The Community Hospital an impossible dream
All rights reserved. Except for use in a review, no part of this book may be reproduced or utilized in any form or by any means without written permission from Community Foundation of Northwest Indiana, Inc. Copyright Š 2007 by Community Foundation of Northwest Indiana, Inc. c/o 905 Ridge Road Munster, IN 46321 Phone: (219) 836-0130 Fax: (219) 836-0159 Internet: www.comhs.org Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data Bomberger, Jane The Community Hospital – an Impossible Dream /Jane Bomberger
ISBN 0-9714601-3-2 362.110977299
Print management by HeuleGordon Inc. Printed in China Proceeds from this project benefit the Community Cancer Research Foundation Marking Time source/www.infoplease.com
The Community Hospital an impossible dream a history by
Jane Bomberger graphic design by
Joseph A. Gonzalez
Proceeds from this project benefit the Community Cancer Research Foundation
4
The Community Hospital
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an Impossible Dream
The Community Hospital
“Built by the Community for the Community”
This
simple sentiment – “built by the community for the community” – appears in very early documents about the hospital, and no one seems quite certain of its origin. I first came across it in the patient handbook 15 years ago and have been using it ever since to characterize Community Hospital and the organization of people who support its mission. Within this statement lies the key to the hospital’s past and the foundation for its future success. Chief among the hospital’s visionaries is Donald S. Powers. His leadership for more than 38 years has raised the level of quality healthcare in Northwest Indiana, turning a field of dreams into a vital community treasure. Also at the forefront was Edward P. Robinson who served as hospital administrator for nearly 37 years, tasked with turning visions into reality and making the impossible possible. The “community” that built Community Hospital includes many community leaders, private citizens, businesses, civic organizations, labor unions, and a tenacious group of women. Of the women who went door-to-door collecting $5 and $10 at a time; four are still volunteering at the hospital 40 years later – Elsie Lammering, Eleanor Peglow, Fran White, and Ellen Nickoloff. Within the hospital, doctors and medical professionals took a leap of faith by starting new services and bringing on board new technologies, scouring the country at times for a better solution. For sure there were many obstacles to overcome, but at every step the hospital was able to call on the ingenuity of the community of people who supported it – hence, “built by the community, for the community.” The realization of this dream is a hospital where care rivals that of a major medical facility and has been recognized nationally for providing the highest quality care. With its growth and development, Community Hospital has helped transform the community that supported it. The hospital now anchors a multi-million dollar medical corridor, provides jobs for more than 2,500 people and has become a major driver of the local economy. The hospital’s civic contributions have created a home for the arts, a place of honor for our veterans and have greatly enhanced the quality of life in Northwest Indiana. Community Hospital no longer stands alone and today is part of a larger family, Community Healthcare System, which includes St. Catherine Hospital in East Chicago and St. Mary Medical Center in Hobart. Together, they have embraced a new dream, abundant with possibilities that will further strengthen and improve the quality of healthcare throughout Northwest Indiana.
Mylinda Cane,
Regional Director, Marketing and Corporate Communications Community Healthcare System
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I
II
The Community Hospital
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Photo by Royce Photography an Impossible Dream
B I
Donald S. Powers a Biography
orn in Harrodsburg, Kentucky in 1920, Mr. Powers graduated
from Shortridge High School in Indianapolis and later received his Bachelor of Science Degree, with a major in agriculture, from Purdue University in 1947. Mr. Powers served as a Navy fighter pilot in the Western Pacific during World War II and in Korea during the Korean War. He also received Honorary Doctorates from Calumet College of St. Joseph in 1985 and from Purdue University in 1992. As a philanthropist and prominent civic leader, Mr. Powers served as a member of the Board of Trustees of Purdue University for 15 years, eight of which were as President. The Donald S. Powers Computer Education Building of Purdue University Calumet honors his role in planning and developing the instructional computing facility. He served for many years as Director of both Mercantile National Bank of Indiana and Northern Indiana Public Service Company. Among his many honors, Mr. Powers received the Northwest Indiana Quality of Life Council’s Lifetime Achievement Award for his contributions to the environment, economic development, and social equity. He also received the Lifetime Achievement Award and the Entrepreneurial Excellence Award from the Northwest Indiana Small Business Development Center for his entrepreneurial endeavors as an insurance agent and land developer and for his spirit in the development of Community Hospital. He twice was recognized as a Sagamore of the Wabash recipient – once in September 1977, from Governor Otis R. Bowen and again in December 1988, from Governor Robert D. Orr – with certificates that state: “WHEREAS, there had endeared himself to the Citizens of Indiana, one Donald S. Powers, distinguished by his Humanity in Living, his Loyalty in Friendship, his Wisdom in Council and his Inspiration in Leadership.”
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“We will probably expand into Porter County sooner or later. I think you’ll see that the system in Lake County is going to
Donald S. Powers
continue to grow. We will be the pacesetter for what is to come, I’m sure. Our main concern is bringing the finest healthcare
a Community Leader
available to the people who live in our service area.”
D
– Donald S. Powers
onald S. Powers, as President and CEO of Community Foundation of Northwest Indiana, Inc., oversees the not-for-profit organization that provides leadership and resources for the enhancement of health and the quality of life in Northwest Indiana.
Mr. Powers is one of the original Directors and President of Community Foundation, Inc., the organization that became known as Community Foundation of Northwest Indiana, Inc. in 2001. Before either foundation was formed, he served as Secretary and subsequently as President of the Community Hospital Board of Directors. Among the businesses of Community Foundation of Northwest Indiana, Inc. are three not-for-profit hospitals in Northwest Indiana – The Community Hospital in Munster, St. Catherine Hospital in East Chicago and St. Mary Medical Center in Hobart – all of which merged in the fall of 2001 to become the Community Healthcare System. At The Community Hospital’s inception, Mr. Powers – already a local real estate developer – was the managing partner of a land development trust that donated the largest corporate gift to Community Hospital’s building campaign – five acres of the needed 15-acre parcel and approximately $20,000 in cash to improve the construction site where The Community Hospital now stands. He personally paid the hospital’s insurance premiums during its lean years. “I was so involved in trying to keep it financially afloat that I didn’t worry too much about the future – the present was very demanding,” Mr. Powers would later note. The success of The Community Hospital has fueled the development of a multi-million dollar medical corridor in Northwest Indiana that contains many of the hospital’s ventures, including medical office buildings and a medically-based fitness center. Mr. Powers oversaw the reinvestment of over $300 million in The Community Hospital to add new medical technology and services that respond to the community’s need for premier health care close to home. Under the direction of Mr. Powers, the Munster Medical Research Foundation founded the Community Cancer Research Foundation, Inc., a not-for-profit organization dedicated to improving the quality of life for cancer patients in the community, with both research and resources available to residents of Northwest Indiana and beyond. The Foundation also includes the Cancer Resource Centre where cancer patients and their loved ones can receive free support and educational services. Through Mr. Powers’ leadership, the Community Healthcare System has supported numerous local charities and economic development and has funded medical scholarships for area universities. The organization helped provide a home for the visual and performing arts and constructed an 11-acre memorial park honoring the men and women who serve our country.
