Page 6 - Calvert Health Magazine

celebrating 100 YEARS 1919-2019
A Century
of Care

Board’s Strength Lies in Diversity
YEAR 1959 “The volunteers on the hospital board represent the community’s health interests

to CalvertHealth’s leadership,” said longtime board member Cliff Stewart.
• ER has three beds “They serve as a direct connection between the hospital and the community.”

• Four doctors on staff
“When people know you’re on the board,” said
• Nurse’s aide earns $20/week Stewart, “they tell you what they like and don’t

• C-wing is still segregated like about what’s going on at the hospital. We bring
the voice and perspective of the people.” He said
feedback from the community was a significant factor
in the decision to convert to private patient rooms.
Top right: The hospital’s first For this reason, diversity is essential – to speak
board members stand on the for the entire community. “It comes down to having
steps of the tiny frame building diversity of board members that have different
on Church Street along with
the staff. In the foreground is relationships within the community,” said Showalter,
Dr. Issac N. King, who was the who is a third-generation board member. Her father,
hospital’s first superintendent Arthur Dowell, Jr., and her grandfather, Arthur
until 1941. File Photo Dowell, Sr., also served.
Despite diverging viewpoints and experiences
Bottom right: Former hospital
board member Rev. Robert there was always a common purpose. “Even though
Conway currently serves on board members came from varied backgrounds they
the Patient & Family Advisory had an open mind and respected all the different
Council, which provides facets of where the people were coming from,” said
valuable feedback about the former board chair Vic Cornellier, who owns a
patient care experience. building design company. Former educator Rev.
File Photo Robert Conway concurred. “What impressed me
most was how they made a conscientious effort to
respect the opinions of everybody,” he said.
And there were certainly challenges and
changes from grappling with desegregation in the
“Diversity is very 60s and physician shortages in the 70s to dealing
important because out with the advent of managed care and its impact on
of the collection of ideas the delivery of care and coping with the uncertainty
of Maryland’s rate-setting system. They were steady
you can arrive at stewards that navigated the hospital with a strong
the very best result.” hand steering an independent course for the hospital
– Rev. Robert Conway amidst a landscape of more and more mergers.

They served because they cared. They served because they were grateful. But mostly,
they served because they wanted to give back and make a difference. “I was very interested in
health care for the under-served portion of our population. I always have been,” said banker and
former board chair Don Parsons, who grew up in inner-city Boston in the projects.
Often it meant long hours but they persevered. “Many times, when I got home it was
nearly midnight and my wife had already gone to bed,” said Conway. “We just stayed until we
finished what we had to do.” Krug underscored the group’s diligence to duty. “The board took
professionalism and their role very seriously,” she said. “It’s not a position you take lightly. It
meant a lot of long hours but it was worth it.”

6 CALVERTHEALTH WINTER 2019 | SPECIAL EDITION: CELEBRATING 100 YEARS of CARING