NEWS RELEASE – April 13, 2026
Beckley and Summers County ARH Hospitals to host flag raising ceremonies in honor of National Donate Life Month
BECKLEY, W.VA. – Beckley and Summers County ARH Hospitals will celebrate National Donate Life Month April 14, with flag raising ceremonies at each location.
The ceremony at Summers County ARH will take place at 11 a.m., followed by a similar event at Beckley ARH at 2 p.m.
In Summers County, the event will include an invocation from ARH Hospital Chaplain Dr. Stanley Day, a welcome from hospital CEO/CNO Angela Rivera and remarks from CORE Professional Services Liaison Tara Woods.
Beckley resident Deb Evans, who underwent a cornea transplant, will serve as the featured speaker.
The afternoon ceremony at Beckley ARH will follow a similar format with an invocation from ARH Chaplain Jason Hubbard, a welcome from hospital CEO Todd Howell and remarks from Woods.
ARH employee Tammy Hairston, a kidney recipient, will share her story.
Both ceremonies will take place in the hospital lobbies before moving outside for a flag raising.
ARH Regional Community Health and Impact Manager Kelly Elkins invites the community to the events, which she said serve as annual opportunities to honor and thank organ donors, to allow recipients to share their stories, and to encourage others to consider becoming organ donors themselves.
“We shine a light on the importance of organ donation each April with National Donate Life Month,” she said. “But when the calendar turns over to a new month, the need is still there. Stories like those from Deb and Tammy are inspiring and uplifting. They show what can happen – how someone’s life can change and be saved – through organ donation. Still, thousands more just like Deb and Tammy, who remain on that donation list, still waiting for their own miracles.
“We hope that these events that allow us to celebrate recipients and recognize donors, will also encourage and inspire others to consider donating.”
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According to statistics provided CORE, more than 100,000 people in the United States are awaiting an organ transplant and another 250,000 people are in need of tissue and cornea transplants.
Of those waiting, approximately 500 are from West Virginia.
For information on becoming an organ donor, visit www.core.org/register.
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About Appalachian Regional Healthcare (ARH)
Appalachian Regional Healthcare (ARH) traces its roots back to 1955, when the United Mine Workers of America opened the Miners Memorial Hospital system – a network of 10 hospitals dedicated to providing care throughout the coalfields of eastern Kentucky and southern West Virginia. Seventy years later, ARH has grown into a 14-hospital not-for-profit health system that serves more than 500,000 residents of central Appalachia each year. ARH hospitals in Barbourville, Harlan, Hazard, Hyden, Martin, McDowell, Middlesboro, Paintsville, Prestonsburg, West Liberty, Whitesburg, and South Williamson in Kentucky, and Beckley and Hinton in West Virginia, ensure that residents, tucked away in even the most remote areas, can access the highest quality of care without traveling hours from home. ARH’s hospitals, clinics, multi-specialty physician practices, home health agencies, home medical equipment stores, retail pharmacies, and medical spas boast more than 6,700 employees with a network of more than 1,300 providers, making it the single largest employer in southeastern Kentucky and the third-largest private employer in southern West Virginia.