Legacy Wall Honors 21 African American Richmond Community Hospital Founders
Richmond, Va. (May 11, 2018) – Bon Secours Richmond Community Hospital has a long history of serving the African American community. Established in 1907, it has had a multitude of notable African American physicians – 21 of whom are being recognized today for their contribution to the hospital and community through a newly-created Legacy Wall of outdoor art.
Bon Secours Richmond Health System commissioned local artist Hamilton Glass, along with alumni from Art 180, to create the mixed media artistic interpretation of the photo portraits of the 21 African American physicians who, along with Sarah Garland Jones, M.D., founded what is now Bon Secours Richmond Community Hospital. The physicians illustrated in the portraits are:
- Walton Belle
- Lillie Bennett
- Elwood Boone
- Lewis Boone
- Theodore R. Coots Brown
- James Campbell
- Wesley Carter
- Harry Crawford
- Halstead Howell
- John Howlette
- Reginald Jackson
- Bernice Grant Latham
- Wiley J Latham III
- Frank Royal
- Harry Royal
- Lindley Smith
- Valvin Sutton
- William Thornton
- Joyce Whitaker
- Everett White
- Charles Sutton
Sarah Garland Jones, M.D., the first woman to pass the examination by the Virginia Board of Medicine, is credited with pioneering the early vision for Richmond Community Hospital and bringing together the group of 21 individuals who are recognized with portraits on the Legacy Wall. The outdoor art is located on the exterior of the Bon Secours Sarah Garland Jones Center located in the East End of Richmond on Nine Mile Road – a few hundred yards from Richmond Community Hospital.
Richmond Community Hospital is descended from the first African American patient care facility in Virginia. Bon Secours Virginia Health system acquired the hospital in 1995 to ensure the facility’s survival as an anchor institution in the East End, providing care for those in need.
“These founding physicians selflessly offered their commitment, resources and gifts to ensure the growth and survival of Richmond Community Hospital, and they set an excellent standard of care for their patients,” said Toni R. Ardabell, CEO of Bon Secours Virginia Health System. “This Legacy Wall is a way to recognize these physicians and to ensure they and their families know that the Richmond community, and its future generations, appreciate the sacrifices they made to serve others.”
For many of the founding physicians their legacy lives on, not only through the Legacy Wall, but through their children who are, today, physicians at Richmond Community Hospital and throughout the region.
“Bon Secours is committed to honoring the history of Richmond Community Hospital and the group of incredible physicians who founded it,” said Mark M. Gordon, CEO of Bon Secours Richmond Community Hospital. “The Legacy Wall will serve as a reminder of how these visionary leaders contributed to the African American community, and as an inspiration for future generations about how they, too, can impact their neighborhood and community”