebration, 83 Dove House, 63, 68, 69, 70 Dull, Jean, 44

E

E. E. Stuller Construction Co., 12, 37 Ehrlich, Bob, 60 Englar, Jill, 67, 73 Englar, Theodore, 17

F

Family Birthplace, the, 10, 59 Federal Hospital Survey and Construction Act, 30 Fisher, Charles O., Jr., 32, 63, 83 Fisher, Charles O., Sr., 12, 26, 30–31, 33, 36, 37, 42–43, 46, 47, 49, 63, 78–80 Fisher (Charles O.) Medical Building, 63, 78 Fitzhugh, Henry M., 17, 19, 56 Fletcher, Ben, 59 Founders Benefit Plan, 31 Fox, Darthean, 23, 31, 32, 43–44, 46, 47 Frederick City Hospital, 17 Freiji, Khalil, 29 Friebel, Sigrid “Chris,” 27 Friesen, Gordon, 37–38 Frock, Erma, 47 Fulfilling the Promise, 60–61

G

Gamber, Carroll, 41 Gamber, Lucille, 41 Gamber, Philip, 41

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Gaver, Ida Mae, 29 Gladys Wimert Memorial Fund, 47 Golden Gala, 47 Gorsuch, H. Peyton, 18 Graf, Charles R., 50 Green, Andrew, 47 Green, Vicki Campbell, 47

L

H

M

laparoscopic hysterectomies, pioneering of, at CCGH, 28, 52, 53, 56 Lawyer, Katherine, 46 Leckron, Arawana, 47 Lee-Young, Alfred, 28 Leo Connolly Associates, 30 Link, Diane, 65, 75

Hanyok, Teresa, 57 Harbaugh, John, 74 Henderson, Herbert, 57 Hill-Burton Act, 30 Hochuli, Stephan, 29 Hodgson, Harold, 24 Hospital Survey and Plan (Maryland), 21 House, Dove, 10 Hsu, Timothy, 78 Htwe, Zaw 57

Madrinan, Reynaldo, 58 Maryland Cancer Registry, 59 Mathias, Betty, 47 Mathias, F. Kale, 12, 23, 26, 30, 32, 43, 51 Mathias, Joseph, Sr., 24 Matz, Samuel O., 29, 81 Mawhinney, Charles, Jr., 41 McCallum, James A., Jr., 43 McFerron, James R., 43, 44 McGinnis, Hedy, 72 McGinnis, John, 72 McGinnis Bereavement Resource Center, 69, 72 McKeldin, Theodore R., 14 McLeod, Leslie, 81 Metz, Donna, 70 Miller, Fran, 29, 54 Montour House, 17 Murray, Doreen, 28 Myers, Homer Y., 12, 39

J

Jim Buckley Golf Tournament, 74, 75 Johns Hopkins Hospital (Baltimore), 17 Jones, Mrs. Nevin, 10

K

Kanther, Brett, 73 Kanther, Chrissy (Kirkner), 73 Kathy’s Dinner 73, 74 Kelbly, Kevin, 82 Kim, Choon, 78 Kimmey, Claude T., 18–19, 22 Kirkner, Bob, 73 Kirkner, Janice, 73 Kirkner, Kathy, 73 Kirkner-Vourlos, Denise, 73 Koontz, Howard E., 23, 26 Kottra, David 57 Kottra, Jennifer 57 Kriel, Willella Stansbury, 44, 45 Kriel family, 58 Kruter, Flavio, 59–60 Kuna, Kiran 57 Kuna, Radhika 57

N

Naganna, Chitrachedu, 50, 57 Naganna, Gourishankar, 57 Naganna, Hemalatha, 57 Naganna, Vimala, 57 Naganna Critical Care Wing, 57 Narang, Mohit 57 Narang, Supriya 57 Newkirk, Beatrice, 43, 44 Noakes, Edward H., 37 Null, Mrs. Kester, 10

O

O’Farrell, Thomas Richard, III, 72 O’Reilly, Geralyn 57 O’Reilly, Keith 57 outpatient procedures, 53, 58

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P

T

Parikh, Falguni 57 Parikh, Ketan 57 Partnership for a Healthier Carroll County, 59, 64–65 Perry, Mayor, 15 Pinckney, Doris C., 46 Pinkie the puppet, 40, 42, 47

Taste of Carroll, 74 Teeter, Priscilla, 47 Tevis, Beth, 61 Tevis, Jack, 61, 81 Thomas, Frances, 73 Toelle, Theresa, 28 Tree of Lights, 46

R

U

Rager, Randy, 28 Rangarajan, Anitha Naganna, 57 Reese, Mabel S., 24, 30, 32, 36, 46, 51 Reese, Mrs. Harry E., Jr., 10 Riley, Ray, 31 Rodkey, Emma, 29 Rosner, Jill, 74 Rutter, Candace, 71

U, Nilar 57 Ullman, Phyllis, 47 University of Maryland Heart Center, 55 U.S. Oncology, 59–60

V

Vasse, Rebecca, 58 Vietz, Michael P., 56, 82 Vietz, Paul, 52, 53, 56 volunteers, 62, 74. See also auxiliary Vourlos, Dimitrios, 73

S

Saltzman, Donald, 56 Saltzman, Robert, 56 Santos, Daniel, 56 Santos, Danilo, 56 Scherr, Adam, 56 Scherr, Jules, 56 Scott, David A., 24, 26, 37 Scott, Elizabeth Billingslea “Betty,” 15, 24 Semm, Kurt, 56 Sernulka, John M., 51, 54–55, 56, 63, 84 Shanklin, John T., 25 Shaw, Robert 57 Shaw, Rosemarie 57 Shipley, A. Earl, 23, 26, 31, 35 Sidh, Suresh, 57 Sidh, Sushma, 57 Silvery Moon Ball, 46 Simmons, Leslie, 70, 83–84 Smiles, 42 Spring Fashion Show, 46 St. Agnes Hospital (Baltimore), 17 Stansbury-Kriel Memorial Addition, 44, 45–49 Starr, B. E., 37 Steers, John A., 28, 56 Steers, John E., 56 Supik, Tricia, 64–65

W

Wampler, Atlee W., Jr., 12, 14, 19, 24–26, 30–33, 37–39, 43, 44, 46, 51 Wampler, L. Lewis, 33 Wampler furniture store, 14 Wardenfelt, Gail Lynn, 40 War Memorial Fund, proceeds of, planned for supporting a hospital, 18–19, 22 Weinstock, Nathan, 26, 30, 35–36, 37 Welliver, Daniel, 43 Westminster Retail Merchants Association, 24 Westminster Rotary Club, 18 Whitehead, Helen, 82 White Rabbit Thrift Shop, 46 Wimert, Gladys M., 12, 23, 24, 26, 30, 32, 33, 36, 38, 46, 47 Women’s Place, the, 54 Woodward, Lewis K., Sr., 12, 17 Woodward, Theodore E., 22, 24 Wright, Lucille, 47

Z

Zepp, Debbie, 74

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