Pink Ladies … making a difference at NRMC

Marilyn Johnson, Martha Wood, and Juanita Bales decorate the Christmas tree in the Nevada Regional Medical Center Gift shop. The volunteers are getting ready for the employee appreciation sale held Friday.

By Steve Moyer

Nevada Herald

The pink ladies -- that's what nearly everyone calls the hospital auxiliary -- have been busy at Nevada Regional Medical Center for many years. Friday they conducted an employee appreciation sale at the gift shop in the lobby of the hospital. All employees received a 10 percent discount on their purchases.

Activities like the gift shop help fund the many donations the auxiliary has made to the hospital over the years. Last year alone the auxiliary gave $75,000 to help furnish the new addition and have donated thousands of hours each year to help the hospital in many ways.

"It's not just the information desk and the gift shop where they help," said Melissa Swarens, NRMC Community Relations. "They help in the offices, surgery waiting, do wheelchair escorts. They play an instrumental role in almost every aspect in the hospital."

The 60 members of the auxiliary donate thousands of hours of their time to the hospital.

Sara Lawhorne, Community Relations director, said that last year auxiliary members put in 11,805.5 hours and that at the lowest wage the hospital pays that amounts to more than $80,000.

"The auxiliary has been very good to the hospital over the years," Lawhorne said. "They've donated their time and raised money and they deserve to get some credit for all of the good they do."

The gift shop is well stocked with many different types of items for sale, some of them unique. One of the favorites are the small, intricately decorated musical instruments that disguise the fact they're music boxes. Crystal items, holiday decorations, flowers, and many other types of items are available in the gift shop, which is open from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. Monday to Friday.

Lawhorne said the auxiliary was proud to make a variety of items available to the public but they didn't want to compete with retail stores.

"They don't want to be seen as competing," Lawhorne said. "They're not trying to hurt anyone, they try to make sure they don't carry the same brands as any of the retail stores so they won't take business away from them."