Community Medical Center

History

The idea of a hospital in Falls City originated in 1918 when Dr CL Hustead and Rev John Mathieson pastor of the St Pauls Lutheran Church started and organization to construct a Lutheran Hospital

Dr Hustead traveled to New York City for consultation with the Board of the United Lutheran Church to get approval and to have defined an allotted territory for the solicitation of funds

When the Board granted approval and established Falls City as the hub of the hospital district plans proceeded funds collected and building started The cornerstone was laid on September 22 1918

When the building was near completion dissatisfaction occurred within the Board of Trustees and among members of the association there were objections to certain bylaws made by the Attorney from the Intermission Board By a special election the property was voted out of the control of the church

On June 1 1922 Dr Hustead purchased the property from the Lincoln Safe Deposit Company Lincoln Nebraska He completed the building and operated it from the date of purchase until August 1 1940 During that period the hospital was equipped with necessary facilities including fully equipped xray and laboratory departments It was operated as an open door hospital with an organized staff and members of the Richardson County Medical Society and physicians from adjacent medical societies were privileged to practice there The Falls City Hospital under the administration of Dr Hustead was the fifth hospital in Nebraska to be accredited by The American Hospital Association

In May 1940 the Sisters of Charity of Leavenworth purchased the local hospital and assumed operation in August 1940 The name was Our Lady of Perpetual Help Hospital

During the fifteen years that the Sisters remained here the hospital was staffed with qualified laboratory and xray technicians dietitians and nursing supervisors from their order A resident Chaplain was employed

In the fall of 1954 Mother Ancilla Superior of the Sisters of Leavenworth decided to cease operation of the local unit She felt that the lack of patronage and community interest could be revived under a different type of ownership A group of local business and professional men were organized to study the hospital situation The Sisters agreed to remain until July 20 1955 The Community sold bonds and purchased the hospital from the Sisters of Charity at that time The hospital was incorporated as a nonprofit community hospital and is known as Community Hospital Inc with a Board of Trustees elected as the governing body The original Board of Trustees was composed of John Lichty Harry Huston Roland Owens Wilbur Prichard Walter Kottich Sr Kenneth Sandrock Ed Buchhoz Gus Scholz and Homer Wiltse

Community Hospital Inc operated the original structure for five years at which time the decision was made to add twelve beds new offices a surgery and obstetrical department During this time there were periods when the hospital made a profit and periods when it operated at a loss It is worthy of mention that the first years budget for Community Hospital Inc in 1955 was approximately 100000 and in 1997 the budget was approximately 9000000

In 1969 and 1970 the 1918 structure was completely gutted and rebuilt to conform to the existing fire and safety codes The entire hospital was air conditioned at this time and the Emergency Room was moved from third floor to first floor A physical therapy department was also added during this phase In 1976 it became apparent that the 39 beds currently in use would not be sufficient to handle the patient load and the Board of Directors elected to embark upon a two phase building program Phase I was the first floor addition of a new xray lab emergency room dietary department and a new mechanical room to replace all of the existing boilers and air conditioning This project was done primarily with HillBurton money Phase II was financed by a fund drive which had a goal of 640000 and was successfully completed prior to the completion of Phase I This wing is named the Henderson Memorial Wing in honor of the 140000 bequest from the Robert G Henderson MD estate

In 1982 a portion of the 1918 structure was removed and a new entrance built in honor of Sherm Eddie for his bequest of 50000

In June 1986 Max Rathman Administrator unexpectedly passed away The Board of Trustees contracted with Great Plains Health Alliance of Phillipsburg Kansas to assist in hiring a new administrator and aid in managing the facility

In September of 1991 the articles of incorporation and bylaws were changed In 1955 when the community purchased the hospital from the Sisters people who contributed to that cause were invited to annual meetings and board members were elected from these meetings Over the years as these people either moved or died no one from the community attended these meetings and the board members became responsible for helping find their replacements as their terms ended The change in the articles of incorporation and bylaws reflected this new board member replacement process and made it self perpetuating The changes also decreased the board size from ten members to seven

In November 1994 a ground breaking ceremony was held for the construction of a new physical therapy and business office and the renovation of about 15000 square feet of the facility This project was to reorganize the facility and add more area for the outpatient services that had dramatically grown In addition an arrangement was made with Christ Lutheran Church to develop a parking lot north of the church for hospital employees and church parishioners

In October 1995 the name was changed to Community Medical Center Inc This change was made to incorporate the new services and the plans to build a new physicians clinic to the hospital Ground was broken in December of 1995 for the 7000 square foot physician clinic