When County Executive Calvin Ball learned about a Holiday Tribute Tree honoring veterans and first responders at the FirstCall Medical Center urgent care in Ellicott City, he immediately thought of his father.

Ball is named after his father, Calvin Ball II, a Vietnam-era Air Force veteran, who was named after his grandfather, a World War II-era veteran. Honoring his dad, who died in 2021, on the tree helps his family with the healing process while reminding veterans of the community’s support, Ball said. His father was his hero and his first best friend.

“And my father was such a role model, role model of leadership, of service, of being thoughtful and understanding. And so, he was my first role model and my first hero, and the first person who I wanted to be like,” Ball said. “And to this day, I still ask myself if I am doing something the way that he would and try to do better.”

Ball’s father’s photo rests among others on a tree dressed with lights, ornaments and red, white and blue ribbons. Visitors to the urgent care facility will be greeted by the tree in the lobby through the holiday season.

“I think we just wanted to do kind of a visual, tangible way to recognize the veterans to others rather than just thanking them for their service and to allow them to be recognized publicly,” said Deb Poquette, director of community outreach for FirstCall Medical Center and Centennial Medical Group. “And just being around the holidays, it seems fitting to do kind of a public display of our appreciation and gratitude for what they’ve done for all of us.”

When veterans come into the medical center, they often chat with each other and bond over their shared experiences. They get overwhelmed when staff greet them and thank them for their service, Poquette said, as they appreciate the recognition.

There are several FirstCall Medical Center urgent care locations in Howard County, which provide medical services to veterans with their Department of Veterans Affairs benefit card. Veterans can walk into any facility and receive care with no co-pay, co-insurance or deductible fees instead of traveling to a VA medical center, said Connor Ferguson, CEO of FirstCall Medical Center and Centennial Medical Group.

For veterans in Howard County, the closest VA medical facility is in Baltimore. With FirstCall’s service, Ferguson said the company has been seeing hundreds of veterans a month and he hopes the number will increase to thousands. When the VA reached out to the company asking if it could provide medical services due to the agency’s hefty backlog, “the answer was yes” as it was a “no brainer” to help the veteran community, Ferguson said. FirstCall was approved by the VA to provide services in September. Serving veterans also helps the company’s missions to improve access to health care, lower costs and ensure everyone has a health care provider and health plan they deserve, Ferguson said.

“It’s very rewarding to get up on a daily basis and come to work at a place where you know that you can positively impact people’s lives and improve their quality of life,” Ferguson said. “And so just the ability to provide a sense of pride and a sense of community with our veterans here locally is something that swelled the practice with pride.”

The values and goals of the company are what draw Kristina Dillon to continue working as the site operations manager at the Columbia Crossing location, she said, despite her long commute from Calvert County. Dillon submitted a photo of her mother, an EMT-B who died in the line of duty, to be included on the tree.

“It means a lot just always to be able to honor her, just honor her legacy and what she did, not just for me and her children, but for our community,” Dillon said. “And it was very devastating when she passed. So, anything that I can do to keep that memory and stuff alive definitely means a lot to me.”

The plan is for the tribute tree to become a yearly tradition, Poquette and Ferguson said. Between the holidays, the photos from the tree will be hung on the second floor of the Ellicott City facility on a Wall of Honor, according to Poquette.

Community members can send photos to CMG@CentennialMedical.com with the person’s name, the military branch they served in and their title to be included on the tree.

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