Community Hospital Celebrates 25 Years Of Caring

A great deal has changed since the days the Dietary Department of The Community Hospital grew mint outside for garnishing hospital dinner plates. As the sleepy communities of south Lake County have grown and expanded, so too has The Community Hospital changed from a quiet, 104-bed limited-care hospital to a full-service 352-bed health and wellness complex serving Northwest Indiana and the South Suburban Illinois suburbs.

Twenty-five years ago on Sept. 10, 1973, The Community Hospital opened its doors but not a single patient checked in until the next day!

Today, the hospital has more admissions than any other hospital in Northwest Indiana. Community Hospital has been recognized for meeting the nation's highest standards in healthcare, earning Accreditation with Commendation from the Joint Commission on Accreditation of Healthcare Organizations.

Since its opening as an $8 million facility, The Community Hospital has reinvested more than $250 million in improvements, expansions and acquisitions of new medical technology in its commitment to provide the finest quality care. Today, the success and growth of the hospital, which employs over 2,000 people, has spurred development of a multi-million dollar medical corridor.

"Community Hospital will continue to grow and change to stay in the forefront of the health needs of Northwest Indiana and South Suburban Illinois," said Edward P. Robinson, Administrator of Community Hospital. "One thing won't change: Our commitment to providing quality health care. Twenty-five years from now, we may look different, but the staff and voluntary workers will continue to adhere to excellence in caring for our community."

On December 28, 1964, the Munster Medical Research Foundation was incorporated as a not-for-profit corporation. The purpose was to raise the money to build the first non-sectarian community hospital in Lake County, Indiana... one completely constructed without federal or state tax dollars. Fund-raising for the hospital began in earnest.

In November 1966, the Foundation announced its plans to and unveiled a sketch of the new healthcare facility. Many local locations were considered.

In 1967, Edward P. Robinson, administrator of a Chicago area hospital, was appointed executive director. Robinson, the administrator of Community Hospital today, was directed to work with the architect on the hospital's construction drawings; interface with the various planning agencies and secure the necessary approvals for the hospital; and work with the financial people on feasibility studies. In addition, he was to draw up an organizational plan for staffing the hospital and begin buying equipment.

By January 1970, after numerous starts at fund raising, $350,000 in cash and pledges totaling $1.27 million had been collected by the Foundation. The newly formed Community Hospital Auxiliary became a prime mover for almost all local individual fund raising, collecting $150,000 for the hospital over 10 years.

Early in 1971, it was decided to move the hospital location to a 15-acre plot of land, its present location, bound by Fisher on the north, MacArthur on the south, and Calumet and Columbia on the west and east, where there was more room for expansion.

In the spring of 1971 the Foundation began to gather bids for either a 100-, 150- or 200-bed hospital. At the same time, Ernst and Ernst (now Ernst and Young, LLC.) of Chicago conducted a feasibility study and determined a definite need existed for a hospital to serve the population identified as the primary service area of Community Hospital.

This study reinforced the previous approval received in 1966 by the Hospital Planning Council of Metropolitan Chicago and opened the way to sell bonds to finance the hospital. Finally, after substantial difficulty, $7.6 million in mortgage revenue bonds were underwritten, virtually assuring the hospital would be built.

Groundbreaking took place on Sept. 8, 1972, for a 104-bed hospital. To celebrate, a parade composed of the Munster High School band, twirlers, and American Legion Honor guard, fire engines and police cars stepped off from the A&P parking lot on Ridge Road through searing heat and rush-hour traffic to the land where the hospital would stand.

On Sept. 10, 1973, The Community Hospital opened its doors with a staff of 127 employees and 100 doctors on the medical staff. At that time, Donald S. Powers, current President of the Board of Directors, noted: "Community Hospital may not be the biggest hospital, but it will have the finest quality of care." Today, Community Hospital meets both of these criteria.

The first years were a struggle. With no contract with Blue Cross of Indiana, the major insurer at that time, the occupancy rate as well as the cash flow was severely impacted. In 1976, Blue Cross and other insurers approved the hospital for total reimbursement. This was accomplished by the strong endorsement of the then Governor of Indiana, Otis T. Bowen, M.D., and the hospital acceptance by the Indiana State Board of Health. The need for Community Hospital to exist was firmly and officially established!

In September 1979, the hospital began phasing in the new South Pavilion, containing an emergency department, a 32-bed obstetrical unit and 100 additional medical-surgical beds. The dream of Community Hospital as a full-service hospital had been realized.

Since that time, Community Hospital has added even more services and technology. During the 1980s, the hospital opened a Cardiology and Cardiovascular Department, and a four-phase Cardiac Rehabilitation program, the largest in the state of Indiana. It expanded the Neonatal Unit to 17 beds.

In 1992, the $25 million Community Oncology and Radiation Therapy Center opened. The Heart Center, Retina Center, Rehabilitation and Transitional Care Centers as well as the Chicago Institute of Neurosurgery and Neuroresearch have all been added following the completion of the West Pavilion in 1996.

The Women's Diagnostic Center was dedicated in June 1998. In October 1998, the $15-million Fitness Pointe^SM Health Center, consisting of 84,000 square feet, will open one mile south of the hospital.

The $30 million Community Medical Office Building and Surgery Center, which will connect with the southwest portion of the hospital, is scheduled for summer 1999.