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V
“He’s
Speaking
of Donald S. Powers
“He’s an individual who is greatly responsible for what Greatly Responsible we have in Munster with the hospital and with hospital care. He’s a man of great vision, and he gets things done.” Edward P. Robinson,
He’s a visionary. Community Hospital Administrator, 1967-2003
“I’ve known him for so long and consider him a dear friend.
He is so far ahead in his thinking and his planning.”
Palmer C. Singleton, Jr.
40-year board member, Munster Medical Research Foundation 20-year board member, Community Foundation of Northwest Indiana, Inc.
VI
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a genius
“I’ve always been a supporter of Don Powers, and I’m very proud of what he has done for our area and what he has done for our hospital. To me he has always been a role model – for his vision and his decency and his ethical values.”
Fred Adler, M. D.
Associated with Community Hospital since 1971, two years before it opened
at what he does. He’s a visionary.
He finds the way to make things happen. I don’t think he ever envisioned that the hospital would give him such opportunity to do things. I think that was just fortuitous.”
Eugene Feingold,
Munster town attorney since 1962
“To me, first and foremost, he has just been a father more than anything else. Everybody always talks about him as a visionary and a businessman but to me he has just been a dad. He has been very supportive, and he was always there to help if needed.”
Frankie Fesko,
daughter of Donald S. Powers “I usually knew where he was coming from because we’re always in the same book on the same page. He has a listening skill
second to none, an attribute that has kept him aware of the needs of others. The result is what you see when you look
at the Community Healthcare System. He has said to me so many times over the years, ‘Al, you know I would never do anything … that would lower the level of care that our patients get.’”
Albert J. Costello, M. D.
Retired obstetrician/gynecologist, former Medical Staff president, longtime board member of Munster Medical Research Foundation and Community Foundation of Northwest Indiana, Inc.
“
When John (Mybeck) called me to take the job (as secretary), I didn’t know who Mr. Powers was. The one question Mr. Powers asked me was whether I could take shorthand – and I could! At the time, Mr. Powers was more often located at his real estate office and if he needed secretarial help, I would do that for him. The more I got to know him and found out the things he already had been involved in, I guess then I realized how important he was and how influential he was. He’s generous, sensitive, and a brilliant man.
Barbara Ruf,
”
administrative assistant since 1986 to John Mybeck, Senior Vice President and Chief Administrative Officer of Community Foundation of Northwest Indiana, Inc.
“He’s a magician. He’s an incredible entrepreneur. He knows how to work with people … and always has,
right from the beginning. When he came on board, the board members started listening to him … because he made sense and he had the clout in the community to
get things rolling. We wouldn’t have what we have now without Don Powers.”
James Holcomb,
Munster Medical Research Foundation attorney since 1964
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VII
Dedication
This book is dedicated to the not-for-profit Community Cancer Research Foundation. All proceeds from the sale of this book will benefit the foundation. Every year, someone we know will be diagnosed with cancer. Right here in Northwest Indiana, the Community Cancer Research Foundation is hard at work with two key efforts – research to advance the treatment and prevention of cancer and resources to promote the well-being of those whose lives have been touched by cancer. The Foundation’s research is exemplified through clinical trials and the support and advancement of cancer detection, diagnosis, treatment, education, and prevention. The resources are available through the Cancer Resource Centre, a support project of the Foundation that offers comfort, information, and networking for patients and loved ones facing cancer. May we all be dedicated to these efforts in the ultimate quest for a cancer cure.
Preface
This publication, tracing the hospital’s history through 2006, has been compiled from information found in warehouse cartons, office attic files, frayed scrapbook pages, board meeting minutes, photo albums, legal documents, newspaper stories, and more. Many people – past and present hospital employees, physicians, local citizens, board and auxiliary members – have been interviewed regarding the history of The Community Hospital. E-mails and letters have been sent to scores of people requesting information and recollections. While every attempt has been made to be accurate, we apologize for any errors found in this book.
Acknowledgements
Graphic Designer Joseph Gonzalez has worked tirelessly on the design of this book. As a member of the marketing team for Community Foundation of Northwest Indiana, Inc., his talent is evident. Sincere thanks are extended to Joe for his time, energy and creativity. Special thanks also belong to CFNI Development and Special Events Coordinator Sherri A. Holt for her enthusiasm and invaluable support. Mylinda Cane, Regional Director of Marketing and Corporate Communications for Community Healthcare System, has been very generous with her ideas and expertise. Special thanks also go to members of the marketing staff for their time and assistance. We also appreciate Peg Schoon’s indexing expertise and her finite attention to detail. We also extend special thanks to The Times, Post-Tribune and Calumet Press for permission to reprint photos, stories, and information from designated publications. Additionally, we want to thank the following people for their e-mails, editing, computer skills, photos, hospital tours, recollections, and/or time-honored scrapbooks – all so important to this history: Barbara Ruf Helen Archer Sarah Lasbury Janice Ryba Phil Bachman John Mybeck Suzanne Schmidt Barbara Boberek Dave Nellans Rosemary Colby Rosemary and Tom Nelson Ken and Peg Schoon Roen, David and Nancy Speroff Community Hospital Auxiliary Nancy Nye Linda Swisher Donald P. Fesko Minervá Pagan George Van Til and Frankie Fesko Steve Pestikas Susan Harmening Jim Holcomb Don and Margo Powers Linda Wright Pam Kaczmarski Jim Richards Joan Zivich Elsie Lammering Evelyn and Brad Ronco Finally, while all those who were interviewed for this book are too numerous to mention, we nevertheless thank you for graciously donating your time, knowledge and resources. Your participation is invaluable. VIII
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The Community Hospital
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IX
Table of Contents
The Community Hospital – a Chronology from 1964-2006
2
Chart of The Community Hospital
12
The Community Hospital Facts and Figures
14
The Community Hospital Medical and Dental Staff Presidents
15
1964 1965-1966 1967
The Community Hospital – an Impossible Dream
Then and Now
The Best-Laid Plans
1968 1969
17 18
19
Hiring an Administrator Meeting the Press Auxiliary Beginnings Community Networking Community Goodwill Considering a New Hospital Site Locating an Alternate Hospital Site Pursuing the Broadmoor Site
20 22 24 25 26 30 30 32 37
Talking to the Town
39
Pledges, Money and Cash Flow The Campaign Continues Hospital Opening Date Targeted
44 45 47
1970 1971 1972 1973
The First Groundbreaking
50
The Official Groundbreaking … Finally
52 54
The Finance Drive and More Donations
66
The Community Hospital Dedication The Ladies Who Led the Way – The Community Hosptial Auxiliary Red Garter Nights – All in Fun(draising) A Glimpse of Holidays Are for Sharing The Red Garter Gift Shoppe Offering Scholarships Peer Recognition The Community Hospital – Open for Business The Early Days Making Ends Meet Telecommunications – Then and Now Surgical Services – Then and Now Enter, Robotic Surgery (da Vinci Robot, 2006) Radiology Department – Then and Now Central Sterilizing and Receiving – Then and Now Laboratory Services – Then and Now St. John Clinic Opens (2001) Community Diagnostic Center Opens (2004) Respiratory Care Services – Then and Now Patient Financial Services – Then and Now
69 71 75 81 88 91 93 93 96 102 104 105 107 109 110 112 113 116 117 118 120
1974 1975 1976 1977 1978 1979 1980-1983
Blue Cross Woes Nurse Appreciation Seeking Approval Governor Otis Bowen Ed Robinson – Man of the Year
123 126 132 133 133
Still Donating
136
Final Approval
137
Adding the South Pavilion Gary Mayor Richard Hatcher and HEW South Pavilion Construction Resumes
139 143 149 150
Emergency Department – Then and Now Obstetrical Department – Then and Now Pediatrics – Then and Now
152 153 156 160
A Full-Service Hospital Hope, Liberace and Hospital Benefits Remembering the Flood The Neonatal Intensive Care Unit – Then and Now The Outpatient Pavilion - Plans The Intravenous Therapy Department – Then and Now The Needlestick Task Force
162 163 164 167 170 173 175
1984 1985 1986-1988 1989
1990 1991 1992 1993
The Outpatient Pavilion – Opens
176 177
Community Foundation Inc.
