Weekend activities to mark Labette Health's 50th Anniversary

PARSONS, Kan., Sept. 8, 2011–Dedication ceremonies for an innovative new therapy facility, a golden gala and a free community picnic will highlight Labette Health’s 50th anniversary celebration September 30 through October 2.

Anniversary weekend activities will kick off at 10 a.m. Friday, September 30, with the formal dedication of Labette Health’s new Bill and Louisa Wiener Therapy Garden on the east side of the Center of Rehabilitation Excellence (CORE). The garden, funded by a generous grant from the Wieners to the Labette Health Foundation and landscaped by Roger Lavender of Lavender Landscapes, uses a variety of natural surfaces and textures to enhance rehabilitation therapies. It is one of only a few such gardens in the United States designed specifically for rehabilitation uses.

The Labette Health Foundation’s gala fundraiser, “An Evening of Golden Splendor,” will mark the hospital’s actual anniversary date, October first. Commercial Bank is the Gold Sponsor for the event, which will be at the Parsons VFW. Keynote speaker will be Jerry D. Lilley, who served as the hospital’s administrator from 1963 through 1990, and the Foundation will honor three “Healthcare Heroes” nominated by the community.

Lilley also will be among the honorees at a brunch for current and past members of the Labette Health Board of Trustees and Foundation Board the following morning.

“Labette Health has a proud history of service to our community, and it is important that we take time in the midst of our celebration to honor those whose stewardship brought us to this point,” said Jodi Schmidt, Labette Health CEO.

The celebration will continue with a public open house and free community picnic Sunday, October 2, from noon to 3 p.m. A pulled-pork barbecue lunch will be provided by Commercial Bank, and a variety of activities for all ages are planned.

• Golfers will have a chance to practice their skills on a putting course at the CORE and receive tips for maintaining flexibility and reducing injuries from Labette Health’s therapists.

• Registered Dietitian Reno Jain will demonstrate healthy cooking recipes at the Rector Diabetes Education and Resource Center.

• Demonstrations of Tai Chi and Zumba are planned, and the Parsons Recreation Center tumblers and cheerleaders will perform.

• For the kids, gold balloons and face-painting by the Parsons High School Cheerleaders will be available.  The Rec Center’s Imagination Playground, an inflatable bounce house and obstacle course will be located near the Rector Center. A variety of games and contests will be available and children will have an opportunity to dig for gummy worms – and a 50th anniversary medallion – in a giant tub of crushed chocolate cookies.

• Wellness checks will be available, as well as behind-the-scenes tours of areas many hospital visitors don’t get a chance to see. 

“We want to show our appreciation to our community for its trust and support over the years, but above all, we want this to be a fun celebration with our neighbors, friends and co-workers,” Schmidt said.

Labette Health, then Labette County Medical Center, opened its doors at midnight Oct. 1, 1961. Mercy Hospital, which had been operated by the Sisters of St. Joseph since 1912, ceased admitting patients at the same time. Mercy had been ordered closed by the Kansas Board of Health because it was not a fire-resistant structure, sparking an intense bond-election campaign in 1959.

Voters approved the project by a two-to-one margin, and the $1.5 million, 65-bed facility opened in 1961 after a week of tours in which some 12,000 visitors received a first-hand look at the new hospital.

The hospital, which changed its name to Labette Health in 2007, is now a 109-bed, three-story facility with satellite clinics in St. Paul and Cherryvale. A $32 million expansion and renovation project completed in 2010 added a new front-entrance lobby, registration and cafeteria space; operating and outpatient procedure suites; a 30,000-square-foot medical office building, the Rector Diabetes Education and Resource Center, and the 15,000-square-foot CORE, which houses outpatient rehabilitation, a medical-based fitness center and two aquatic-therapy pools.

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