MedStar to celebrate new lobby, legacy of Women’s Board –

by Terri Hogan

Senior Staff Writer

The newly renovated lobby of MedStar Montgomery Medical Center provides a welcoming space for patients and visitors, thanks to a $1.5 million, 10-year capital campaign pledge from the hospital’s Women’s Board.

The community is invited to visit the new lobby at an open house from 11 a.m. to 3 p.m. April 30.

“The lobby is lighter and brighter and looks so much better,” said Carole Derrick, president of the Women’s Board. “After visiting other hospitals that were more attractive, we realized that it needed to be freshened up. It was more than 40 years old.”
Derrick said the lobby is safer with new security features and more welcoming with new colors and furnishings.

“We now have this brighter more inviting and welcoming lobby for all to enter our hospital,” she said.

The renovation provides prominence to a new pharmacy and the renovated and expanded Women’s Board Gift Shop.

A new donor wall is on display, made possible through the support of the Boyer family.

Derrick said the Women’s Board is grateful to have been a part of the project and to help fund it.

“Our ladies work non-stop to earn the monies paying our pledges to our hospital making this improvement possible,” Derrick said. “It is our honor to be supporting the hospital and our community.”

The open house will highlight the longstanding partnership between the hospital and the Women’s Board.

“We’re very grateful to the Women’s Board for their commitment to our hospital,” said Thomas “TJ” Senker, president of MedStar Montgomery Medical Center. “Throughout our 96-year partnership, their generosity has helped our hospital grow and thrive, and ultimately live our mission to enhance our community’s health and well-being.”

Women’s Board members will be available to greet guests at the open house and speak with them about the legacy of their accomplishments.

“We hope the community will come to see the new Women’s Board Lobby and learn more about the tremendous impact of the Women’s Board on the hospital over the last 96 years,” said Gabriel Pinski, vice president of philanthropy at the hospital.

He added: “We cannot thank them enough.”

The lobby renovation campaign is the second largest in the Women’s Board’s 96-year relationship with the hospital, the largest being a $1.75 million campaign that provided funding for the da Vinci Surgical System.

Women’s Board campaigns also have supported additions to the Emergency Department, renovations to the Pediatric Emergency Center and building a new cardiac care wing.

The Women’s Board raises funds through events such as the Gifts of Light Ceremony in December and the Annual Picnic and Bazaar in July.

Other fundraising endeavors include the hospital’s gift shop and thrift shop, which support projects and a scholarship fund for students interested in pursuing a medical profession.

    Terri Hogan can be reached at [email protected].