The Paper of Wabash County - May 27 Issue

Page 1

Vol. 38, No. 12

PO Box 603, Wabash, IN 46992 (260) 563-8326

of Wabash County Inc. May 27, 2015

www.thepaperofwabash.com Proudly Serving Wabash County Since 1977

Plans progressing for new hospital By Joseph Slacian jslacian@thepaperofwabash.com Best-case scenario, a new Parkview Wabash Hospital is still 2½ to 3 years away from becoming a reality, Parkview President and CEO Mike Packnett said Wednesday, May 20. And the new facility, he continued, may not necessarily be at the site on U.S. 24 that now has signs that read “Future home of Parkview Wabash Hospital.” Packnett made the remarks during the annual breakfast for Parkview Wabash Hospital, which took place in the lobby of the Honeywell Center. Hospital Administrator Marilyn CusterMitchell also talked about the past year at the hospital, and the transition that Wabash County Hospital underwent during its affiliation with the Parkview Health Network. The site, which was designated prior to the affiliation, could still be the site for the new facility, Packnett told The Paper of Wabash County following the breakfast. “We’re just not sure,” he said. “We’d like to continue a little bit more of the search process and

make sure it is the absolutely best site for the facility. We want to take a little more time.” Hospital officials consider several things when looking at a possible site for the facility. “They’re probably the same things a lot of big businesses look at here in town,” Packnett said. “That’s access, how the land flows – is it going from front to back or back to front. “Access for us, as you can imagine with emergency room traffic and a lot of people coming in on site every day, access is a big issue for us. We really are trying to think of 50 years down the road, we really have to envision how it might grow up around us and what might traffic be like?” There is at least one other site under consideration for the new facility, Packnett said, and it also is a long U.S. 24. “We think the 24 corridor is the right place to be to best serve patients from coming all over the county, and even beyond the county,” he said. “I think it will serve us best to be on 24.” A decision on the site, he added, will come “as soon as possible.” “We’re pushing hard,” he

said. “We know that is the first domino and all others will follow. I hope it doesn’t take six months, but it’s just too soon to tell right now.” Custer-Mitchell said representatives from the Wabash facility are involved in the process are determining the site for the new facility. “We’re very involved,” she said. “Scott Burcroff and I are on the committee that’s talking about it. “We’re giving our insights and thoughts on the various sites we’ve looked at.” The affiliation was the area which Packnett and CusterMitchell spent the most time discussing on Wednesday. It also dominated a question-andanswer session with those in the audience. Perhaps the most pressing question was whether the new facility would offer an OB-GYN clinic and delivery room. At least three of the questions written by the audience dealt with that topic. As a cost-saving measure, the Wabash County Hospital stopped delivering babies about a dozen years ago. “We’re having those conversations right now,” Custer-

Mike Packnett, President and CEO of Parkview Health, speaks Wednesday morning, May 20, during Parkview Wabash Hospital’s annual breakfast. Photo by Joseph Slacian Mitchell said. “As we hope to plan the new facility, we need to know what we’re going to put in it. “We are having a conversa-

tion about OB. We’ll be talking about that, and we’ll be talking about a few other services.” Packnett said the OB question (continued on page 2)

Crash claims Lagro man By The Paper staff

Mark Davis, owner of Stone Saver Cemetery Restoration, shares a scrapbook documenting the restoration of a different cemetery. Davis said careful records of everything going on need to be kept during the restoration process. Photo by Adam B. Smith

LAGRO — A single-vehicle crash on May 19 killed on man and injured another. On Tuesday, at approximately 1 p.m., the Wabash County Sheriff ’s Department responded to a one-vehicle crash on State Road 524 near Pefley’s Farm Equipment.

A GMC pick-up truck driven by Daniel Lane, 39, Lagro, was traveling westbound on SR 524 and ran off the road for unknown reasons. After leaving the roadway the truck struck two mailboxes, traveled approximately 320 feet, and finally came to a rest after striking a tree head-on. (continued on page 3)

LaFontaine group seeks to restore old cemetery By Adam B. Smith news@thepaperofwabash.com LAFONTAINE — Visitors to LaFontaine’s Rennaker Cemetery have a clear view of the timeworn gravestones and monuments that fill the broken rows of the Old La Fontaine Cemetery. Some small markers covered up by grass sit in the shadows of taller, dirt-covered monuments. The Friends of the Old La Fontaine Cemetery gathered a

group at the cemetery Saturday, May 16, for a cemetery restoration workshop. The group sought to gather support for the restoration of the largely neglected cemetery. Regina Hiple said she was visiting some of her relatives buried in the Rennaker Cemetery when she first noticed one of the monuments in the older cemetery leaning. She said she thought something needed to be done. A number of fellow community members shared Hiple’s

views on the cemetery’s current state of disrepair, she said, and about 15 to 20 people decided to form the Friends of the Old La Fontaine Cemetery last fall. The group wanted to have a restoration performed on the cemetery, she said. When she went in front of the LaFontaine Town Council to ask for support in October 2014, however, she said they told her there were no funds for the project. The group would (continued on page 3)

An onlooker pauses for a moment at the pick-up truck driven by Daniel Lane, 39, Lagro, before it is removed from the crash scene. Photo by Joseph Slacian


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