CentraState Celebrates 50-Year History With 3-D Timeline

Over 50 years ago, a group of local residents in the greater Freehold area came together to solve a community problem: the absence of a hospital in the region. The nearest medical center was 30 minutes away.

“The general thought at the time was that we must have a hospital in the area,” said Theodore Narozanick, a former member of the Monmouth County Board of Chosen Freeholders and a former mayor of Englishtown who was part of that group of  concerned citizens. By 1971, the Freehold Area Hospital, now CentraState, opened to the community.

On Wednesday, May 4, CentraState honored the achievements of those who helped found the hospital, as well as the thousands of volunteers, employees, and CentraState Associated Auxiliaries members with the unveiling of an 84-foot, three-dimensional history timeline. The exhibit, located in the walkway that connects CentraState Medical Center to the Star and Barry Tobias Ambulatory Campus, is divided up into decades, commemorating the hospital’s growth and achievements during those time periods. Memorabilia, video and photos are included in the multimedia display.

Many charter members of the Greater Freehold Area Hospital and its Community Auxiliaries were on hand for the timeline’s debut, including Narozanick, John Dawes, Marilyn Jacobs and Madeline Jacobus. CentraState Associated Auxiliaries President Valerie MacPhee, who is Jacobus’ daughter, remembered attending the groundbreaking for the hospital in 1969.

“When the hospital began, it was very family-oriented. With so many improvements over the years, the hospital has still kept that focus,” Mac Phee said. “It’s exciting to see all the changes that have happened. We’re proud to be a part of what CentraState stands for.”

The CentraState Healthcare Foundation first began discussions of a visual timeline of the hospital’s history in Jan. 2009, according to Lynn Cannon, executive assistant of the organization.

“We wanted to recognize the people who put forth the effort back in the 1960s,” Cannon said. “This was something started by a community for a community.”

The foundation formed a History Timeline Committee comprised of Cannon, Daws, Jocobs, MacPhee, Mary T. Evans, Cynthia Kasten, Arthur R. Kondrup, David B. Metz, Robin Siegel, and Susan H. Sweetman.

Kasten, CentraState’s lab manager and blood bank supervisor, collected memorabilia and artifacts donated from residents around the county. Among the items featured in the display are the original deed and mortgage from the late 1890s for the Donovan family farm on which CentraState was built, a trophy and sash on loan from the queen of the 1977 charity ball and a candy striper cap from 1974.

The History Timeline Committee worked with Monmouth County Historical Association Director Lee Ellen Griffith on the best way to develop the display. Griffith put the group in touch with Impact Unlimited, a Dayton, NJ-based firm that constructed the multimedia timeline under the direction of the CentraState Healthcare Foundation. Items in the case will be able to be switched out as different artifacts are obtained.

CentraState will continue commemorating its 40-year anniversary as a hospital and its 50-year history in the area with its 50th Annual Celebration Ball on Saturday, October 22 from 6:30 p.m. to midnight at the Hyatt Regency in New Brunswick. The foundation has also revived its Ball Queen Contest for the occasion. This tradition, which dates back to the first fundraising efforts to build the hospital, was last celebrated 30 years ago. Girls ages 16 to 23 can participate in a fashion show on Tuesday, June 14 at 6:30 p.m. at the South Gate Manor to see if they are the 2011 Ball Queen. For more information on the contest, call 732-294-7029.