DeKalb Health 50th anniversary

THE NEWS SUN THE HERALDREPUBLICAN StarThe kpcnews.com

DEKALB HEALTH

2 DeKalb Health 50th Anniversary kpcnews.com • ©KPC Media Group Inc. January 12, 2014

1960

1962Hospital Board organized

Groundbreaking for construction 1964

Robert King becomes Administrator

1966

Hospital given OK by Medicare 1969

New intensive care unit opens

DeKalb Memorial Hospital opens January 2nd

1971

1972

1975

L.C. Baker becomes Administrator

Adds physical therapy department to services

New DeKalb County Emergency Medical Service begins operation, with its base at the hospital 1978

Hospital expands with two building additions: the Penfield Wing houses emergency and outpatient services; new medical arts building provides doctors’ offices next to the hospital

Eye surgery available at DeKalb Memorial

1980

1981

1984

Jack Corey becomes Administrator

Hospital first in area to create birthing room

Hospital opens coronary unit

1986

New outpatient services include oncology and chemotherapy, mammography and colorectal screening

1988

Hospital breaks ground for its new $1 million imaging wing, adding 3,500 square feet to the building’s northeast side; it housed a new computed tomography scanner, plus ultrasound and mammography equipment 1991

1992$5 million expansion that included 7,700 square foot addition on the northwest side of hospital, a 36,000 square foot three-story medical office building and 125 new parking spaces

Pharmacists Doug and Tammy Crane open PharmaCare 1997

Mobile MRI unit comes to hospital

1999

Additional 9,000 square foot medical office building completed for new physicians

Opening of DeKalb Memorial Hospital's Cardiac Rehabilitation Department

2002

2008$12 million, 60,000 square foot, three story wing opened featuring new OB and Rehabilitation Centers

The newly expanded 40,000 square foot surgical center opens on third floor 2009

Kirk Ray named CEO following the retirement of Jack Corey after 29 years of service

2011

New ER, imaging, laboratory, respiratory and registration areas open in October. New eICU opened in December 2013

Fred Price named CEO in January

Celebrating 50 Years

2011

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By the mid-1950s, DeKalb County was facing a healthcare crisis.

Three aging, private hospitals served the county, lagging behind the 20th century’s rapid advances in medicine.

In 1956, the Auburn Lions Club took the lead in searching for a solution. The club hired a professional hospital consul-tant to survey the needs for a countywide hospital and the possibilities of building one.

The club’s efforts led to a formal report in 1960 recommending a new hospital. In the fall of that year, a permanent hospital board formed with 19 directors. Industrial leader Glenn Rieke of Auburn captained the board as its president. Other officers were automobile dealer C.J. Maxton of Butler, foundry owner Richard O. Fink of Auburn and Otis Fisher of Butler.

The board hired an architect to design a hospital with 75 beds and potential for expansion. Later, the board purchased 24 acres of land at the east edge of Auburn to become the site for a hospital.

A fundraising campaign to build the hospital became known as the “miracle of Indiana” when local donors gave large and small gifts totaling $2.5 million. The total included $381,000 from the sale of Lincoln Life Insurance stock donated by the late William H. Willennar, an Auburn banker, and a heartfelt gift reported from a Social Security recipient who gave a week’s grocery money.

The fund drive reached all corners of DeKalb County. A newspaper report said Wilmington Township, including Butler, topped all divisions by reaching 246 percent of its goal. Union Township,

including Auburn, followed closely with 219 percent.

A groundbreaking ceremony took place April 29, 1962. Lanthrop Co. of Toledo, Ohio, chosen as general contractor, began construction May 25, 1962.

A month before the hospital began serving patients, an open house on the weekend of Nov. 30 and Dec. 1, 1963, showed local people what their donations

Generous givers built a hospital

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January 12, 2014 ©KPC Media Group Inc. • kpcnews.com DeKalb Health 50th Anniversary 3

Top cover photo: Leaders of the movement to build a hospital for DeKalb County break ground for the project on April 29, 1962, at the east edge of Auburn. Bottom cover photo: Current hospital campus.

