The newly remodeled Spiritual Care Center at the Northeast Georgia Medical Center Gainesville campus has been named for donors Verdis C. and Mary Puckett following a signature gift.
The V.C. and Mary Puckett Center for Spiritual Care recently reopened after being refurbished to meet the needs of the Spiritual Care program. Renovations included an enhanced lobby, larger reception and conference space and lockers and bathrooms for round-the-clock chaplains. The department was also renamed Spiritual Care rather than Pastoral Care in order to better serve people of varying religious backgrounds.
“This is really for all of the people we come in contact with as a Spiritual Care department,” said Chris Jennings, director of Spiritual Care at NGMC. “We want to serve them in the best way possible, and this renovated space will help us achieve that.”
A signature gift donation for the project was made by Mary Puckett on behalf of herself and her late husband Verdis C. The two were married for sixty years and owned Gainesville Iron Works from 1961 to 1995 along with Power Cranes, Inc. Through the new Spiritual Care Center, Puckett hopes to carry on her husband’s legacy of faith, service and love.
“Verdis always cared so much about the people around him—friends and family, church members, customers and especially his employees,” Puckett said in a statement Thursday. “I wanted to make sure that together, even after he passed, we could do something to help care for those around us. Having the Puckett Center for Spiritual Care carry our family name is a great honor, and I know Verdis would be proud.”
