Morehead Memorial Hospital is celebrating its 50th anniversary this year. An exhibit is currently on display at Eden Historical Museum on Washington Street, highlighting major events throughout the hospital’s history.
Sharon Tongbua, assistant director of marketing for Morehead Memorial Hospital, has worked with the museum and other members of the community to make the exhibit a success.
“This is our 50th year and we want to show that this is a community hospital – the community helped to build it,” Tongbua said. “Back when they were raising funds in the late 1950s, many Fieldcrest Mills employees stepped up and pledged money to the hospital each week.”
The timeline starts with the beginning of the Leaksville Hospital in 1924 to the Lou McMichael Miracle Breast Imaging Suite in the Wright Diagnostic Center. This addition was built last year.
Julie Hampton Ganis, a curator for the Eden Historical Museum, said Tongbua and the hospital did a wonderful job on the timeline for the exhibit. She said the whole thing packs up into a small suitcase for traveling.
“This hospital is so important to so many people who grew up here,” Ganis said. “I know people who have memories of going to the old hospital, and they remember when the new one was built.”
Besides the timeline, the exhibit also features tools and prescription notebooks used by doctors at the old hospital. There is also a series of photos taken from the groundbreaking of the hospital to the opening of its doors.
“The photos taken during the building of the hospital are amazing – the progression of the building going up can be seen,” Ganis said.
The exhibit will travel to different locations across the county until late this year. The year-long celebration will be highlighted by a large event at the hospital May 1, beginning at 2 p.m.
Tongbua said there will be many fun things to do at the celebration, including an appearance by the first baby ever born in the new hospital. They also have plans for a memorial garden at the hospital. Bricks can be bought in memory or in honor of a person for the garden.
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