Health

Last Updated on Monday, 31 July 2017 20:12

Each year, the members of the Auxiliary of Mon-Vale Health Resources Inc. give their time and energy to enhance the quality of patient care at Monongahela Valley Hospital (MVH). On June 26, the 39^th annual Auxiliary Appreciation Dinner was held in the hospital’s Anthony M. Lombardi Education Conference Center.

Auxilians Dorothy Gallagher and Jane Hazen (l to r) received pins in recognition of hours reached of volunteer time.

At the dinner, the Auxiliary made a generous donation to MVH when president Ruth Antonelli presented a check totaling $30,443 to MVH President and CEO Louis J. Panza Jr. When combined with the funds the group donated to the hospital's annual gala in May and to the annual Volunteen Scholarship, the Auxiliary's 2017 donation climbs to $31,943.

This year's gift brings the Auxiliary's overall total donation to approximately $3.4 million.

The group generated the funds for this donation through sales at the MVH Gift Shop and with a multitude of special events held throughout the year, including the Annual Strawberry Festival, clothes and purse sales, barbeque food sale, jewelry sales and the Annual Fall Apple Festival.

The Auxiliary's donation will be used for enhancements that will benefit patients and their families. One of those enhancements will be a new stress test system for the catheterization laboratory. The stress test system will help make cardiac testing easier for both patients and physicians. The donation will also be used to purchase a specialized transport cart.

During the celebration, awards were presented to Auxiliary members who reached milestone hours of volunteering time at MVH. Recipients included:

• Bonnie Matyas — 5,000 hours

• Dorothy Gallagher — 2,500 hours

• Jane Hazen — 1,000 hours

• Carol Korber — 500 hours

The group also honored seven members with milestone years of service including:

• Sara Wells — 49 years

• Mary Lou Mudrick — 42 years

• Tina Rossi — 37 years

• Elaine Weiss — 35 years

• Mary Garris — 30 years

• Mary Lou Lachman — 26 years

• Amy Brown — 25 years

The Auxiliary also presented its Volunteen Scholarship to Taylor Pust, a recent graduate of Ringgold High School who plans to pursue a career in medicine at Penn State University. A resident of Finleyville, Ms. Pust volunteered at MVH for three years for a total of 102 hours in the hospital’s Same Day Surgery Department.