182
The Cardiovascular Unit – Then and Now The Cardiac Rehabilitation Department – Then and Now Mended Hearts Phase 3 Cardiac Rehabilitation Fitness Pointe – Then and Now “Happy Hearts”
183 187 189 191 192 195 197
Therapy Services – Then and Now Memorial Recreation and Education Foundation The Center for Visual and Performing Arts South Shore Arts The Northwest Indiana Symphony Society Stating Your Case – the Munster Medical Research Fdn. Bond Issue The Community Hospital, Munster Town Council, Drs. Alt and Brenner
198 200 201 205 206 207 207
The Nurse Fellow Program
215
Good Public Relations
216
Adding the West Pavilion Radiation Oncology – Then and Now Remembering Harold Hagberg
217 220 225
Celebrating 20 Years Expansion – Dietary/Surgical Sterilization Departments Recognized
226 227
1995 1996 1997 1998 2000 2001 2002 2003 2005 2006
Community Village Inc Hartsfield Village – Then and Now
228 229
Community Home Health – Then and Now Audiology Services – Then and Now
231 232 233
Winter Magic
235
The Women’s Diagnostic Center Celebrating 25 Years – Still a Step Ahead
236 236 238
The Community Cancer Research Foundation – Then and Now Cancer Resource Centre
240 242
The Medical Office Building – Community Surgery Center and Community Cardiology Center Wound-Ostomy Clinic Heart Failure Treatment Program Community Healthcare System – the Acquisition Information Technology
244 246 248 250 253 254
Community Veterans Memorial In Memoriam – Edward P. Robinson
255 256
A New Hospital Administrator Dr. Donald P. Fesko
258 259
Taking it to the Town … as Told in 2006 Digging into the Future...in 2007
260 262
00. Edward P. Robinson at the hospital site.
The Community Hospital & Community Foundation of Northwest Indiana, Inc. 1964
a chronology
2006
The not-for-profit Munster Medical Research Foundation, Inc. is incorporated by six Hammond Clinic physicians and clinic administrator Donald Moore to help the community obtain an urgently-needed hospital facility. The Foundation receives tax-exempt status from the Internal Revenue Service. The Foundation retains the Chicago management consultant firm of Booz Allen & Hamilton to prepare a feasibility study for the hospital. The Board of Directors expands to include lay members of the community.
William J. Bachman, of Bachman & Bertram & Associates, is retained as hospital architect. The Foundation submits a plan for approval of the hospital to the Hospital Planning Council of Metropolitan Chicago. Conditional approval was granted later in the year. The Board adopts the Booz Allen & Hamilton study, “The Master Plan for a New Hospital.� The Foundation announces its plans to the community with a sketch of the proposed $5-6 million facility. Fannie Schlesinger donates $50,000 toward the hospital project.
William J. Bachman, of Bachman & Bertram
& Associates, is retained as hospital architect.
1964 2
1965
The Community Hospital
1966
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The Lake County Medical Society approves the plan. The Foundation board agrees to call the hospital “The Community Hospital.” A $2.5 million fundraising campaign is to begin in March. Edgar L. Peglow, secretary-treasurer of Edward C. Minas Company, is appointed general chairman for the local fund drive. Joseph Burger, owner of Burger Foods, and Vic Kirsch, president of Red Top Trucking Company, are named associate general chairmen. Edward P. Robinson is appointed hospital administrator. Judge James Richards enlists support of 200 women for membership in the Community Hospital Auxiliary. The Auxiliary becomes the primary force in fundraising.
The Plan Commission turns down the Foundation’s request to re-zone the Broadmoor site.
In April, Bachman & Bertram & Associates are directed to complete construction drawings by June.
Later in the year, The Hospital Planning Council of Metropolitan Chicago approves the new location at Calumet/Fisher/Columbia.
The Internal Revenue Service announces that the Hospital Mortgage Revenue Bonds for financing most of the initial construction will be tax-free.
Fundraising efforts wane. A fund drive, with a goal of $3,000,000, begins anew.
A community-wide fundraising dinner is held at the Munster High School fieldhouse with 1,000 people in attendance.
More than $1 million in “bricks and mortar” pledges have been received but funds for actual construction are important and the Foundation’s cash flow becomes a serious problem. The project risks failure if another $500,000 isn’t raised by summer. Tri-City and Meade Electric companies remove the “bricks and mortar” restriction on their pledges.
Harold Hagberg is elected President of the Foundation. The Inland-Ryerson Foundation pledges $100,000. In December, a Munster Town Hall public hearing addresses a re-zoning proposal, from residential to commercial land, for the 14-acre hospital site at Broadmoor and Tapper avenues.
1967
Barbara Connor and Frank Kish form the 101 Club to recruit people willing to contribute $25 a month and keep the administration office open until the hospital is built.
By November, the fund drive is $200,000 short of its goal; the federal government denies Hill-Burton funds for the fourth year in a row, and the fund drive nearly collapses. “Largest Gift” Donors of the largest gift for The Community Hospital in Munster confer with attorney Palmer C. Singleton, Jr. about the $120,000 donation. {left to right} Donald S. Powers, Harold G. Rueth, Florian O’Day, Singleton and William J. Brant, Jr. Not pictured: Merle Nicewander. The Community Hospital Auxiliary, which had pledged $50,000 in 1967 and reached its goal in two years, announces another $50,000 fundraising pledge.
1968 1969
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In October, the first of two groundbreaking ceremonies is held with Foundation President Harold Hagberg at the controls of an earthmover. In the spring, bids for the hospital are gathered. Fundraising continues. Procedures are formalized for admitting doctors to the Community Hospital Medical Staff, and an administrative support staff is assembled.
The hospital’s occupancy rate and its cash flow are impacted by no contract with Blue Cross of Indiana. The bond indenture signed in 1971 prohibits the hospital from borrowing any more money.
Since the initial bond revenues can only be used for “bricks and mortar,” major technical equipment and office furniture must be leased to open the hospital.
The hospital didn’t have enough money to pay the interest on the bonds or meet its payroll.
In August, the Community Hospital’s Dedication Ceremony is held in the parking lot with an address by U. S. Senator Birch Bayh.
Calumet National Bank buys the hospital’s receivables, allowing the hospital to pay its most critical bills.
