PMH Foundation raises $310K for walking trail project
By Randy Arrington
LURAY, April 21 — While considering something to mark a historical milestone at Page Memorial Hospital, Vice President of Operations Travis Clark thought that this “something” should honor and serve the caregivers, the patients and the community that have been at the heart of PMH’s mission for more than a century.
“The trail is open to everyone,” Clark told a crowd of more than 50 that gathered just off Memorial Drive on Tuesday morning to cut the ribbon on the Centennial Trail. “This is for patients and visitors and the community…but we also wanted to do it for our caregivers as well.”
The nearly 1,000 linear feet of asphalt and concrete is meant to provide an outdoor space for both exercise and reflection, something that was greatly needed during the COVID-19 pandemic. However, this addition to the PMH campus has roots older than that. From an aesthetic point, PMH officials have wanted something along Memorial Drive to improve the appearance of the hospital campus as patients and others drive into it. With the addition of landscaping, planting trees, and a fountain in the small pond in the center of the loop, it has done just that.
“It was an idea that Travis had when the hospital was built 12 years ago,” said Bill Dudley, a Luray Realtor who lead a community campaign of more than $1 million to help fund furnishings and equipment for the new PMH in 2014. Valley Health invested more than $35 million in Luray’s new hospital.
“This, of course, as Travis mentioned, is for the caregivers, to give them a space…and to welcome our beautiful community,” said Dudley, chairman of the PMH Foundation. “Thank you to the nearly 100 people involved…to create this beautiful trail.”
Memorial bricks may be purchased at key points along the Centennial Tail for $250 each.
To order your brick today, visit valleyhealthlink.com/giving
The PMH Foundation raised $310,000 for the $300,000 project. When the group hit $250,000 in fundraising, they held a ground-breaking ceremony seven months ago in September of 2025. Many of the same board members were present to cut the ribbon on the new trail on April 21.
On April 16, 1924, a group of about 75 women held a joint meeting between the Beahm Memorial Hospital Organization and the Massanutten Ladies Aid Society in the old theater in Luray. That meeting lead to the development of a charter, and the subsequent opening of an eight-bed facility known as Page Memorial Hospital four years later in 1928.
James Ambrose Beahm, who lived in the Kimball area, passed away in 1923 and left $3,500 to the effort of promoting and developing a hospital. That initial seed money (about $65,000 in today’s dollars) would eventually lead to creating a healthcare facility who saw its first surgical unit open in 1939 and grow to become a 45-bed hospital on Memorial Drive in Luray by 1958.
Since then, ultrasound equipment was purchased for radiology services in 1986, pulmonary and cardiopulmonary rehabilitation was added in the early ’90s, and the Page Rural Health Clinic opened on the PMH campus in 1995. Since the turn of the millennium, Page Memorial has made the following advances:
- 2005 — Receives federal designation as a Critical Access Hospital.
- 2008 — Affiliates with Valley Health in Winchester.
- 2011 — New medical building adjacent to hospital opens.
- 2012 — Page-Shenandoah Health Center opens in Shenandoah.
- 2014 — $35-million, 25-bed facility opens to replace former PMH building.
- 2017 — Outpatient Rehabilitation facility opens in portion of former hospital.
“From humble beginnings in a house on South Court Street in Luray, to a beacon of light and hope on Memorial Drive, Page Memorial Hospital has long stood as a sanctuary of healing,” reads the sign at the head of the Centennial Trail at PMH.
“Through decades of progress and transformation, our caregivers have upheld a tradition of excellence and compassion. Past, present and future, their enduring spirit accompanies each step along this trail,” the sign continues. “Made possible through generous donations from our community and the Valley Health Foundations, this trail provides a welcome respite for hospital employees, patients and the public to recharge and enjoy the outdoors.”
“Thank you to all those who believe in honoring those who serve.”
Clark first announced the Centennial Trail project publicly during a “Business After Hours” event PMH hosted almost two years ago to the day.
“There have been tremendous investments in this community over the last 15 years,” Clark said during the Luray-Page County Chamber of Commerce event.
In addition to the list above, Valley Health has also recently purchased a mobile MRI unit, according to Clark, and five Valley Health hospitals were recognized as 2024 Top 100 Hospitals by The Chartis Center for Rural Health. To be included in the Top 100, puts these facilities — including Page Memorial — among the top 7 percent in the country.
“This hospital is a community treasure,” Clark told the group gathered on Tuesday. “We’ve been here through a depression, several wars…and COVID…If this community continues to support this hospital, maybe it will be here in another 100 years.”
For more information about Page Memorial Hospital, CLICK HERE.
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