Officers of the DeKalb Memorial Hospital board in 1963 were, from left, industrial leader Glenn Rieke of Auburn, automobile dealer C.J. Maxton of Butler, Souder

Hospital founder Dr. Bonnell Souder of Auburn, Otis Fisher of Butler and foundry owner Richard O. Fink of Auburn.

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From page 3

HOSPITAL

had built.The Evening Star described the open

house in its Dec. 2, 1963, edition:Most roads led to the DeKalb Memorial

Hospital, Inc. in Auburn Saturday and Sunday where an estimated 12,000 persons attended (an) open house.

The big weekend celebration climaxed a hospital movement that had its beginning in DeKalb County eight years ago.

An estimated 3,000 attended (the) open house Saturday afternoon when biting winds cut down the expected crowd.

On Sunday, more than 9,000 persons jammed the site. At one time during the 2 p.m. dedicatory service, upwards of 1,000 were forced to wait outside the building. The corridors on all three floors were jammed and there was no shelter available.

Nearly 48 years later, the hospital had just adopted the new name of DeKalb Health to reflect its wide variety of care,

including outpatient, diagnostic and wellness services.

On Oct. 24, 2011, The Star reported on another open house to unveil a major expansion with new areas for emergency care, imaging, laboratory services and respiratory therapy.

AUBURN — DeKalb Health unveiled its $8 million, two-story expansion with an open house Sunday afternoon.

“You will be in awe of the incredible transformation that has taken place,” Deb Lindstromberg, chairwoman of the hospital board, promised visitors before cutting a ceremonial ribbon with Auburn Mayor Norm Yoder.

The mayor recalled the Auburn hospital’s founding in the early 1960s, when it became known as the “miracle of Indiana” for the way local citizens raised the money to build it.

“The miracle continues” with the hospital’s expansion, Yoder said.

DeKalb Memorial Hospital begins to take shape in 1962.

PHOTO CONTRIBUTED

Larry Wheeler of Spencerville was a teenager when the capital campaign for DeKalb Memorial Hospital was launched.

“I was really interested in what was going on with the new hospital,” Wheeler recalled. “I participated in paper drives. People would bring newspapers, and the paper was sold as scrap. (The money) would be turned over to the hospital fund.”

Wheeler, who lived in Waterloo at the time, also recalled children and youth doing their part for the hospital campaign by conducting fundraisers such as car washes. Wheeler himself donated money from the paycheck he received for mowing for the DeKalb County Highway Depart-ment.

“I think it was because it was a civic cause,” Wheeler said of the support the hospital project received. “It was the thing to do. I think there was a civic feeling that it was the right thing to do. The kids

pitched in, it was promoted in the schools. I think people were generally excited about it as a civic project.”

Even children pitched in for hospital campaign

Wheeler

OC f Skpcnews.com

BY MATT [email protected]

AUBURN — Not many DeKalb Health employees truly can claim to have “been there at the beginning” the way Greg Myers can.

DeKalb Health opened Jan. 2, 1964, and is marking its 50th anniversary of service to the community this year. Myers works at the hospital complex as the assistant director of environmental services — the department that makes sure patients and caregivers have heat, air conditioning and other necessities.

In August 2013, Myers marked his 20th work anniversary at DeKalb Health. But his roots run much deeper.

Five days into the existence of the hospital, Myers became one of the first babies born at the facility.

“It was so new, there were no phones in the delivery room to call the doctor,” Myers said.

Myers’ mother was a patient of Dr. Maxwell Wills, but Wills was at his Leo office when she went into labor. Myers was delivered by Dr. J. Robert Edwards of Auburn.

The area that had been the maternity ward is now a hallway.

“When I came to work here, it was still in service,” Myers said of the ward.

Myers is a 1982 graduate of Eastside High School. He earned a pair of associate

degrees in electronics from Ivy Tech. He worked for Magnavox for a time, then managed a lawn care business. Tired of a career that was so determined by the weather, he applied for a job that would use his educational achievements.

The hospital has expanded and renovated many times since 1964, and Myers finds himself working on ultra-modern systems as well as those that have been around for decades.

“I enjoy working here,” Myers said. “I enjoy the troubleshooting and the nine other guys in the department.”