On September 10, upon receiving its license from the State of Indiana, the hospital officially opens its doors at 8:30 a.m. Not one patient shows up.
Early in 1974, an interim solution is negotiated with Blue Cross.
On September 11, the first patient is admitted under the care of Dr. Ramon Halum.
The hospital begins to be recognized for its outstanding nursing service and the quality of its surgery department. Edward P. Robinson is recognized as Man of the Year by the Munster Town Board.
The hospital
didn’t have enough money
to pay the interest on the bonds or meet its payroll
1970
4
1972
1973
The Community Hospital
1973-74
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1974
The Community Hospital The State Board of Health finally “approves” the proposal to build The Community Hospital, paving the way for Blue Cross to finally agree to make full payments for hospital charges from at least the beginning of 1976. For the most part, Community Hospital will operate without financial deficit and with occupancy rates in the 90% range.
becomes a full-service hospital The remaining 52 medical-surgical beds are brought into use and The Community Hospital has become a full-service hospital.
The hospital expands the Intensive Care/ Coronary Unit from 10 to 15 beds, improves and expands its laboratory facilities, and constructs a Neonatology Unit in the South Pavilion.
Early in the year, the Northern Indiana Health Systems Agency “accepts” the original proposal to build Community Hospital. A South Pavilion hospital expansion is planned, making Community Hospital a full-service hospital – complete with an emergency room, 32-bed obstetrical unit, and 100 medical-surgical beds.
Work is scheduled or starts on a new front entrance and lobby, a new loading dock, Dietary Department remodeling and a new space for Respiratory Therapy. The Memorial Recreation and Education Foundation is formed and purchases a site on Ridge Road for development of The Center for Visual and Performing Arts
Work begins on the hospital addition. A Lake County injunction stops all hospital construction. The Community Hospital sues in federal court to remove the injunction, and it is so ordered by Judge Philip McNagny.
In the fall, the hospital begins phasing in its new facilities. Medical-surgical beds are opened for use on the fourth floor. The emergency room opens. Obstetric services are offered, and doctors deliver 34 babies during that unit’s first seven days of operation. Another 26 beds open on the fourth floor.
1976
1977
1978 1979
1980 1980-83
1983
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Community Foundation Inc. incorporates on January 7. Community Resources Inc. incorporates in September.
Ground is broken for The Center for Visual and Performing Arts. Community Resources Inc., a for-profit subsidiary of Community Hospital, builds the Columbia Professional Center and the Fran-Lin Professional Center as medical office space adjacent to the hospital’s campus.
The Community Hospital opens two Cardiac Cath Labs, two Open Heart Surgical Suites, a six-bed Cardiovascular Unit, a three-phase Cardiac Rehabilitation program, and an 18-bed Oncology Unit. The Neonatal Unit is renovated. Construction is completed on second floor offices for Patient Accounts, General Accounting, Quality Assurance, and Utilization Review departments.
Drs. Edward Alt and Howard Brenner file a lawsuit in the fall of 1989 accusing members of the hospital board of conflicts of interest and questionable practices. The action focuses on possible financial irregularities and the board’s rejection of Dr. Brenner as staff president. Years of litigation would ensue until October 1994 when Donald S. Powers and George Watson would be cleared of any wrongdoing and a Times headline said, “Community Hospital board members maintained their innocence during six-year federal investigation.”
The Munster Town Council relinquishes its right in the original bond indenture to The Community Hospital Board of Directors in exchange for a $2 million land and cash package and seven additions to the board of Community Foundation of Northwest Indiana and several additions to the board of Munster Medical Research Foundation. The town acquired the deed in January 1989 when the bond issue for construction of the hospital was fully repaid.
1985 6
1987
1986-88
The Community Hospital
1989
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an Impossible Dream
1990
The Community Hospital is the first hospital in Northwest Indiana to perform coronary atherectomy, a non-surgical alternative to heart bypass surgery. More babies are delivered at The Community Hospital than at any other Lake County hospital – a total of 2,648.
The Community Hospital employs 1,800 employees, has more than 450 members on its medical staff and has 315 beds.
The Community Hospital maintains its four-year position as the lowest cost hospital in Lake County, Indiana.
Physical Therapy, Speech Therapy and Occupational Therapy Departments move to a 13,000-square-foot space on the ground level. A $2 million MRI unit and several $2 million CT scanners are purchased.
Construction begins on an $8 million expansion of the Dietary and Sterilizing departments.
The hospital purchases two $4 million, highdose linear accelerators to help make cancer radiation safer and more precise. The Community Hospital Oncology Center opens, becoming the first hospital in the area to offer 24-hour, seven-day-a-week chemotherapy services. The $4 million, 24-bed Intermediate Care Unit opens.
The Community Hospital has 17 surgical suites. It opened with seven. The Community Hospital is the first area medical center to perform both atherectomy and Rotablator procedures to open blocked arteries. Harold Hagberg, union and civic leader who helped develop Community Hospital, dies in August.
The Emergency Room Fast Track area implements a new triage communication system to improve service and decrease waiting time. The 19,398 square-foot dietary addition is completed seven months ahead of schedule.
1991
1992
1993
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The 24-bed Rehabilitation Center opens.
Community Hospital is voted the #1 hospital in Northwest Indiana for the second year in a row by The Times.
The Community Home Health service begins.
Community Hospital is rated one of the country’s top medical facilities for coronary angioplasty in a book by Robert Arnot, M.D., a CBS News National Medical Correspondent.
Outpatient Physical Therapy moves to larger space on Calumet Avenue north of Ridge Road. The Community Hospital and St. Margaret Mercy Healthcare Centers announce a joint partnership to build Hartsfield Village, a full-service, $36 million continuing care retirement community.
The hospital’s cancer program receives a three-year approval rating from the Commission on Cancer of the American College of Surgeons. Community Hospital invests $1.5 million to install Lithotripsy technology to destroy kidney stones through non-invasive highpowered shock waves.
An outdoor festival, “Winter Magic”, is held for the first time and hosted by The Community Hospital.
Ridgewood Arts Foundation, Inc., the successor to Memorial Recreation and Education Foundation, incorporates in December.
Advanced Breast Biopsy Instrumentation comes on board.
CVPA Holding Corporation incorporates in December.
Community Hospital acquires an open MRI unit.
Community Village Inc. incorporates in May.
The West Pavilion opens and begins phasing in the oncology, transitional care, rehabilitation and retina centers as well as offices for the Chicago Institute of Neurosurgery and Neuroresearch, and Cardiac Surgery Associates.
In December, the first “Remembrance Ceremony” is held to honor those who served in Pearl Harbor and the Pacific Theater. (Mr. D. N. “Mike” Nau, of Hammond, who served in the Navy, organized the same ceremony for many years prior to 1995 – often held at St. Margaret Hospital – and was personally responsible for its success.)
1994 8
1995
The Community Hospital
Community Hospital is voted the #1 hospital in Northwest Indiana for the second year in a row by The Times. 1996 1997
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an Impossible Dream
1997-98
The Community Hospital
has grown to a
353-bed full-service hospital with more than
2,000 employees.
