WVU Medicine-WMC auxiliary awards $20,000

WEIRTON -- Improving lives is at the core of what WVU Medicine-Weirton Medical Center does, David Artman said Wednesday night.

“The thing that makes me the most proud, and why I love this job, is because we get to help people,” Artman, the hospital’s president and CEO, said during the auxiliary’s annual awards dinner in the hospital’s conference room.

Members of the auxiliary, which was founded in 1953, donate their time and raise money to support various needs throughout the facility, from helping purchase heated infusion chairs for the cancer center to funding a seating area in the cafeteria.

“You guys should be proud of your contributions,” said Donna Kittridge, the hospital’s director of support services.

This year’s donation totaled $20,000. The money was raised through the auxiliary’s seven fundraisers held throughout the year and proceeds from the gift shop.

“Every year, we give a check to the hospital,” said Sondra Weigel, the auxiliary’s longtime president. “It can be for a lot of different things they need, for what is happening at the time.”

Weigel said volunteers work in many areas of the hospital, adding that employees are always happy to see them.

Artman said he was proud of the work done by the volunteers, the hospital’s management team, the improvements in communication resulting from new systems that have been put in place, the nursing department and all of the staff.

He noted the hospital is in the middle of an employee survey and that the response rate was between 82% and 83%. That exceeded the reporting goal of 80% and ranked the hospital second in response rate among the 25 hospitals in the WVU Medicine health system.

James Shockley, chairman of the hospital’s board, said he appreciated the efforts of the auxiliary members.

“Thank you very much for all that you have done and continue to do for WVU Medicine-Weirton Medical Center,” he said.

Special years-of-service recognition was presented to two auxiliary members. Lola Starvaggi was honored for 40 years of service, and Elda Weekley for 30 years of service. Weekley was unable to attend the dinner.

“I want to thank all of you,” Artman said. “You make this a better place. You bring a lot of happiness here, and you do it for free, you do it voluntarily. We really appreciate that, and I appreciate your years of service.”

He said he wants to explore ways to increase the number of volunteers.

“We appreciate you more than you know,” he added. “I would like to say that we’ll be able to grow our volunteer program here, and maybe bring in people who you don’t expect to see. I think there are a lot of students who need volunteer time, and maybe we can figure that out. We really appreciate you.”