Volunteer Army of ‘Purple Angels’ Ready to Help New Hospital Here, Just as They Have for 70 Years

When you think of a hospital, the first few things that come to mind are sickness, patients, doctors, nurses, and sometimes bad news, but often overlooked are the angels.

And those angels in Fayette County have been around for nearly seven decades and plan to continue shining their light on the new Progressive Health of Fayette hospital.

They are called Purple Angels.

“Our plan is to fully integrate the Purple Angels into the daily life of Progressive Health of Fayette. They will support patients and families by offering companionship, helping with wayfinding, assisting during admissions or discharges, and simply being available to listen and comfort,” said Dani Dominguez, representative of Progressive Health.

We also see them as a support system for our staff, helping create a calmer, more welcoming atmosphere throughout the hospital. As the program grows, we plan to expand training, schedules, and roles so the Purple Angels become a consistent and recognizable part of our care team.”

They are even involved in many of the decision-making discussions, helping ensure the hospital feels more personal, welcoming, and reflective of the community it serves.

However, the involvement process isn’t anything new for the Purple Angels. On April 15, 1957, the Fayette Memorial Hospital Auxiliary was started with 58 charter members. Its purpose was to promote the welfare of the hospital and to interpret its ideals to the community.

The following year, the Auxiliary voted to participate in fundraising for a new hospital building. Past fundraising events have ranged from dinners, bake sales, jewelry shows, book fairs, and golf tournaments. Ideas that today’s Purple Angels are excited to start up again.

Also, the beginning of the Purple Angels in Fayette County wasn’t actually so purple. At the very first auxiliary meeting, cherry red pinafores were chosen, and then the color pink was chosen, a color Mary Kahanek, now vice president of the Progressive Health of Fayette Auxiliary, first remembers wearing when she first started volunteering at Fayette Memorial Hospital.

“Along with wearing the pink uniforms, I remember the waiting room being teeny tiny, and sometimes we even had to put patients in the Xray rooms because we didn’t have anywhere else to put them. And as volunteers, we just rolled with the flow, and we said, ‘We’re here, what can we do,’” said Kahanek, who also remembers the nerves of moving to St. Mark’s.

“When we first heard about the move, we were scared because we didn’t know if they would still use us or not, but of course, they did, like they are now, and we just jumped back in.”

On July 11, 2005, the auxiliary moved into St. Mark’s Medical Center. After adopting new purple uniforms, they were renamed the Purple Angels following a contest to choose a new name, and “Purple Angels” was the winning entry.

Along with new uniforms and a bigger hospital came bigger responsibilities.

“We were and will continue to be hands-on,” said Karen Forest, the secretary and historian of the Progressive Health of Fayette Auxiliary, who began volunteering at St. Mark’s in 2006.

“I began in the ER, where we would clean and sanitize everything, make sure the family and friends in the waiting area were comfortable, and by offering them drinks and snacks while letting them know how their loved one was doing,” said Forest. “After the ER, I worked in the recovery area, where we would move the beds in and out for surgery, strip and disinfect the beds, add new linens, and make room for the next patient.”

Forest’s interest in volunteering grew after she saw things firsthand. “I felt like it was paying it forward from when my husband was sick. He had been in the hospital quite a few times, and I thought, after seeing how friends and family are in the waiting room a long time and seeing all that they go through step by step, it was my time to give back,” said Forest.

St. Mark’s may have closed in 2023, but the activities and giving back to the community never stopped, and they only plan to do even more now. “We manned a booth at the Halloween on the Square with some of the Progressive Health folks, collected food for the Thanksgiving community food drive, and treated our fabulous EMS staff to some sweet treats. We also donated toys and blankets to the EMS staff to help ease the stress of some of the patients they were treating,” said the president of the Progressive Health of Fayette Auxiliary, Nancy Muil, who began volunteering in 2021 at St. Mark’s, along with her husband, Robb, after moving to La Grange in 2020.

“We have both made some great friends with both our fellow volunteers and with the staff whom we had the pleasure of assisting. And now we are excited to join in this new stage of our hospital.”

And as for the new hospital, Muil reassures the importance Progressive Health has for rural health care, “These folks are so excited about being part of our community! They feel that rural health care is just as important as metropolitan health care,” said Muil.

They are very personable and very transparent about their goals. They realize the separation pains we all suffered when St. Mark’s went under and want to help us recover from that loss. We need a hospital, and they are very willing and able to provide us with one. We are very fortunate that they have stepped in to fill our medical void.”

What started as a simple act of service continues to be a legacy of compassion. Because sometimes angels are simply ordinary people who show up exactly when we need them most, with helping hands and hearts willing to serve.

If you feel the need to serve, have a caring heart, and would like to become a Purple Angel, now is the perfect time to start. Call Mary Kahanek at (979) 249-7151 or Karen Forest at (979) 540-7715.