The Women’s Association of Westmoreland Regional Hospital purchased a new sewing machine in 1906.
By the 1920s, the volunteer group’s cutting and sewing committees were turning out more than 900 garments a week for use at Greensburg’s hospital.
Fast forward a century, and you’d find the renamed Westmoreland Hospital Auxiliary mustering a battery of sewing-machine operators at the same facility, now known as Excela Westmoreland Hospital.
To ensure a backup supply during the early weeks of the covid-19 pandemic, when some gear was at a premium, “We had people downstairs with sewing machines altering shirts to make them into hospital gowns,” said auxiliary Treasurer Darlene Nagrosky of Hempfield. “The auxiliary was helping in many different ways.”
The 60-member auxiliary also fields a knitting circle that creates hats for newborns delivered at the hospital.
Excela Health CEO John M. Sphon recently recognized the auxiliary’s 125th anniversary of “giving time, talents and resources to further the growth and vitality of Westmoreland Hospital,” adding, “In the true spirit of their mission, they have been there to offer tangible and heartfelt expressions of support to our caregivers during the pandemic.”
The auxiliary treated the hospital staff to pizza and, when the pandemic restrictions forced closure of the hospitality shop it operates, candy and snacks with expiration dates were distributed among the nursing stations.
In its early years, the auxiliary provided items as basic as a microscope and a replacement operating table. During the Great Depression, the group continued to raise, and spend, an average of $2,000 per year on supplies and equipment for the hospital.
More recently, the auxiliary donated $100,000 to help renovate the hospital’s intensive care unit.
“That was one of our biggest donations,” said Maureen Cutrell of Hempfield, a critical care nurse who is the recording secretary of the auxiliary and has worked for Excela Health for three decades.
Through the years, the auxiliary has contributed about $3 million to support the hospital, its staff and the care they provide to patients.
Some auxiliary-funded additions to the hospital have been particularly welcome during the pandemic, with its emphasis on social distancing, time spent outdoors and increased sanitizing.
In 2016, the group dedicated the hospital’s healing garden, an outdoor patio featuring floral plantings, a painted mural, a pergola and shaded seating.
“It’s such a beautiful place,” Cutrell said. “Patients and staff can go out and get a little bit of fresh air.”
In its most recent project, the auxiliary updated furniture in the hospital lobby, choosing seating with improved ergonomics and upholstery that is easier to clean.
“That was before covid,” Cutrell noted. “We didn’t even know how important it was going to be to have furniture that you could wipe off.”
Nagrosky, a registered nurse who retired after 26 years at the hospital, is an alumna of its school of nursing. When the school closed in 1975, the auxiliary stepped up to provide several annual scholarships to area students who are pursuing a medical career or to staff who are furthering their education.
It recently increased the amount of each scholarship from $2,000 to $2,500.
The auxiliary has explored many creative opportunities to raise funds for such efforts.
Anita Owen, past president of the auxiliary, joined the organization shortly after she moved to Hempfield, in 1967.
In 1979, she started one of the auxiliary’s more enduring fundraisers, an annual Dollhouse and Miniature Show.
“Doll shows were very popular in California,” Owen said. The auxiliary’s local version turned out to be a bigger draw than she had imagined, requiring some assistance with traffic control.
“We rented two (banquet) rooms, and we had over 1,000 people come,” she said.
With pandemic limitations on indoor gatherings, the show has been on hiatus for two years in a row, as have sales of books, jewelry and other items usually held several times a year in the hospital lobby.
“It’s a real challenge right now because so many of our fundraisers were group events,” Cutrell said.
The auxiliary took a step back toward normalcy in August. It held an outdoor fundraising Dinner en Blanc at the Greensburg Garden and Civic Center, attracting 150 guests clad all in white.
The auxiliary has tentatively scheduled the return of its popular bingo event in May. In the meantime, it’s been selling raffle tickets.
Another idea it has tried is a bake-less bake sale. “It’s less trouble,” Nagrosky said. “Instead of baking something and bringing it in, you just make a donation.”
Cutrell, who was born at the hospital, said her commitment to the auxiliary is as strong as ever.
“I feel like this hospital, and the auxiliary that does so much for the hospital, make me who I am,” she said. “I spend so much time here.
“I really just believe in the benefits of a community hospital, the personal touch and the caring and the expertise that we’ve got here. That’s what keeps me coming back.”