Working maintenance at a hospital is

different than at some other businesses. While factories can have routine or emergency work done while the plant is shut down, there is no such luxury for crews at DeKalb Health.

“We’re trying to maintain equipment that runs 24 hours a day, seven days a week,” Myers said. “This place is never closed. It hasn’t been since Jan. 2, 1964.”

Myers said his department averages between 300-350 preventive maintenance checks per month and nearly 220 work orders.

He is proud to contribute to the overall effort at DeKalb Health.

Myers: Born near the beginningAssistant director of environmental services was born shortly after hospital opened

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DeKalb Central wishes to congratulate

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amazing milestone! We would also like to extend our

appreciation for the hospital’s generous support and positive impact

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www.dekalbcentral.net


Greg Myers stands in the area of DeKalb Health where the original maternity ward was located. Myers, assistant

director of environmental services at the hospital, was one of the first babies born after the hospital opened in 1964.

MATT GETTS

6 DeKalb Health 50th Anniversary kpcnews.com • ©KPC Media Group Inc. January 12, 2014 January 12, 2014 ©KPC Media Group Inc. • kpcnews.com DeKalb Health 50th Anniversary 7

BY KATHRYN [email protected]

Jayne McClellan had graduated from the Lutheran Hospital School of Nursing in Fort Wayne just four months before taking a nursing position at DeKalb Memorial Hospital when it opened in January 1964.

“I knew I wanted to go to DeKalb,” McClellan said. “I’m from Auburn and have lived in Auburn my whole life.”

McClellan was hired to work on the day shift in the obstetrics department, At that time, those duties also included working in the emergency room. After the birth of her first child, McClellan switched to the evening shift and continued to work those hours in the emergency room for the rest of her nursing career.

The addition of the county’s Emergency Medical Service brought big changes for nurses at the hospital, as they could communicate back and forth with EMS crews and know what to anticipate when a patient

was brought in, she explained.McClellan spent 33 years at

DeKalb, retiring when she was age 55.

“The biggest thing was the camaraderie, because it was such a small staff in those days,” McClellan said of her time at DeKalb. “We all helped each other.”

McClellan also had high praise for the nurses’ aides with whom she worked.

McClellan noted that much of what she and other nurses learned in nurse training became obsolete rapidly.

“Treatment modalities changed,” she said, “Things

you did in the ’60s weren’t even the mode of treatment in the ’70s and ’80s. Things became more sophisticated as time went on.”

McClellan is proud to have been part of DeKalb Memorial Hospital and what has grown to be DeKalb Health.

“I’m very protective of that hospital,” she said with a smile. “It’s still my hospital, even though I’ve not worked there for 17 years now.”

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DeKalb Health weekend nursing supervisor Deanna DeKoninck, left, stands with her daughter, Ashley, outside a room at the hospital. Ashley works at the hospital three hours a day as part of a student work program. Three generations of the family have worked in nursing at DeKalb Health.

MATT GETTS

BY MATT [email protected]

AUBURN — When someone tells weekend nursing supervisor Deanna Dekoninck that her daughter, Ashley, is doing a nice job in her duties as a certified nursing assistant at DeKalb Health, Dekoninck is pleased, but has a message for her.

“I told her she better be, it’s in her blood,” Deanna said.

Ashley Dekoninck is a fourth-gen-eration nurse-in-training in the family, and the third generation representing the family at DeKalb Health.

Deanna’s great aunt, Lillien Spade,

worked as a surgical nurse at DeKalb Memorial. Another aunt, Mary Rose Beeber, was a nursing instructor at St. Joseph Hospital in Fort Wayne.

Deanna has worked at DeKalb Health since she became a registered nurse in 1989. Having 24 years experience, Deanna now wears several hats, including being a member of the discharge team and serving as weekend house nursing supervisor.

“I’ve worked every weekend for 13 years,” Deanna said.

Her work has forced her to miss

Nursing tradition continues

See NURSING page 9

BY OCTAVIA [email protected]

AUBURN — The DeKalb Health Foundation started in 1960 to help build DeKalb Memorial Hospital, which opened its doors in 1964.

Today, the purpose of the foundation remains the same: to benefit the hospital.

When it started in 1960, the foundation sought to receive and administer funds for the acquisition of the hospital.

