The weather may belie the change of seasons, but Spring Cleaning was underway at the Nell J. Redfield Memorial Hospital and Clinic last week.  In addition to beautifying the exterior of the hospital grounds, an appreciation lunch was also held for hospital and clinic employees.

“This has been a traditional since before I was here,” NJRMH CEO John Williams said.  “It’s gotten to where people look forward to this every year.  I don’t think they’d even let us hire someone to do it!” Williams laughed.

Spring is a time when everyone wants to be outside more, and in order to make the grounds as enjoyable as possible the staff, crew, and volunteers spent the morning raking, sweeping, trimming, cleaning, and moving bark to bring the facility into a state of aesthetic readiness for the extended outdoor hours.

“A lot of our longterm care residents love being outside in the courtyard,” Kathy Hubbard noted, as weeds were dug up, cement was cleared off, and the patio area was prepped.  As a bonus, “Kevin from IT” started cooking up the hamburgers that everyone waiting for the food to finish kept talking about.  “Is Kevin cooking yet?” was the refrain, and eventually, he was!

A full lunch spread was set up in the basement, and employees had some time to chat and catch up.  T-Shirts celebrating the 100th year of the hospital were given out, and they will be worn for the public celebration event on May 30th from 1:00 pm to 4:00 pm at the hospital, where the facility’s century of care and professionalism will be celebrated in the form of an ice cream social and words to mark the occasion.