WILMINGTON — At Clinton Memorial Hospital, friends and family waiting for a new baby to arrive can now wait comfortably and in style.
Thanks to the New Life Clinic, a waiting room on the hospital’s second floor has undergone a stunning transformation. The public room, just outside a secured entrance to the mother-baby care unit, was given new life just last week with fresh paint, new furniture, charging stations, toys and books to occupy younger guests, and a larger television.
The project was initially presented to NLC Executive Director Sherry Weller, when a staff member had to spend extended time in the room for a family member’s birth and c-section.
During her time there, Karla Barker, NLC Client Services Coordinator, told Weller that the room “needed a refresh.” She wondered if the Clinic could offer to help with a remodel.
Weller contacted Bonnie Rusch, RNC, Director of the CMH Mother Baby Care Unit, and the two began discussing the project.
Weller saw this as an opportunity to further serve New Life Clinic clients, commenting that “a very large percentage of our clients use CMH to deliver their babies. Remodeling the waiting room will be a good way for us to take care of client families and friends while they wait, and to form a stronger partnership with the Mother-Baby Unit at CMH. After all, we’re both working toward bringing new life to Clinton County.”
Once funding was approved by NLC’s Board of Directors, the room began to take on a life of its own.
The color scheme and design mimic the interior of NLC’s lobby at 100 S. South St. with a warm and inviting feel. While Barker organized the design elements, several friends and a local business were called upon to help with the makeover.
Trish Burton painted the room, John Maher created a silhouetted mural on the focal wall, and Jeannie’s Palo Fabrics re-upholstered chairs that were donated by Calvary Baptist Church.
The black and white portraits of newborn babies were provided by a Wilmington College graduate, Shannon Decker Hughes, owner and operator of Sunflower Photography.