“We were formed exclusively to build the hospital,” said Anna Nixon, the current director of DeKalb Health Foundation.

The foundation recently took on its new name to reflect the new name of the hospital.

When the foundation sought funds for the hospital, community support was overwhelming.

“So many people in the community were committed to supporting the hospital,” Nixon said.

In one meeting at the old Auburn High School, nearly 3,000 people packed the gymnasium to pledge money for the new hospital.

Nixon said the foundation sought countywide support, rather than just from the city of Auburn. Representatives visited each town in DeKalb County for pledges.

After the hospital was built, the founda-tion continued with a surplus of money from the initial fundraising effort.

“The directors do a good job of conser-vatively managing funds,” Nixon said

about the foundation’s board.

The founda-tion has not actively solicited funds in recent years, but it receives many gifts, Nixon said.

Nixon joined as the foundation’s director in 2012 to play a more active role in the fundraising effort.

“As health care changes, we are

addressing the need to be more active in fundraising,” Nixon said.

DeKalb Health is a not-for-profit hospital and relies on contributions to stay on the cutting edge.

In 2000, the foundation pledged $1.5 million for the Family BirthPlace and Rehabilitation facilities. The foundation has contributed more than $2.5 million for hospital improvement and expansion and has funded essential medical equipment.

A new fundraising effort with the foundation is an employee-giving campaign that has reached nearly $30,000. The employees chose to reserve the money for the next capital campaign.

There’s no time frame on DeKalb Health expansion, but Nixon said “there’s always talk.”

“We support the hospital at any step,” Nixon said.

DeKalb Health Foundation remains in support role

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From page 8

NURSING

holidays at home, too. But it’s a job she loves.

“It’s a family,” she said. “I never mind coming to work. I’m happy to come to work every day. I love the people, I love the patients, I love the staff.”

And now her daughter is aiming toward joining the family legacy at DeKalb Health.

Ashley, 17, is a senior at Garrett High School. She took her certified nursing assistant test when she was a junior. When she gave her identification at the testing site, it raised some eyebrows.

“They couldn’t believe I was 16 and taking it,” Ashley said. “I actually had to study at school.”

Ashley had classes for five hours per night, Monday through Thursday, from January through mid-March. On April 1, she took and passed the final test.

Since August, Ashley has worked at DeKalb Health for 15 hours per week through Garrett’s Interdisciplnary Cooper-ative Education (ICE) program.

“She’s walking the halls that genera-tions before her have walked,” Deanna said. “That is pretty awesome.”

Ashley said following in her mother’s footsteps as a nurse was once the furthest thing from her mind. She took the CNA course only because it would allow her to get a paying job.

Now, her long-term goal is to become a nurse practitioner.

What changed Ashley’s thoughts on the profession is being able to see a new patient come in on a Monday, then by Friday be healthy and ready to leave.

“It’s unbelievable,” she said of watching that progression happen.

Ashley added her goal is to work at DeKalb Health.

“That’s what I’m hoping for,” she said. “I’ve got to keep the generations going.”

Nixon

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Thank you for taking care of our veterans


AUBURN — Rola Cooper served as the heartbeat of communication for DeKalb Memorial hospital.

Cooper wrote the weekly column “DeKalb Memorial Hospital News Notes” in the Evening Star during the hospital’s formative years. Cooper did not ask for compensation or recognition while writing the columns.

The column was later called “The Heartbeat of DeKalb Memorial.”

When Cooper wrote her columns, she shared about the inner workings of the hospital. Readers were able to see a behind the scenes glimpse of the hospital and stay up-to-date on the fundraising efforts in the early ’60s.

She formerly received recognition from

the directors of the DeKalb Memorial hospital in the late ’60s.

“Her newspaper columns personalized the hospital to the people of DeKalb County. Her dedication was contagious,” said Ralph Pearson in the Evening Star. Pearson was a former president of the Board of Directors of DeKalb Memorial hospital.

On April 26, 1969, she wrote in the Evening Star how someone remarked that “she must love the hospital.”

“It surprised me into acknowledging that I did love DeKalb Memorial hospital — not as brick and mortar but as something alive and growing,” Cooper wrote.

