“Mourners” in a central New Jersey town lined up funeral cars and hearses to say goodbye to a local hospital last week.
More than 200 citizens and city activists gathered around Muhlenberg Regional Medical Center and held a mock funeral to give the 131-year-old hospital a proper sendoff. Area residents wanted to say a special goodbye to the hospital because it served them so well for the past several decades. People were born there. People died there. People were even cured there. “This moment was somber,” said Lawrence Hamm, chairman for the People’s Organization for Progress, “because we came to bury a hospital that served so many so well.”
The mock funeral took place at the parking lot of the hospital, located at the corner of Randolph Road and Park Avenue. More than 75 cars and hearses surrounded the area. Drivers honked their horns and flashed their lights to show their appreciation for everything the hospital and its staff had done for their families throughout the years. The conclusion of the ceremony occurred when one of the hearses, a long white one, lead the line of cars to the nearby JFK Medical Center in Edison and then to the Plainfield City Hall.