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Timeline of Generosity
Travel through time to see the difference that generosity has made for the health of our community.
OverviewMake A Donation
1929-1949
1929 – The Duke Endowment provides one-third of the $225,000 cost of building the original Moore County Hospital (MCH).
1930 - The Moore County Hospital Auxiliary is born. Mrs. Leonard Tufts conceived the idea of a women’s auxiliary for the newly built hospital serving the people of the Sandhills.
1936 – The first big addition – The first hospital expansion program includes construction of a wing of private rooms and conversion of a second-floor solarium, increasing bed capacity to 80.
The beginnings of philanthropy – The first bequests create a lasting relationship between compassionate people and the causes they help sustain. Many name the hospital as a beneficiary in their wills, ensuring its success for future generations.
1939 – The Auxiliary raises $6,500 for a nurse’s dormitory.
1948 – A major expansion is announced, the construction of a new wing to be called the Memorial Wing. On November 7, 1950, the 37-bed facility was “dedicated to the sons and daughters of Moore County who gave their lives for their country in time of war.”
1950-1970
1952 – Mr. and Mrs. H. Arnold Jackson give $50,000 for a new emergency room dedicated in memory of their sons. The Jackson’s’ endowment gifts to the hospital ultimately exceeded $1 million.
The hospital’s first pediatric unit opens, furnished with a memorial gift from the family of C. Louis Meyer.
1956 – Mr. Samuel Allen leaves the hospital an endowment of $100,000, the income from which will support “regular operating expenses, especially in connection with the fare of worthy charity cases.”
Late 1950s – The Auxiliary contributes more than $103,000 to Moore Memorial. The hospital hires a coordinator for the volunteer corps, which has swelled to more than 300 members.
1964 – The Clement R. Monroe Wing is dedicated in honor of the doctor who had done so much to found and build the once small hospital into a major medical care center. The Auxiliary raises $20,000 toward the wing and its surgical suites.
1967 – Mr. and Mrs. Walter G. Robins donate $150,000 for a new intensive care unit.
Emilie “Jo” Roberts, also known as the “Watch Lady,” raises $130,000 to help establish a radiation therapy department by selling watches for many years in the hospital lobby and at the Pinehurst Hotel.
1971-1991
1974 – Moore Regional Hospital (MRH) completes its first successful fund drive campaign (more than $3 million) and opens a new two-story wing.
1975 – The Moore Regional Hospital Foundation is created as a fund development arm of the hospital. The Foundation encourages and distributes funds, matching the interests of donors with the needs of the hospital.
1979 - Hal Stevens sets out to broaden the MRH Foundation’s base of philanthropic support (which at the time rested on the generosity of a fairly small number of prominent families) with the creation of the Scroll Society. Membership in the Scroll Society is open to friends of the Hospital who give, bequeath or otherwise make available to the Society the sum of $10,000 or more.
1980 – The Clement R. Monroe Club is established as the first of several annual giving programs established as the principal source of “current-use” gifts from patients and friends.
1984 – A freestanding Ambulatory Surgical Center opens on Page Road.
1987 – Dr. David Cowherd, an interventional cardiologist, performs the first cardiac catheterization at MRH.
1988 – A day care center for children of hospital employees is opened as the Little People’s Village. The center was and remains a favorite Auxiliary project.
1989 – MRH Auxiliary donations to the hospital over the years reach $1 million.
1990 – The first open-heart procedure is performed at MRH by Dr. John F. Krahnert, Jr.
1992-Present
1995 – MRH gets a new first name – FirstHealth Moore Regional Hospital (FMRH). With the merger of Moore Regional and Montgomery Memorial hospitals, FirstHealth of the Carolinas is created.
1996 – FirstHealth of the Carolinas acquires Sandhills Hospice.
1997 – The Foundation of FirstHealth leads the “In Love and Service” capital campaign to raise more than $10.8 million for the largest expansion project in the hospital’s history.
1999 – The FirstHealth Hospice Foundation, which was established when FirstHealth acquired Sandhills Hospice, launches a fund-raising campaign, The Hospice Challenge, to increase its endowment to $10 million. This endowment covers the annual operational deficits, allowing for quality care with dignity for all in this community with life-limiting illness, regardless of their ability to pay.
1999 – The Outpatient/Admitting entrance on Page Road opens.
2000 – FMRH opens a new Patient Tower that brings together the clinical components of the Community Hospital Comprehensive Cancer Center. The tower also includes a renovated and enlarged Emergency Department, and new medical and surgical inpatient units that bring FMRH’s bed total to 385.
2001 – FirstHealth of the Carolinas acquires Richmond Memorial Hospital in Rockingham as the third hospital in the system.
2001- FirstHealth Montgomery Foundation established
2001- FirstHealth Richmond Memorial Hospital Foundation established
2005 – FirstVillage opens with a new facility for Pinehurst Surgical and a new freestanding ambulatory surgery center, the Surgical Center of Pinehurst.
2007 – FirstHealth and Pinehurst Medical work together to create the Outpatient Hematology and Medical Oncology Center located on Page Road.
February 29, 2008 – The Foundation of FirstHealth kicks off the public phase of the Stepping Stones Campaign to raise funds for the Reid Heart Center, FirstHealth Hospice House and the Clara McLean House.
2011 – The Reid Heart Center opens at FMRH, offering next generation heart and vascular care. Later this year the FirstHealth Hospice & Palliative Care campus opens to provide a new home for Hospice and 11-acute care beds for patients at the end of life.
2012 – The Clara McLean House opens, offers caring and affordable lodging and support services for families from out of town with a loved one receiving care at FMRH, and for outpatients at FMRH.
2013 – The inaugural class of the FirstHealth Physician Leadership Program is underway, beginning the journey of leadership development for physicians within the FirstHealth system. The first class graduates 15 members.
Today is your chance to save a life
Won’t you join with your friends and neighbors in supporting health care in the mid-Carolinas with a generous donation?
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If you would like discuss different gift options or if you have a special area you would like to support, please call The Foundation at (910) 695-7500 for assistance.