The Community Hospital has grown to a 353-bed full-service hospital with more than 2,000 employees. It is voted the #1 hospital in Northwest Indiana for the sixth year in a row by The Times. The Chicago Institute of Neurosurgery and Neuroresearch (CINN) affiliates with The Community Hospital. New three-dimensional computerized navigational technology enables neurosurgeons at CINN to offer area residents complex spine and brain surgeries at The Community Hospital. The six-story West Pavilion opens. The Community Hospital is the first hospital in Northwest Indiana and south Chicago suburbs to perform endoscopic vein harvesting. The Oncology Center’s stem cell cancer treatment program affiliates with The Rush Cancer Institute.
The first floor portion of the Medical Office Building opens in October with the grand opening of the Community Surgery Center.
The Women’s Diagnostic Center opens. A groundbreaking ceremony is held for the hospital’s Medical Office Building, a new $30-million same-day surgery center and medical office complex.
Neuroscience Critical Care Unit holds an open house. The Community Hospital offers new minimally-invasive surgery for removal of parathyroid glands.
An open house is held for Community Hospital Fitness Pointe ®, an 84,000 squarefoot, $14 million medically-based fitness facility. It surpassed its one-year membership goal in the first six months of operation.
The Community Hospital is named in Top 100 U.S. Cardiovascular Hospitals.
Work begins on the hospital’s Neuro Intensive Care Unit, expanding the level of care at the hospital. Hartsfield Village’s 106-bed Care Center with a 16-bed Alzheimer’s unit nears completion. Community Hospital celebrates its 25th anniversary at The Center for Visual and Performing Arts in October. Cardiovascular surgeons at The Community Hospital perform open-heart surgery through small incisions using the Heartport-Access™ System.
The Community Hospital is named in
Top 100 U.S. Cardiovascular Hospitals. 1998
1999
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The entire Medical Office Building opens at 801 MacArthur Blvd. Community Hospital Cancer Research Foundation, Inc. incorporates in April. Community Hospital Outpatient Centre opens on U.S. Route 41 in St. John, Indiana.
“The Community Hospital is a first class medical facility that has played a major role in contributing to the quality of life in this area. It has always been known for its ‘TLC,’ as advanced to the patients by the nursing staff and others. I think people feel comfortable locating in a community where there is a healthcare facility available. With the hospital and the doctors located all around came the creation of what you might call a medical corridor, right along Calumet Avenue. I think we’ve seen an extension of that medical corridor south of 45th Street toward U.S. Route 30.”
October - The Community Foundation, Inc., parent company of The Community Hospital, announces the acquisition of two Northwest Indiana hospitals operated by Ancilla, Inc. The foundation name is changed to Community Foundation of Northwest Indiana, Inc. Under the banner Community Healthcare System, The Community Hospital, St. Catherine Hospital, and St. Mary Medical Center are integrated to offer a network of high quality medical services.
John Mybeck,
Senior Vice President and Chief Administrative Officer Community Foundation of Northwest Indiana, Inc.
Da Vinci surgical robot is purchased for $1.5 million in the spring. Community Veterans Memorial Pavilion is dedicated on June 2.
Wound-Ostomy Clinic opens.
June – Community Veterans Memorial opens in southwest Munster – a 6.5 acre park featuring bronze and granite sculptures commemorating World War I, World War II, Korea, Vietnam, and Desert Storm. June – Cancer Resource Centre opens. Community Diagnostic Center opens.
Community Cardiology Center, LLC incorporates in January.
In August, Community Healthcare System begins accepting appointments for digital mammograms with the latest technology available in approximately 8-percent of hospitals nationwide. Cardiologists Arvind Gandhi, M. D. and Prakash Makam, M. D. are recognized for performing CliRpath®, a special laser treatment for patients suffering from severe peripheral arterial disease common among diabetics. Community Hospital Cancer Research Foundation, Inc. changes its name to Community Cancer Research Foundation, Inc. Friends of the Cancer Resource Centre auxiliary is formed.
2001 2002 2003 2004 2005 10
The Community Hospital
~
an Impossible Dream
2006
1. Lake County map showing early location of hospitals.
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The Community Hospital
an Impossible Dream
11
Community Foundation of Northwest Indiana, Inc. and Related Companies Organization Chart as of December 2006
Community Foundation of Northwest Indiana, Inc.
)
(2)
an Impossible Dream
[ ]
~
Community Cardiology Center, LLC (13)
[ ]
Community Cancer Research Foundation, Inc. (12)
St. Mary CVPA Holding Medical Center, Inc. Corporation (10) (5)
[ ]
The Community Hospital
[ ]
St. Catherine Physician Hospital Organization, Inc. (7)
[ ]
12
[ ]
[ ] St. Catherine Cyberknife Group, LLC (14)
[ ]
[ ]
[ ]
[ ]
[ ] [ ]
MMRF Inc. St. Catherine Community Community Community d/b/a Village, Inc. Resources, Inc. Hospital, Inc. Surgery Center, LLC The Community Hospital (4) (9) (11) (3) (1)
St. Mary Medical Center Physician Hospital Organization Inc. (8)
Ridgewood Arts Foundation, Inc. (6)
Community Foundation of Northwest I ndiana, I nc. and Related Companies Details as of December 2006
Abbreviation
Date of Incorporation
Fiscal Year End
Tax Status
Date of Tax Exemption
MMRF or CH
December 28, 1964
June 30
501(c)(3)
July 13, 1965
CFNI
January 7, 1985
June 30
501(c)(3)
July 2, 1985
3. Community Resources, Inc.
CRI
September 2, 1985
June 30
For profit
Taxable
4. St. Catherine Hospital, Inc.
SCH or STC
April 22, 1988
June 30
501(c)(3)
August 31, 2001
CVPA
December 6, 1994
June 30
501(c)(3)
January 4, 2001
RAF
December 7, 1994
June 30
501(c)(3)
March 9, 1995
SCH PHO
March 2, 1995
December 31
For profit
Taxable
SMMC PHO
March 2, 1995
December 31
For profit
Taxable
CVI
May 19, 1995
June 30
501(c)(3)
February 5, 1996
SMMC
November 11, 1996
June 30
501(c)(3)
September 15, 1997
CSC
May 1, 1998
December 31
For profit JV
Taxable LLC
CCRF
April 9, 2001
June 30
501(c)(3)
November 21, 2001
CCC
January 10, 2005
December 31
For profit JV
Taxable LLC
SCHCG
June 10, 2005
December 31
For profit JV
Taxable LLC
Ref
Entity
1. Munster Medical Research Foundation, Inc. d/b/a/ The Community Hospital 2. Community Foundation of Northwest Indiana, Inc. (Formerly known as Community Foundation, Inc. – CFI)
5. CVPA Holding Corporation 6. Ridgewood Arts Foundation, Inc.* 7. St. Catherine Hospital Physician Organization, Inc. 8. St. Mary Medical Center Physician Hospital Organization, Inc. 9. Community Village, Inc. 10. St. Mary Medical Center, Inc. 11. Community Surgery Center, LLC 12. Community Cancer Research Foundation, Inc.** 13. Community Cardiology Center, LLC 14. St. Catherine Hospital Cyberknife Group, LLC
* Successor organization to Memorial Recreation and Education Foundation, Inc. (MREF) which existed from June 4, 1984 through December 31, 1996 ** Successor organization to Community Hospital Cancer Research Foundation, Inc.
