Fairmont Medical Center celebrates Nurses Week with shrub planting
May 13—FAIRMONT — Staff at WVU Medicine Fairmont Medical Center took time out Thursday to thank nurses for the work they do to provide quality health care to patients as part of Nurses Week.
The hospital's director of nursing, Cari Morgan, Inpatient Nurse Manager Catherine Mayle and Aaron Yanuzo, vice president of operations, planted a burning bush shrub near the hospital's time capsule that was planted and sealed a year ago.
"As our nurses got together to talk about how we were going to celebrate Nurses Week, the idea came up of planting a shrub at our time capsule. We would like to represent us not only planting our roots in the community — so we planted our roots almost two years ago in this community — when WVU Medicine stepped in and reinsured health care in Marion County. So, we wanted to plant a shrub and show we are planting our roots and we are here to grow," Morgan said addressing the small gathering near the WVU Medicine Cancer Center.
Morgan said construction is about to begin on a 30-bed skilled nursing facility that will be on the second floor of the hospital. It's part of a five-year, $110 million expansion and remodeling plan for the site that dates back to 1939 and its beginnings as Fairmont General Hospital.
WVU Medicine came to Fairmont in June 2020 and resuscitated life into the hospital that was closed briefly by its former owner, Alecto Healthcare LLC, based out of Irvine, California.
Morgan said Thursday's event was to thank the nurses for all they do, while at the same time, reminding the community of WVU Medicine's commitment to Marion County.
"We are here to grow with this community, to meet all the health care needs of this community. We are in the process of expansion plans, growing. We are getting ready to start construction on a 30-bed skilled nursing facility to meet the needs of the community. We have our 12-bed emergency room that is very busy and we have our 42 inpatient beds that are filling fast, so we are getting to start expansion — additional inpatient units, OR is in our future. So, we just want to represent us growing with the community here in Fairmont," Morgan said.
WVU Medicine Chaplain Moira Reilly offered a prayer after the shrub was planted.
She first gave thanks.
"Holy One, on this beautiful that you have made, we give you thanks. We give you thanks for the roots that run deep in this community. We give you thanks for all of those who live and serve and love and are your hands and feet here in this place. We especially give thanks for all of our nursing staff in this Nurses Week that we are celebrating today on the celebration of the birthday of Florence Nightingale. We give thanks for these nurses who give of themselves so graciously and compassionately. We give thanks in this hospital..meeting the needs of those in our community. We give thanks for this new tree, a symbol of our rootedness and strength."
Reach Eric Cravey at 304-367-2523.