Cooper was an involved Auburn citizen. Until her death in 1969, she served as the executive director of the United Fund of DeKalb County and was a secretary for the Auburn Chamber of Commerce.

She served 15 years as a trustee for the Eckhart Public Library and received an honor from the Indiana Library Association for her work.

Cooper and her husband, William, also owned a music store in downtown Auburn.

Rola Cooper served as the ‘heartbeat’ of DeKalb Memorial

Carol Hathaway of Auburn, right, drops off a donation at the Curiosity Shop in Auburn. Donations can be made during regular hours or in a drop box near the store’s front door. Volunteer Martha Bryant works behind the counter.

SUE CARPENTER

BY SUE [email protected]

AUBURN — At 93, Betty Bevington has been a volunteer for the DeKalb Health Auxiliary Guild for more than half of her life.

She is one of 75 active persons who volunteer in various roles at the hospital, through the hospital gift shop, the sale of fresh popcorn at the hospital and various sponsored vendor sales.

“The auxiliary exists to raise funds to

purchase things for the hospital and to supply volunteers,” said Nita Webb, who serves at the hospital’s volunteer coordi-nator.

In the past year, volunteers provided 18,355 hours serving at information desks, assisting at the surgery waiting area and the Family BirthPlace and as clerks in the Serendipity Gift Shop inside the hospital campus.

The not-for-profit group also owns and operates the Curiosity Shop thrift store at 304 E. 10th St. in Auburn, its major fundraising project. The store has been in continuous operation since 1966.

The Curiosity Shop is open from 9:30

Hospital auxiliary provides volunteer staff, fundraising$500,000 in donations since hospital opened

See AUXILIARY page 11

Cooper

BY AARON [email protected]

It’s been 50 years of constant growth for DeKalb Health. The next 50 years figure to bring more of the same.

Bob Menzie of Auburn, chairman-elect of DeKalb Health’s board of directors, says the board’s vision and plan is dedicated and precise, with emphasis on patient care at the forefront.

Perhaps the largest goal for DeKalb Health now and moving forward, Menzie said, will be to increase its community outreach.

Menzie said a Community Needs

Assessment, taken just over a year ago, showed the area has glaring needs that DeKalb Health can address. Too many

people suffer from heart disease, high blood pressure, high cholesterol, obesity, anxiety and depres-sion, creating vast opportunities for the hospital to help.

“DeKalb Health will increase our community outreach in 2014,” Menzie pledged. “Our mission statement at DeKalb Health is to promote, preserve and restore health, and we will be asking

next year and into the future, ‘How can we

a.m. to 4:30 p.m. Wednesday through Friday, and from 9:30-11:30 a.m. on Saturdays. Donations are accepted during those hours. A drop box is near the door for after-hours donations.

Bevington credits longtime volunteer Imogene Mavis for getting the shop organized in the first place, negotiating with contractors and other suppliers to help get the building in operational order.

“(Mavis) did everything. She contacted the workers, actually I think she spent a lot of her own money,” especially when the shop moved to its current location, Bevington said.

When she first joined, Bevington said she was part of a group that met off-site to make silk floral arrangements and knitted socks for the gift shop. Many were mothers with young children.

“We all met somewhere else and brought our children with us,” Bevington recalled.

Bevington’s mother, Flossie Mavis, and her late husband, Forrest Bevington, also served on the hospital guild.

Bevington recently found a copy of the auxiliary’s constitution and bylaws from March 14, 1966, in a drawer at home. She plans to donate it to the hospital’s archives.

Volunteer Betty Bueker ran the hospital gift shop for a long time, according to Webb. It offers floral arrangements, plush animals and other gifts.

Every time a baby is born at the hospital, a bell rings in the shop, according to volunteer Connie Haynes.

The Guild has awarded $1,000 scholar-ships and student loans to DeKalb County college students pursuing education in healthcare-related fields. They also welcome each newborn with a small gift and a handmade hat.

Volunteer hours are credited through the Retired Senior Volunteer Program. Men and women are recognized at an annual reception, as noted in the bylaws.

Emmajeanne Roop has logged the most volunteer hours, at 13,000, according to Webb.

