SYLACAUGA — For almost 21 years, Montine Webb has worked thousands of hours as a volunteer and member of the Coosa Valley Auxiliary. Twenty-one thousand hours to be exact.And for her tireless effort and dedication, Webb was one of six nominated as a regional candidate for the Alabama Hospital Association "Health Care Hero."
The nominees from the Birmingham Regional Association were honored recently at a banquet in Birmingham and will move on to participate in a statewide "Health Care Hero" contest in May, during which one nominee of each of the seven regions will be chosen as Alabama’s Health Care Heroes.
"It was such an honor to even be nominated," she said, "even without the chance of winning an award."
At nearly 80 years old, Webb volunteers four days a week overseeing the hospital gift shop — from purchasing, stocking, keeping up with finances, you name it, she does it.
But it’s why she does it that hospital officials wrote letters to the association in support of Webb.
"She represents the commitment to this facility," said CVMC vice president Vanessa Green. "She’ll have worked a full 21 years in August and will have given 21,000 hours of her time here because she wanted to, and you have to want to other than for a thank you. What she and these volunteers contribute is priceless. The auxiliary is the heartbeat of this facility."
Other auxiliary duties include transporting patients in and out of the medical center, running the information desk and lobby, and "basically anything we’re called on to do we do it," she said.
Webb has returned day in and day out as a volunteer for so long she has now clocked the most number of hours volunteered than anyone in the auxiliary’s history. She said she has worked most of her life and still enjoys getting out every day, but has a special connection to CVMC.
"My children were born in this hospital; it’s the only hospital I have been a patient in — except for a hospital in Tennessee where I was born, it’s the only one I’ve been in and I love the association of people I work with here. They’re great and they contribute to my ability to keep going."
Over the years, Webb has served as treasurer of the auxiliary board, and for 12 years has been on the state auxiliary board, of which she has served as state chairwoman and state vice chairwoman. She has also served as commander of the state Disabled American Veterans Auxiliary.
Webb is an active member of First Baptist Church in Sylacauga, where she and her husband, Raymond, have attended for more than 50 years. They have three children, five grandchildren and three great-grandchildren.
