Many Medina Memorial employees have long-time family connections to hospital

Scott Robinson proud of great-great-grandfather’s role in helping start hospital a century ago

Photo by Ginny Kropf: Scott Robinson, director of Marketing, Communication and Outreach at Medina Memorial Hospital, poses next to the poster of his great-great-grandfather and hospital founder George Bowen in the hospital lobby. Robinson is one of many employees throughout the hospital’s 100 years who have had ancestors who worked there.

MEDINA – Through its 100 years in existence, Medina Memorial Hospital has had a history of employees follow in their relative’s footsteps and come to work there.

Most appropriately, this relationship began with the hospital’s founder, George Bowen, and continues today with his great-great-grandson Scott Robinson, who is director of Marketing, Communication and Outreach at Medina Memorial Hospital.

Robinson said he should have always known about his “Grandpa Bowen’s” impact on the community, but he didn’t.

“Grandpa Bowen was often referenced, and I knew of a connection to the hospital, but not its magnitude,” Robinson said. “My first memory of Medina Memorial Hospital was actually when my grandmother Joanna Zimmerman (George Bowen’s granddaughter) retired from there in 1989.

“I’ll always remember that hot sunny August afternoon and my grandfather having to walk in to get her, because she kept offering to help with things instead of starting her retirement,” Robinson said. “To me, Medina Memorial Hospital was part of our family because my grandmother worked there and my grandfather, Joanna’s husband John “Jack” Zimmerman, previously served as its chairman.”

In 2016, family cousin Roland Howell asked Robinson’s grandmother and mother for a piece on George Bowen for an Orleans Community Health Foundation newsletter.

“I believe it was my mother telling me about the interview and our cousin Roland that George’s relationship to the hospital came to light,” Robinson said. “My grandmother worked at the hospital, having started in 1974 working nights on the patient care floor, then moving to the OR in 1976. I grew up with such pride knowing about her grandfather. I imagine this is the same pride that I developed knowing about my grandmother. It meant a lot to me that before passing away in February 2024, she resided in North Wing. As many know, the team in our skilled nursing home is incredible. I’ll always be grateful to them.”

Robinson continued to say his grandparents were always very active in the community.

“If anything, I grew up knowing about their involvement in things and that motivated me to do the same,” he said. “Certainly, when we moved home to Medina in 2016, it’s one of the reasons I had such a desire to get involved. Alix (Kozody) Gilman and I moved home and purchased her childhood home where we would get married the following year.”

Robinson and Gilman had moved to the Northern Virginia/Washington, DC area after college, where he worked in politics and then public affairs.

“We moved back home, in part, to buy her childhood farm and be involved in the community,” Robinson said. “My grandparents were always very active in the community. If anything, I grew up knowing about their involvement in things and that motivated me to do the same.”

Robinson said Gilman was one of the brains behind the idea of turning the Shirt Factory into a cocktail bar and was certainly one of the individuals who pushed him to get more involved with other activities.

“Alix always says, ‘If you think you can make a difference, you should do it,’” Robinson said. “Alix also sits on several boards and while we try not to spread ourselves thin, we both support what the other one is doing. I say this in part as a rallying cry to others to volunteer and get involved.  I still remember in 2021 when I told her one afternoon that if the marketing job at Orleans Community Health ever opened up, that I would want to go for it. I remember, because from the time I said it upstairs and walked down to the living room, I had received a text message alerting me to the opening.”

Robinson said his upbringing instilled in him the importance of getting involved, volunteering and making a difference whenever possible.

“George Bowen was a strong figure in politics, a successful businessman and active in various community organizations – he truly cared about improving the area,” Robinson said. “Once Alix and I moved back, we found ways to get involved in the community, through business and other causes. Recently, I learned that George Bowen served on the school board, a role I currently hold. As I spend more time with Orleans Community Health and walk the halls of Medina Memorial Hospital, I find myself reflecting more on his impact on the very community I cherish.

“Does knowing my great-great grandfather and grandmother had a hand in the hospital make it more important to me?” Robinson asked. “Absolutely, it does – with a little added pressure too. Especially when it comes to our area, I think a lot about making sure I’m doing right by those who came before me.”

Robinson continued to say, “George Bowen believed our community needed health care services close to home. He knew firsthand the difficulty with traveling outside the area to receive quality care. That mindset is something the team throughout Orleans Community Health feels today. Services are continuing to expand to benefit the community. Over the last couple of months, we’ve announced plans for the future Medina Healthcare Center, located within Medina Memorial Hospital. The goal of expanding needed services plays right to the original goal of my great-great grandfather, and frankly it’s exciting.”

Robinson added there are many team and family stories to share, former team members to spotlight, organizations (like the TWIGs) to remember, and many more who deserve credit for their dedication to our community hospital – many of which will be highlighted in future articles on Orleans Hub throughout Medina Memorial Hospital’s centennial year.

“I truly believe the future Medina Healthcare Center could be the most impactful thing that happens to Medina Memorial Hospital in decades if not the last 100 years,” he said. “All I can say to the community is that I hope you’ll join us and help make it a reality. This is our turn and our time. The team through Orleans Community Health is devoted to providing the best care possible to the community. I’m proud to be part of a team with such incredible individuals, many of whom are also second or third generation members of the hospital family.”