Since the hospital’s opening in 1964, the organization has raised nearly $500,000 toward hospital projects and equipment purchases.

The auxiliary’s first donation in 1964 was for a baby incubator at a cost of $1,350.

Other donations included television sets, $10,000 to fully fund a birthing room in 1981, $22,409 for chapel renovation in 1998, $37,650 to remodel the cafeteria in 2010, and most recently the remodeling of an outpatient specialty clinic in September for $22,926.

“I don’t know what we would do without the volunteers here at the hospital. They are the smiling face — the person that’s available to help,” said Webb. “They are just a tremendous group of people.”

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From page 10

AUXILIARY

Betty Bevington, 93, works twice a month at the Curiosity Shop, a not-for-profit thrift shop that benefits DeKalb Health.

SUE CARPENTER

Leaders look forward to next 50 years

See LEADERS page 12

“We’ve got to become integrated with our community’s needs, and we’ve got to include local people in some of our

decision-making at the hospital.”

Bob Menzie

DeKalb Health Board Chariman-elect

•


From page 11

LEADERS

help?’ We’ve got to become integrated with our communi-ty’s needs, and we’ve got to include local people in some of our decision-making at the hospital.”

Part of that effort already has begun. In early December, the new Patient and Family Advisory Council held its first meeting. The group is made up of people who have had experiences with DeKalb Health, good and bad. The goal is to take those experiences and develop ways in which the hospital can improve, Menzie said.

“This Patient and Family Advisory Council will become a regular, working committee of the hospital and will be very, very active even in some of the major decisions that are made at DeKalb Health,” Menzie said.

At the forefront of the future of DeKalb Health will be Fred Price, the hospital’s first-year CEO. Menzie said Price rose from a large pool of applicants for the position by communicating his strategic plan for the hospital that stood out “far and away” and making known the need for the hospital to forge partnering relationships with community neighbors.

Already, Price has helped to partner the hospital with the local YMCA on expansion of its North Street facility, Menzie said.

“Some folks see that as a threat. Fred and the board see that as the way to survive,” Menzie added.

The board also was impressed with Price’s background in nursing, which Menzie said plays into the hospital’s longtime patient-first care goals. Looking ahead, Menzie said DeKalb Health will ramp up already-dedicated efforts to improve and maintain patient care, which he said hospitals must do in this time of transparent quality care reports and heavy competition.

“Good isn’t good enough anymore, and that message has to get clear across to the entire organization, because your patients don’t have to like you, they have to love you,” Menzie said. “The transparency in healthcare now is going to benefit the patient, because the patient has access to

who’s doing what and how well they’re doing it. We have to be better than good.”

That means facing challenges and improving, and Menzie said DeKalb Health knows the challenges facing it. For the board, it means tightening their chin straps and working more productively and efficiently. Menzie said the board has been told that 70 percent of their meetings must be spent on strategic planning.

“Unless a board is talking about strategic planning — and a lot — in their meetings, they’re going to fall behind,” said Menzie.

One part of the plan that is not likely to change is DeKalb Health’s independent status, which Menzie said is not in danger. He said Price called the independence an “opportunity” during his interviews, and Menzie said it allows the hospital to concentrate on patient care rather than jumping through hoops.

Menzie said DeKalb Health fields constant requests from physicians to come practice medicine at the hospital because it doesn’t hamper its physicians with structure. DeKalb Health’s physicians treat patients from start to finish, Menzie said, and that’s attractive not just to patients, but physicians, as well.

“It may be the single most important thing to our community and our employees, that one issue,” Menzie said about indepen-dence. “There are so many things that smallhospitals can do well and do quickly that a big organization can’t do because of the structure they have to work around. We see this as a wonderful opportunity, and if we can get everybody on board with that, we can do great things.”

That’s the plan for the next 50 years — great things in a new way. Just as the hospital grew from the ground 50 years ago from donations from people who didn’t have money to give, Menzie said DeKalb Health will learn and continue to grow within itself over the next 50 years, paying back the community with quality care.

“There are so many things that small hospitals can do well and do quickly

that a big organization can’t do because of the structure they have to

work around.”

Bob Menzie

DeKalb Health Board Chariman-elect

•Menzie

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DeKalb Health 50th anniversary