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The Community Hospital
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About The Community Hospital
Bar graph showing the number of inpatients, outpatients, emergency visits and births over a 20-year span
16,805
1986
19,217 Inpatient Admissions
1990
20,646
1994
21,563
2002
23,251 0
5,000
10,000
15,000
20,000
2006 25,000
32,299
1986
41,624
1990
51,437
Outpatient Admissions
1994
174,486
2002
221,473 0
50,000
100,000
150,000
200,000
2006 250,000
17,937
1986
22,790
1990
34,218
Emergency Visits
1994
41,789
2002
44,071 0
10,000
20,000
30,000
40,000
2006 50,000
1,819
1980
2,589 Newborn Admissions
2,648 0
14
The Community Hospital
1986
~
1,000
an Impossible Dream
2,000
1991
4,570 3,000
4,000
1999 5,000
The Community Hospital
Medical and Dental Staff Presidents 1973 – 2006
. David M. Harvey, MD President ~ 07/01/1973 - 06/30/1974 . William Fitzpatrick, MD President ~ 07/01/1974 - 06/30/1975 07/01/1981 - 06/30/1983 . Richard P. Auburn, MD President ~ 07/01/1975 - 06/30/1977
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
. Carlos Serna, MD President ~ // - // . Jack Schwartz, MD President ~ 07/01/1979 - 6/30/1981 . Albert Costello, MD President ~ // - // . Albert Galante, MD President ~ 07/01/1985 - 06/30/1987 . Manuel R. Luna, MD President ~ 07/01/1987 - 06/30/1989 . Alonzo K. Morrissey, MD President ~ 07/01/1989 - 06/30/1991 07/01/1991 - 06/30/1993 0701/1993 - 06/30/1995 . Harvey J. Levin, MD President ~ 07/01/1995 - 06/30/1997 . M. Nabil Shabeeb, MD President ~ 07/01/1997 - 06/30/1999 07/01/1999 - 06/30/2001 . S. N. Makam, MD President ~ 07/01/2001 - 06/30/2003 . Doug J. Chung, MD President ~ 07/01/2003 - 06/30/2005 07/01/2005 - present
.
.
{it’s been
Said .
in 2006...}
“I started out as a transcriptionist. One day Dr. David Harvey, who was the first president of the staff, came in and wanted to know if somebody would write a letter for him. We all looked at each other and I said, ‘Yeah, I will.’ So he told me what he wanted, and I took it in shorthand. When they found out I could do shorthand, why I got to be secretary to the medical staff. Originally, it was about a half a day, but … then I became full time secretary to the medical staff all the way through. For many years I did it by myself, but then finally they hired two girls to help. There were 400 doctors on the staff then and no computers. When there was a staff meeting, you typed up 400 envelopes or 400 labels for envelopes on the typewriter. Of course, there were departmental meetings on Saturdays, and you had to have letters out for that. It was busy.”
Betty Liy,
Medical Staff Secretary, 1973-1990 Betty Lilly transcribed a portion of this quote as highlighted above.
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The Community Hospital
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16
The Community Hospital
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an Impossible Dream
The Community Hospital an impossible dream “When the world says, ‘Give up,’ hope whispers, ‘Try one more time’.” – Unknown
Then and Now No one knew for certain that the Munster hospital project would work. While there were those who recognized a need for a new hospital back in the 1960s, others felt the hospitals in the area were adequate. The idea, conceived by a team of doctors from the Hammond Clinic, would undergo years of planning and changes that were peppered with indecision, lack of funds and growing concern among community leaders and residents. In the end, however, the need for such a facility prevailed. The Community Hospital exists today, as its title suggests, as a facility “built by the community for the community” – delivering economic strength for over three decades for the Town of Munster and beyond. It has grown from a 122,000 square-foot structure with 104 beds to more than 933,000 square feet and 366 beds in 2006. When the hospital opened in 1973, there were 127 employees and 100 doctors. As of 2006, there were 2,841 employees and 613 doctors. Ongoing renovations include an emergency room, South and West pavilions, outpatient department, new entrance and lobby, obstetric services, oncology, diagnostic and physical therapy departments, a parking garage, a helipad, intensive care and neonatology units, and much more. From corn field to hospital, none of this happened overnight.
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The Community Hospital
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~1964~
Th e B e s t - l a i d P l a n s
O
n December 28, 1964, Munster Medical Research Foundation was incorporated under Non-Profit Corporation Laws of the State of Indiana and listed seven founding members: Howard Brenner, M.D. (Foundation President); Thomas Chael, M.D.; E. W. Stevens, M.D.; L. W. Neal, M.D.; Donald Moore; L. E. Bombar, M.D.; and Fred R. Portney, M.D. The group, comprised of Hammond Clinic physicians and Moore, who was clinic administrator, initially met at the clinic, located at 7905 Calumet Avenue in Hammond. The purpose of the meeting was to explore and initiate support for what they deemed a much-needed hospital in Munster. “We started … (as) sort of a spontaneous thing within the clinic,” Brenner said in a 1967 Hammond Times article, ‘Community Hospital: Uphill Climb.’ “Doctors were in almost constant contact. There was talk of bed shortages. There were gripes. Sometimes there was even panic. I can recall hysterical calls from one doctor to another trying to get one patient discharged from a hospital so another patient could have a bed. “Waiting lists grew longer and patience grew shorter – it became clear to several of us something had to be done,” Brenner said. “Our efforts in this area were also fostered to some extent by disclosure earlier in 1964 that the Lake County Hospital Development Corporation had been dissolved. It left the area with no moving force in hospital planning.”
Time...1964
~ U.S. Surgeon General Luther Terry affirms that cigarette smoking causes cancer.
~ President: Lyndon Baines Johnson
~ Median household income: (current dollars) , ~ The Beatles appear on the Ed Sullivan Show.
18
The Community Hospital
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1.
an Impossible Dream
~1965-1966~
In 1965, the Foundation obtained tax-exempt status from the Internal Revenue Service. In March of the same year, the Chicago management consulting firm of Booz Allen & Hamilton was retained to conduct a feasibility study and submit a preliminary proposal for both the development and operation of a new hospital to be located adjacent to The Hammond Clinic. The study, “The Master Plan for a New Hospital,” was adopted by the board in March 1966 and included results about the need for a hospital, practical alternatives for the community, philosophy and objectives of a new hospital, programs, services and facilities, and finances. The board also sought and obtained approval of Stage I submissions from the Indiana State Board of Hospital Licensure in June 1966 and a few months later retained Haney & Associates from Newtonville, Massachusetts as fundraising consultants. Before year’s end, Mrs. Fannie Schlesinger, widow of Dr. Jacob Schlesinger who was a longtime local physician, donated an unsolicited gift of $50,000 toward the building. It remains the largest single gift by a single individual ever received by the hospital. Booz Allen & Hamilton’s letter of transmittal to Foundation president Howard Brenner stated in part: “During the study, a close working relationship has been maintained with the planning and budget committee of the Board of Directors in the development of a large amount of information about the need for a proposed hospital. Interviews have been conducted with more than 50 persons, including the physicians and director of the Hammond Clinic, the administrators of three hospitals in Lake County, representatives of hospital and urban planning organizations in Indiana and Illinois, ancillary medical specialists serving the Hammond Clinic and local hospitals, and the attorney ( James Holcomb) and the architect (William J. Bachman, F.A.I.A.) for Munster Medical Research Foundation … In our opinion, a new hospital is needed in the HammondMunster area … You and your colleagues in the Hammond Clinic are to be commended for providing the professional stimulus for the improvement of health facilities in your community … Your next step, after the Board of Directors approves the master plan, is to obtain area-wide planning approval for the proposed hospital.”
