Goodbye Cottonwood

October 28th and 29th

Whew! That was grueling! The last baby born at Cottonwood was supposed to be born at the new Intermountain Medical Center. They came up from the south and hit Cottonwood just barely- couldn't make it another 5 minutes to the new place. We were still there, though, just waiting to transport the last (so we thought) moms and babies from the morning. Most equipment and supplies had been moved as we didn't think we would need them. There were so many signs up- but the poor little couple showed up at our door, ready to deliver. So we scrambled to find the supplies we needed, got the doctor there (who was at the other hospital) and transferred mom and new baby later, as one of the last patients to leave. Then I closed down the Women's Center, turned off the lights and shed a few tears.

I spent 30 years working at Cottonwood Hospital. I loved helping deliver babies, and made some wonderful friends. Some of them will be with me at LDS Hospital as we turn it into a community hospital much like Cottonwood was, and some will be at Intermountain. It was like a lingering death in many ways, since we knew it was coming for 2 years. Our team was splitting up, not by our choice. The friends you were in the trenches with- how I'll miss them!

We had a party on the night before the move. We just decided to do it 2 days before. Someone wrote on the dry-erase board to come and share memories and cry together. Word of mouth spread the word and nearly all of the staff came,. They presented our manager with a quilt they had made for her and we all had signed. I got a beautiful Willowtree figurine of 2 friends with their arms around each other and a letter expressing their appreciation and love. We took a lot of pictures, ate a lot, and wrote messages all over our break-room walls. It was very cathartic; we'd been told 2 years before that all the Cottonwood staff would go to the new hospital, and then they split us up instead. A lovely final act of rebellion!

Goodbye Cottonwood, I'll never forget you!

Happy Birthday Maddie!

We loved seeing you for your party, cute little one year old!!
You had a great time with cake and presents (lots of new toys!)

You are a sweet little girl, and Grammy and Grandpa love you very much.