ELIZABETHTOWN — A night awash with glitter and glam met attendees at the Bladen County Hospital Foundation gala Saturday night at Lu Mil Vineyard.
Everyone was dressed to impress, and the tables were set with beautiful floral arrangements.
Elizabethtown Mayor Sylvia Campbell said that she was so glad that there was a hospital in town.
“We are so grateful for the excellent care that they give our citizens, and not only in Elizabethtown, but all of Bladen County,” she said. “I just want them to know we are here to help at the town of Elizabethtown and Bladen County.
“We thank you so much for hosting this beautiful event tonight. And please call us if we can do anything to help you and know that we are here to support you in every way we can.”
Dan Weatherly, chief operations officer for Cape Fear Valley Health, was the Bladen County Hospital site president from 2011 to 2014. The hospital is a part of the Cape Fear Valley network that is headquartered in Fayetteville.
“Some of my oldest friends are from here, because I moved here from Tennessee,” he said. “They said go down to Bladen, and I stayed.
“There are just awesome people here, and very resilient folks here, and you have been through a lot of things through natural disasters. And if you work in the hospital, you know that one of those is Epic, our new electronic medical record. That was tough as well. Cape Fear Valley is so proud that Bladen is part of our health-care system. It’s very important to the delivery system for rural citizens for us.”
Stephen Fife, Bladen County Hospital’s director of Finance, shared his thoughts.
“The support that you show our hospital and the foundation mean so much to us,” he said. “It’s been a really busy year since we were all here together last February.
“We have had 13 months of construction and revitalization,” he said.
The foundation uses the money raised for everything to furthering education for their employees, which is new, to special equipment that makes life more comfortable for guests and staff.
They also have a way to help employees financially in a time of need.
“We have actually paid for providers to go back and get different licenses and things like that,” he said. “There’s a whole lot that we are doing and your dollars are directly impacting.”
Ashley Dowless introduced COO Dan Weatherly, who was the site president for Bladen County Hospital for a few years.
Elizabethtown Mayor Sylvia Campbell expressed her thanks for what the hospital does.
Stephen Fife shared that the foundation has been working on a some new projects, including helping staff gain licensures.
Supper was enjoyed along with music and refreshments.