1. (Opposite) In 1964, Munster Medical Research Foundation had seven founding members. As interest and ideas for The Community Hospital grew, so too did the number and names of board members. Some samples of letterhead stationery reflect those changes.
Time...1966
~ Insulin is first synthesized in China. ~ Medicare begins July , .
~ September of My Years by Frank Sinatra was Album of the Year
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As planning continued, the number of board members was expanded to include Julian Colby, president of WJOB Radio; T. H. Harvey, General Manager–Central Division, Simmons Company; Russell Erickson, manager of Carson, Pirie, Scott & Co.; Harold P. Hagberg, president of the Northwestern Building and Construction Trades Council; V. E. Schlossberg, director of Facility Planning for Inland Steel Corporation; James J. Richards, Judge, Lake County Superior Court; Martin Kraegel, Works Manager for American Steel Foundries; Vera Carroll, community activist; Josephine Row, community activist; and David Taylor, Executive Vice-President of Taylor Chain Company.
~1967~
The minutes of the January 11, 1967, Munster Medical Research Foundation meeting declared that “the name of the hospital to be built by this corporation will be ‘The Community Hospital’” … and “the general specifications for The Community Hospital prepared by Bachman & Bertram & Associates are accepted by the board of directors.” 2. Artist unknown; digital image provided by The Bachman Partnership, PC, Architects and Engineers. This rendering, a result of the program and design developed by William J. Bachman, F.A.I.A., shows an early proposal (circa 1965) of what was to become The Community Hospital. It represents a 190-bed, $6,000,000 facility. The road (represented faintly) in the background is Calumet Avenue. The view is looking northwest. Because the area of the site was so limited, a second site was later considered along Broadmoor Avenue in Munster.
Time...1967
~ Dr. Christian N. Barnard and a team of South African surgeons perform the world’s first successful human heart transplant –
December , . The patient dies days later.
20
The Community Hospital
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3.
4.
Local newspapers, including the Chicago Tribune’s Northwest Indiana-Calumet edition and the Chicago Sun-Times, ran stories about the hospital project. 3. Plot plan of The Community 5. Hospital drawn by Bachman & Bertram & Associates, Architects. The Tri-State Highway is located less than ¼ mile from the proposed hospital site. 4.“…at the heart of a growing area.” Proposed site of The Community Hospital (0) is centrally located between communities to be served and existing area hospitals, numbered as (1) St. Margaret Hospital, Hammond, (2) St. Catherine Hospital, East Chicago, (3) Our Lady of Mercy Hospital, Dyer. Lines emanate from numbered hospitals to community origins of each hospital’s medical-surgical patients. 5. Reprinted by permission of The Hammond Times, Sunday, November 13, 1966
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The Community Hospital
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Hiring an Administrator At the same January 1967 meeting, Foundation president Howard Brenner also reported on an interview for a hospital administrator and read a letter to the board from Hiram Sibley about Edward P. Robinson, who was administrator of Gottlieb Memorial Hospital in Melrose Park, Illinois. By unanimous vote, the board president was given authority to hire Ed Robinson. His responsibilities would be to work with the architect on the hospital’s construction drawings, work with various planning agencies and secure the necessary approvals for the hospital, and work with the financial people on feasibility studies. Additionally, since hospital construction was scheduled to begin in April of 1967, it was important that the administrator also draw up an organizational plan for staffing the hospital and buying equipment. (All would not go as planned, however, and the first of two groundbreaking ceremonies would not be held for several years.) Robinson was new to Northwest Indiana. “A friend of mine was in metropolitan Chicago and he knew the people down here – Hagberg, Schlossberg and others – and he said they were looking for From February 16, 1967 someone to run the hospital,” Robinson recalled. “He said, ‘Why don’t you go Hammond Times article. down there and talk to them?’ And I said, ‘I don’t even know where Muncie is!’ The thing that impressed me was… I could build my own hospital from scratch. I could plan it. I could buy the supplies … the way they painted the picture, in showing me the studies, it couldn’t miss.” 6. Edward P. Robinson,
“
Robinson’s first day on the job, scheduled for January 27, 1967, was also the day of Chicago’s “big blizzard of the century” when 23 inches of snow and drifts over six feet high stymied the area.
“I couldn’t get out of my house. Everyone was snowed in, and I actually got here a few days later,” Robinson said. “There was nothing but a corn field where the present hospital is.” Robinson, in his 30s and eager to begin his administrative duties, made a daily 50-mile trek each way from his home in Elmwood Park, Illinois, to Munster. He would later explain that moving with his wife and family to Munster was postponed until the hospital project was certain, so his commute from Illinois lasted approximately six years.
22
The Community Hospital
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an Impossible Dream
The thing that impressed me was… I could build my own hospital from scratch.
”
“
I couldn’t get
Everyone was snowed in...
”
out of my house.
“I was to join the fundraisers, a group called Haney and Associates,” Robinson said. “(Hospital planners) were just getting things organized. They needed the land, and they needed money. They didn’t have anything. So that’s what I was to do – coordinate all these projects when I came here.”
The Blizzard of ‘67
• The 1967 snowstorm probably caused the biggest disruption to the commerce and transportation of Chicago of any event since the Great Chicago Fire of 1871.
• January 26–27 -- Chicago and surrounding areas, including Northwest Indiana, were blanketed with 23 inches of snow.
• Many workers did not get home the evening of Thursday, January 26. Many stayed at work or in hotels.
• By Friday, January 27, airports and local transportation were shut down. In Chicago, 20,000 cars and 1,100 CTA buses were stranded in the snow.
• The city began to dig out on Saturday, January 28.
• Iowa, Wisconsin and Michigan sent heavy equipment to aid in snow removal. Snow was hauled by dump truck to the Chicago River.
• O’Hare reopened around midnight the following Monday.
{it’s been
Said
in 2006...}
“In the mid-60s, my dad, who had been doing a lot of medical facility design work from his business in Hammond (temporarily located in the Indiana Hotel for 50 years!), received a call from a gentleman looking for a recommendation to buy an exam table and wondered if he knew of a good source. The man he talked to was Ed Robinson, and that started their relationship. Ed appreciated my dad calling him back. Ed was beginning to put The Community Hospital together for Munster.”
