Making Rounds
After spending a week as a teen shadowing an occupational therapist, Spencer Cummings knew he wanted to work in the hospital industry and “help people get back to themselves.”
So after graduating from Clarksdale High School in his native Clarksdale, Mississippi, where he played on both sides of the gridiron at wide receiver and safety, he enrolled at Tougaloo College with plans of majoring in biology. However, he left Tougaloo after being accepted into the School of Health Related Professions at the University of Mississippi Medical Center, from which he earned a Bachelor of Science in medical technology.
Fortunately for Cummings – and for Cape Fear Valley Health – one day he participated in a job fair sponsored by the School of Health Related Professions. There, Cummings interviewed with Cape Fear Valley Health representatives, ultimately landing a position as a laboratory generalist.
Today, 32 years later, Cummings is president of Cape Fear Valley Bladen County Hospital.
“It’s not like I aspired to become a hospital president,” said Cummings, a self-described positive person who tries to put his best foot forward at all times. “Throughout my career, I’ve sought opportunities to grow and serve versus positions or titles. What I like most about being president is being able to serve the community.”
Cummings has held various positions throughout his long tenure with Cape Fear Valley, including Laboratory Information Systems Coordinator, Director of Project Management and Vice President of Surgical Services. Nearly two years ago, he became President of Bladen County Hospital in Elizabethtown, a job he loves, in part, because it’s community facing.
Cummings has a great outlook on life, so it’s no surprise he enjoys having a direct impact on the community. “I’m a people person,” he said. “I like talking with people. My mission here on earth, I believe, is to be of service. I see being in healthcare as an opportunity to help people long-term.”
As a critical access hospital, Bladen County Hospital is limited to 25 beds. It has an emergency department covered by emergency-certified physicians and takes swing patients who recover before transitioning home. The hospital also has two doctors in its inpatient unit and offers overnight telemedicine service from 7 p.m. to 7 a.m.
Cummings knows far too well the importance of having access to medical facilities with adequate services and competent employees. He suffered a detached retina and torn sclera while playing high school football, ending his organized sports career, and still remembers the care with which he was treated during that traumatic period. He wants to ensure patients at Bladen County Hospital are cared for much in the same manner.
There have been accomplishments under Cummings’ tenure as president; however, one of the things of which he’s most proud about the hospital took root before he assumed the top post: It became a critical access facility.
Additionally, the hospital used to offer MRI service through a mobile unit that came two days a week, but in March, Bladen County began offering outpatient MRI service, nearly doubling patient volume in the first week.
“We did something right that the community had a need for,” Cummings said. “People were having to travel for miles just to get an MRI. Those are the things that make you keep coming back, keep grinding. At the end of the day, it’s about the community, not about the hospital.”
