FARMINGTON — San Juan Regional Medical Center was built by the tireless labor and efforts of community members.
To honor that tradition and the individuals responsible for making significant contributions, the hospital will add six new inductees to its hall of fame Tuesday.
"We're recognizing people who, through the years, have made a significant contribution to health care in general in San Juan County," hospital spokesman Dennis Mathis said. "Because those people have made a lot of sacrifices in their lives to get us where we are today."
People worked long hours, volunteered their time and raised money to help build the medical center and many of the services it offers, Mathis said.
"I just think that's something that deserves to be honored," he said.
A committee of 12 community members, doctors and people affiliated with the hospital chose six individuals who made significant contributions to the hospital through its 99-year history.
Two of the early pioneers selected were Dr. Arthur Munro Smith and Charles C. Mumma.
Smith, along with Dr. G. W. Sammons, founded the original hospital in 1910. Mumma, a local businessman, helped organize a community group to run the early hospital. He also owned the land on which the hospital is located.
Also selected was Thomas Cooper, the chief pharmacist and director of pharmacy at the hospital in the 1980s and early 1990s.
Cooper modernized and streamlined the hospital's pharmacy operations, said Charles
Two long-time volunteers, Althea Greer and Mary Dugan, also were selected. Dugan, who was the San Juan Medical Foundation's first elected president, was instrumental in raising money to build the new hospital.
Dr. Graham Watkins, the final selection to the hall of fame, became the chief of medical staff in 1981.
Watkins, the only living member of this year's inductees, retired from medicine in 1996. He helped oversee the development and hired the staff at the urgent care center.
"It's very flattering," Watkins said. "The other members of this particular group were particularly stellar. I'm pleased to be among them."
All contributions by hall of fame inductees greatly enhanced patient care, Clouthier said. The induction is another way of remembering the contributions that made hospital services possible.
"I think it's important because of what they've done in the past," Clouthier said. "It's their legacy."
The hard work of a few individuals propelled the hospital from a small-town medical center to a state-of-the-art center in less than 100 years.
"I just think that's something that deserves to be honored," Mathis said. "Every major advancement at the hospital was accomplished by someone that worked for that advancement."
It's the legacy of the hospital and part of the tradition of advancement that hospital officials are confident will continue.
"That same kind of sacrifice and same kind of commitment is going on right now," Mathis said. "What the hospital is going to be in the future is a result of the actions people are taking today."
IF YOU GO:
What: San Juan Regional Medical Center hall of fame induction ceremony
Where: San Juan College Little Theater
When: 7 p.m. Tuesday
Brendan Giusti:
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