This week marks the 50th anniversary of St. Charles Bend’s move from its downtown location on Hospital Hill to our current campus on Neff Road.
In 1975, the idea of moving the hospital “halfway to Burns” was not very popular. But former St. Charles CEO Sister Catherine Hellmann had a vision, and she rallied community support to make it a reality.
“They came to me and said, ‘Sister, we decided we want our medical center,’ but they said, ‘nowhere on God’s Earth will we get $12 million,’” she said in an interview that took place after she had retired and moved back to Indiana.
Through many conversations over six years, Sister Catherine and her team managed to transition ownership of the hospital from the Catholic Church to a new, community-based and self-governed nonprofit organization — and secured more than $12 million in donations to build the new hospital.
Thanks to that vision — and the community of Central Oregon coming together — the Bend hospital has served hundreds of thousands of people for a half-century. There is incredible history in these walls: Lives saved and suffering eased. New babies brought into the world. Weddings, talent shows, Lab Olympics and holiday breakfasts. It is truly a remarkable place, full of life and stories of heroism and bravery, tragedy and triumph, and also a million small moments each day that create a culture of caring and compassion.
And, just like those of us with a half-century behind us, the building is starting to show some significant signs of wear and tear, leaks and creaks. Our staff and patients are regularly inconvenienced with roof repairs, HVAC repairs, elevator repairs and other construction disruptions and delays. You’ve likely seen temporary walls, temporary imaging machines and more as the campus shows its age.
All of this is to say that we are now tasked with thinking about what the next 50 years of St. Charles and health care should look like in our region. We are having our Sister Catherine moment.
We are currently going through a master facility planning process that shows, without a doubt, this community needs more hospital beds and space for additional services. We need these spaces more quickly than we can design and build them and more quickly than we can secure financing for them.
But that doesn’t mean we aren’t going to try.
We have an obligation to serve our growing community for the next 50 years and beyond. And, I believe that our community today will recognize the need and choose to support us in this growth just like Sister Catherine experienced all those years ago.
“I saw much more community involvement at this hospital than at any other hospital I ever worked at,” she said. “The people of (Central Oregon) were so open to new ideas. I was kind of like a bird out of a cage there.”
It was true 50 years ago and it’s true today: We cannot fly without your support. Thank you for being on this journey with us.
Sincerely,
Steve