Philip Bachman, A.I.A.,
Architect and son of hospital Architect William J. Bachman, F.A.I.A. The Bachman Partnership, PC, Highland, IN
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The Community Hospital
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Meeting the Press Two days before the big storm, a press luncheon at Phil Smidt’s Restaurant in Whiting outlined a $2.5 million fund drive that was to begin March 1st and last for 26 weeks. The event, publicized by Community Hospital Campaign Director James K. Tonrey, was attended by media representatives and board members. Rent-free office space at 438 Ridge Road (known then as the “old Munster post office”), would serve as campaign headquarters and was donated by the owners of the Big Top Food Corporation in Schererville. Presiding at the luncheon meeting, Howard Brenner, MD, stated that hospital costs at $6,000,000 would be financed by tax-exempt revenue bonds that would allow longer term, lower interest rates. The Foundation also sought $2,000,000 in community campaign fundraising. The Foundation, it was noted, had received endorsement from the Hospital Planning Council of Metropolitan Chicago in December 1966, and endorsement from the Lake County Medical Society in January 1967. The support of the Chicago council was important if the Foundation intended to solicit corporate gifts from businesses in the area. By its own definition, The Hospital Planning Council for Metropolitan Chicago, was “an expert, highly-specialized, voluntary agency established in December 1957, by civicminded businessmen and interested medical and service agencies to make sense out of new hospital construction in Chicago … supported by contributions from businesses, foundations and individuals concerned with an orderly development of expensive healthcare facilities.” In its investigation, the council members met repeatedly with officers and directors of the Foundation along with the management personnel of St. Margaret Hospital in Hammond and Our Lady of Mercy in Dyer. “Both hospitals are carrying on a construction and modernization program,” the council said. “Emphasis of council staff on the necessity for inter-hospital cooperation has led to agreement among the hospitals for the coordination of timing of area hospital construction and fundraising activities, in the interest of providing the area with much needed hospital facilities as rapidly as possible and with a minimum of interference between proposed projects.” The council’s endorsement was justified by: 1) the need to add 500 beds to the area hospitals’ bed capacity by 1975 2) agreement being reached among local hospitals on the timing for hospital construction and fund-raising activities 3) reorganization of the Foundation’s by-laws and replacement of physicians by community leaders as its charter members 4) opening of the hospital’s medical staff positions to qualified applicants 5) careful programming of facilities to assure efficient use of professional and technical personnel and 6) assurance that programs will be established aimed at producing a high quality of care and broad community service. 24
The Community Hospital
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an Impossible Dream
Terms of the endorsement were conditional on several points – the autonomous character of the hospital’s Board of Directors, its charter membership, its management, the soundness of the hospital’s future financial plan, the limits placed on the hospital’s borrowing to complete the project and the amount of debt service to be reflected in charges to patients.
Auxiliary Beginnings At the Phil Smidt’s press luncheon on January 25, 1967, Mitzi Beconovich, wife of Hammond Clinic physician Dr. Robert Beconovich, talked about the formalization of The Community Hospital Auxiliary that was to become a formidable force in hospital fundraising. On January 30, 1967 – a cold Monday morning when Woodmar Country Club was normally closed – nearly 200 women gathered in the main dining room. Amid coffee and conversation, Foundation board member/keynote speaker Judge James Richards explained the nature of the hospital project, including the need for additional financing and medical staffing. Hammond Clinic Director Donald Moore noted numerous requests from area citizens and doctors that had led to the organization of Munster Medical Research Foundation. The Hospital Planning Council of greater Chicago had stressed in a survey the need for more hospital beds in the “Ridge area” since Munster, Highland, and Dyer had experienced 40 – 50-percent population increases during the previous five years. With overwhelming response, nearly everyone there applied for auxiliary membership. “Don Moore asked me if I would call a meeting at Woodmar … and (those ladies) came ready for it, to be volunteers,” Beconovich said. “To have such a big turnout, the enthusiasm was unbelievable. We had subsequent meetings to announce officers and establish committees, and meetings were well attended.”
7. In an evaluation of area need for more hospital beds, this population table was prepared by the staff of the Hospital Planning Council of Greater Chicago showing significant increases in population estimates for many of the cities listed. Statistics were based on birth, death, school, and housing information.
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The Community Hospital
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Joie Hand and her mother, Josephine Row, wanted to fulfill the wishes of Dr. P.Q. Row, their father and husband, respectively. Like so many others, they worked hard for the hospital.
{it’s been
Said
in 2006...}
“It was my father’s dream (to see Community Hospital as it is today) which he did not live to see,” Hand said, noting that her father retired in the early 1970s and died of Parkinson’s Disease several years later. “My parents had stored my father’s office furniture in the basement of our family home, and early on, my mother loaned Ed Robinson some waiting room chairs for use in his temporary office.”
Joie Hand,
former Community Hospital Auxiliary member
An initial donation of $1,500 was made to the auxiliary by the Hammond Women’s Club to help get the fundraising started. The Auxiliary would collect $150,000 in its early fundraising efforts and would give the hospital $500,000 by the end of 1983 (see Community Hospital Auxiliary history – page 75) and more than $2,000,000 by the end of 2005!
Community Networking An information letter and questionnaire sent to area doctors by Munster Medical Research Foundation board member Russell Erickson addressed the need for support of the new hospital, designed to serve Munster and surrounding communities. Interestingly, the desire to build a hospital pre-dated the Hammond Clinic doctors’ effort by quite a few years. In December 1966, Erickson wrote in part: The letter concluded with questions for the doctors, asking if they would be interested in joining the staff of a new hospital; if they would be willing to serve in an “active, associate or courtesy” capacity; and what their opinions were about the establishment of a new hospital.
26
The Community Hospital
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an Impossible Dream
8. {left to right} (Top) Harold Hagberg, Leslie Bombar, M.D., Ross Archer Vic Schlossberg
{left to right} (Front) Josephine Row, Howard Brenner, M.D., Vera Carroll. Reprinted by permis-
sion from The Calumet Press, Saturday, February 11, 1967
Hospital supporters canvassed the area and scores of pamphlets were distributed from the Ridge Road campaign headquarters to promote “The Community Hospital New Building Fund Campaign.” Among key questions and answers: Q. What is the purpose of The Community Hospital? A. The purpose of the hospital is to provide the community with an additional number of beds as recommended by The Hospital Planning Council of Metropolitan Chicago and the Booz Allen & Hamilton report dated March 1966. Q. What does the nature of the hospital mean to me? A. As a member of the community, your doctor may admit you to the hospital regardless of race, creed, or color. As a not-for-profit hospital, there are no shareholders to receive profits from effective administration. All surpluses are used for the betterment of the hospital. As a qualified doctor, you are invited to apply for membership on the hospital staff. Q. What areas will be served by the hospital? A. Munster, Hammond, Highland, Griffith, Dyer, Schererville, Lansing, Calumet City, East Chicago, and Whiting Q. Who will own The Community Hospital? A. The hospital is owned by the people of the area it serves. It is managed by a Board of Directors, who are interested citizens from various professional and business fields, giving their time and talents without pay so the hospital will be operated in a business-like and efficient manner. The present Board of Directors consists of 15 members and will be increased to 24 at the next annual meeting. Q. Why don’t doctors build the hospital? A. As interested citizens, physicians in the area will contribute generously in this campaign. However, to construct and equip hospitals is NOT the obligation of doctors; the facilities are for those who need them – the sick. Hospitals are no more built for doctors than courthouses for lawyers, schools for teachers, or firehouses for firemen. Q. Who will solicit gifts for the hospital? A. Volunteers from each area served by the hospital. Usually, they will be known by the donor. Most every good citizen will want to help.
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The Community Hospital
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27