Grateful Gathering: WHS celebrates 125th anniversary
Karen Mansfield/Observer-Reporter
Washington Health System CEO Brook Ward unveiled a painting depicting the history of the health system during a Grateful Gathering event in celebration of its 125th anniversary.
Photos: Karen Mansfield/Observer-Reporter
Fifteen-month-old Wiley DeVenney enjoys a donut with his mother, Emily DeVenney, an emergency department nurse at Washington Health System, as Judy Zieger, left, director of operations for Washington Physicians Group, looks on.
Karen Mansfield/Observer-Reporter
Richard and JeanMarie Harding of Washington enjoy a hot beverage during the WHS Grateful Gathering that celebrated the health system’s 125th anniversary.
Karen Mansfield/Karen Mansfield
Pat Robbins of McDonald looks at historical photographs of Washington Health System during WHS Grateful Gathering held Friday to mark the 125th anniversary.
Karen Mansfield/Observer-Reporter
Terry Wiltrout, Washington Health System vice president of operations, left, admires a newly unveiled painting depicting the 125-year history of WHS, as Dr. John Six, Chief Medical Officer, looks on.
Karen Mansfield/Observer-Reporter
Jett Brach, front, and his sister, Gia Brach, display the balloon animals they received at the Washington Health System Grateful Gathering they attended on Friday with their parents, A.J. and Missy Brach.
Karen Mansfield/Observer-Reporter
Rebecca Kanar, owner of ABC Balloon Twisting, makes a frog balloon at the Grateful Gathering.
Washington Health System is celebrating a special milestone in 2022.
WHS opened its doors 125 years ago, in 1897, in a brick farmhouse in downtown Washington that was converted into a 20-bed hospital.
On Friday, WHS hosted its inaugural Grateful Gathering to mark a century and quarter years of growth, achievement, and caring for the community.
The celebration began in the afternoon with the unveiling of a bold, colorful illustration of WHS hospital buildings, stacked one in front of the other, depicting the health system’s growth over the years.
The hospital commissioned artist Amie Bantz of Harrisburg to create the illustration, which will be housed in the hospital lobby.
Later, WHS hosted a community event that included kids’ crafts and activities, a balloon artist, a DJ, a food truck, complimentary hot chocolate, cider and snacks, and other activities.
Visitors browsed Washington Hospital’s gift shop, filled with gift items, baby gifts, jewelry, candy, drinks, handbags, flower arrangements, clothing, and seasonal and holiday offerings.
CEO Brook Ward said the hospital has been celebrating its anniversary with events throughout the year.
“And we’re here for another of those events to honor the people who started the organization back in that time period and got us to where we are today,” said Ward. “A lot has happened during that time, and I want to thank administrative teams over the years, the board, medical staff, volunteers, students and all of our employees because they all helped build this organization into what it is today, 125 years later.”
Ward noted the hospital has faced one of its biggest challenges, the COVID-19 pandemic, over the past few years.
The hospital has weathered other difficult times, included COVID-19, World Wars I and II, and the Spanish flu.
“The organization during those 125 years has survived a number of events that have had an impact on our resources, talent, people, the (health system), and of course we’ve just lived through that as well. So from my perceptive, we’ve had 125 years of success built on the fact that we’ve had great leaders, great board members, great staff, volunteers, and students who have helped bring this organization from starting in a home in downtown Washington to the great organization it is today,” said Ward. “And I think we’re going to have a great future going forward built on the talent of the people we have here today and who will be with us in the future.”
Ward also noted that in the hospital’s first 20 years, there were five female CEOs, called superintendents at that time.
“You think about it, it’s difficult for women in business to rise in today’s environment, but back then we had five in the early years,” he said.
WHS now provides health care services at its two hospitals – its flagship 260-bed hospital in Washington and WHS Greene – and at more than 40 off-site locations throughout three counties. It also includes diagnostic centers, outpatient facilities, the Wilfred R. Cameron Wellness Center, and hospice care.
Ward said the Grateful Gathering was held in recognition of the health system’s anniversary and National Philanthropy Day (held in November), and to thank the community for its support of WHS.
Among those attending the Grateful Gathering were Pete and Kathy Cameron of Washington.
Kathy Cameron noted that Washington Hospital has played a role in her family’s life: her mother attended the Washington Hospital School of Nursing in the 1950s and worked as a nurse at the hospital, and Cameron delivered her three children there.
Said Pete Cameron, whose father, businessman and philanthropist, the late Wilfred R. Cameron, and his mother, Nan J. Cameron, made a multimillion-dollar contribution that led to the construction of the Wellness Center, said, “This hospital has been very good to this community. Certainly everybody appreciates the importance of what the employees do here. There are a lot of good people here.”