Longtime spokeswoman for Morton hospital retires after 20 years

May 15-With dozens of coworkers, her sister Beckey Henry and other friends - including "Boney" the skeleton - there to commemorate her retirement, Arbor Health Marketing and Communications Manager Diane Markham walked out of the Morton hospital no longer having to return for work on Thursday, May 14, after a 20-year career.

"Boney and I are long-time coworkers. I bought him at a garage sale to go to like health fairs and things," Markham said. "You never know when you're going to need a skeleton, and he was great. He was in my office and he was my coat rack. I'd put holiday hats on him sometimes. I always said, 'he was my coworker' - he did no work. You couldn't count on him for anything, but he looked good."

Prior to starting at the hospital in 2006, she was a reporter and editor for The East County Journal in Morton going back to 1992, as she has always had a love of research. A Centralia College graduate, she also studied marketing management at Western Governors University.

Now that she has a lot more free time on her hands as she's no longer Arbor Health's spokesperson, she plans to scratch her research itch by getting into genealogy.

"I like the intellectual hunt. A lot of the guys around here, they'll take their rifle out or their bow, put grease on their face. I do the same thing, except minus the grease and the weapon," Markham said.

"I don't know, I can see it," one attendee replied.

Either way, she's looking to unearthing the roots of her own family tree along with helping complete family trees for others. Aside from talking about retirement plans, Markham recalled some of her favorite memories from her 20 years at the hospital.

"I just want to say something: She's always talked a lot," Henry joked to party attendees.

"I always have," Markham added.

One of her favorite memories was the formation of the "bedpan brigade," made up of herself and fellow Arbor Health staff to march in the Morton Loggers Jubilee parade.

It was formed to pay homage to Fuller's Market Place's old "shopping cart drill team," which came out to march in the parade when Markham was a child.

"It was a hoot. It was so funny. So I wanted to do something like that," Markham said. "So I talked to other people, including Tina, and we had the bedpan brigade. We all had pink bedpans with ribbons on them, and we did it for several years."

Bells were also adhered the bedpans and they were played like tambourines, with Markham and her fellow brigade members dancing in the Loggers Jubilee parade to songs like "Louie Louie" by The Kingsmen and "Old Time Rock & Roll" by Bob Seger and The Silver Bullet Band.

Another of her favorite memories was when she saw a child come in for a checkup after previously being rushed in an emergency to the hospital at only 18 months old.

"It was really, really moving. I wasn't, obviously, part of the medical team, but the whole medical team cared for her. She was 18 months when the accident happened, and she was 5 when she came back," Markham recalled. "That was amazing to see. Every one of them, including Dr. (Jeff) Ford, they were all cheerful and they all said the same thing - 'you're so beautiful' - and she was, just so beautiful."

Markham told attendees the staff felt like a second family to her, as being in a small hospital in a rural area, some of Arbor Health's other employees are actually related.

Being the spokesperson for the hospital as it has grown over the past two decades, she added she was proud of having helped transform it from a "sleepy little place," where one could spend a lot of time in the waiting room without seeing anyone come down the hallways, to one that can better meet the needs of Morton and the surrounding communities.

Markham also helped oversee the hospital's rebranding in 2019 from the Morton General Hospital to Arbor Health.

Arbor was chosen as a tribute to the logging industry throughout East Lewis County, but "one of the hardest things was choosing the colors."

Another attendee who was on the transition committee added that, by far, the longest meeting they had was about the colors.

"We wanted to stand out ... Everybody was blue and green. We had all the logos of the hospitals in Washington state, and you could see it was just a sea of blue and green," Markham said.

Ultimately, a burgundy-red was chosen, paired with a golden hue - reflecting the area's fall foliage when the leaves change color.

Arbor Health is located 521 Adams Ave. in Morton. For more information, visit its website at https://www.myarborhealth.org/ or follow the hospital on Facebook at https://www.facebook.com/MyArborHealth.org/.

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