Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: THURSDAY, February 21, 1991 TAG: 9102210129
SECTION: CURRENT PAGE: NRV-3 EDITION: NEW RIVER VALLEY
SOURCE: BECKY HEPLER/ SPECIAL TO THE ROANOKE TIMES & WORLD-NEWS
DATELINE: RADFORD LENGTH: Medium
Walter Benjamin Keister was the first baby born at the new hospital after it opened 50 years ago. His mother was the first patient.
So this morning, Keister and his mother, Mary Bain, 71, of Radford, were to be guests of honor at a breakfast celebrating the hospital's first half century.
"I don't remember much about it, obviously," said Keister, who was born on March 13, 1941. "And I've been lucky that I haven't had to use it much since then. But anyone who has given 50 years of service like they have has a right to celebrate."
Mom will be there, but Keister, a science teacher at Christiansburg High School, said he probably would miss today's breakfast of cold cereal, scrambled eggs, fruit, juice and coffee because he didn't want to miss his morning classes.
More than 300 guests have been invited to today's opening event at the Radford Inn Best Western on the anniversary of the hospital's official opening - although the first patient wasn't admitted until nearly three weeks later.
As part of today's festivities, the hospital also will shower the first baby born there today with gifts and certificates given by the community.
"We decided to do this instead of honoring the first baby born on Jan. 1 this year," said Susan Lockwood, the hospital's vice president of marketing and planning.
The hospital has planned a year of celebrating - an event every three months designed to reach out to the public, Lockwood said.
"We've always had a partnership with the public, so it's important that they are part of our celebration," she said.
Each of today's guests, including officials of local governments the hospital serves, was asked to bring something for a time capsule that will go into the cornerstone of the new hospital to be built in a few years, Lockwood said.
This new building will be the hospital's third location. It was started in 1941 by eight doctors as a 28-bed facility on Tyler Avenue in the old Iris Inn, right across from what was then Radford College.
In 1943, construction started at the current location on Randolph Street, using funds that included a federal grant for hospitals in designated defense areas. It has grown to an 80-doctor, 175-bed facility, specializing in 22 areas of medicine.
The new hospital, to be started in five to seven years, will be built on a 160-acre site on Virginia 177 - Tyler Street extended - just outside the city near Interstate 81.
"The time capsule in the cornerstone is one way we have of bridging the old with the new, and it also helps to tie our service area together," Lockwood said.
After the breakfast, the festivities were to continue with a definite 1940s theme. Employees are encouraged to dress in that style. The cafeteria will be serving food from that era and playing big band music.
A "Reception Birthday Bash" this afternoon will feature a three-tiered birthday cake, punch and old fashioned Dixie Cup ice cream cups with the wooden spoon.
The next event will be the "The Follies," a benefit show calling on the talents of the community, May 17-19 at Porterfield Theater at Radford University.
It is co-sponsored by the hospital and its auxiliary and the proceeds will go toward projects sponsored by the Health Foundation and the auxillary.
In July, the hospital will sponsor a special showing of the museum exhibit "Fevers, Agues, and Cures: Medical Life in Old Virginia," at the university's Flossie Martin Gallery.
Radford is one of four hospitals co-sponsoring the exhibit, which has been assembled by the Virginia Historical Society to tour the state.
The show is a step back into time, tracing the development of medical care in the Old Dominion from the first settlement to the turn of the century.
The exhibit also will look at the medical impact of the meeting of the native American, European and African cultures, the effects of the Civil War, the care of the mentally ill, medical concerns of women and the differences in care between blacks and whites.
A final event in the fall is still in the planning stages.
by CNB