WILMINGTON — CMH Regional Health System on April 15 unveiled the contents of a 25-year time capsule buried in the lobby of the CMH Professional Office Building.
The time capsule was buried by CMH leaders in 1993 when the Professional Office Building was first built and opened, and captured memories, tokens, predictions for the future, and much more.
Contributing to the original time capsule were leaders representing the many faces of CMH: the Foundation (now HealthFirst for Clinton County), Auxiliary (now the Health Alliance of Clinton County), board of trustees, medical staff, employees, and volunteers.
CMH invited all of those who contributed to the original time capsule to take part in this historic ceremony, as their contributions were unveiled and presented to the community. Items included a gold charm bracelet with symbolic charms representing the dedication of CMH employees, renderings of CMH by local artist Annette Bickel, medical predictions for the year 2018 and a photo album of medical staff members in 1993, comparison of procedures and pricing from the hospital’s founding in 1951 to 1993, and more.
Greg Nielsen, CEO of CMH, emphasized the importance of the occasion.
“We’re grateful to those who took the opportunity all those years ago to preserve a moment in time for us and cast a vision for CMH’s future,” Nielsen said. “They captured their proudest memories and accomplishments, their hopes and dreams for the next 25 years, and the character of CMH then and now.”
CMH continued the tradition and presented to the community items that will be buried in a new time capsule. Items were submitted by Jim Reynolds, Ph.D., chair of the Board of Trustees and president of Wilmington College; Dr. John Hollon, chief medical officer; Dr. Rajiv Patel, chief of staff; Trudy Ranz, 17-year volunteer for CMH; Cassie Tagg, R.N., case manager; Emily Armstrong, R.N. in mother-baby care; Cammie Spargur, employee in Health Information Management; and Jennifer Hollon, representative of the Health Alliance of Clinton County.
Reynolds submitted items representing the college’s role in the community, including a copy of the current Alumni magazine and a book documenting the peace tradition among students and alumni.
Dr. John Hollon, represented by his wife Jennifer Hollon, shared the story of his recent abdominal aortic aneurism (AAA), and the high level of specialty care provided to him by Dr. Brian Santin, vascular surgeon at CMH. He noted the evolution of treatment for conditions such as the AAA that enables present-day patients to recover quickly after minimally invasive procedures.
Dr. Santin contributed an AAA endograph as a symbol of this story and the progression of minimally invasive procedures and specialty care, and this item will be included with Dr. Hollon’s story in the time capsule.
Dr. Patel contributed a signed CMH onesie given to newborns at the hospital, present-day scalpel and shears, and a vinyl album.
Ranz shared stories of her years volunteering at CMH and contributed the symbolic red smock worn by volunteers along with her name badge.
Tagg submitted a list of all current employees so that future generations could have a historical record and see the growth of the hospital in 25 years. She also submitted two charms symbolizing the CMH family.
Emily Armstrong submitted a silver baby spoon engraved with “Clinton Memorial Hospital” by Rome Jewelers, and an angel to represent all of those affected by pregnancy or infant loss.
Cammie Spargur submitted a collection of 2017 and 2018 newsletters highlighting commendations of CMH employees, physicians, and volunteers and spoke to the incredible work of CMH staff on behalf of patients.
The Health Alliance submitted a brief historical synopsis of their organization’s evolution over the past 25 years and a photo of the group at last year’s Holiday Ball.
Employees, volunteers, and medical staff members serving CMH for more than 25 years were recognized at the event, and a reception was held so that all attending could take time to view time capsule items from 1993 and present day.
All items from the original 1993 time capsule are now on exhibit in a glass display case across from the CMH cafeteria on the 1st floor. All items for the new time capsule will be buried once again in the lobby of the CMH Professional Office Building at 630 W. Main St.
