The Sullivan County Memorial Hospital in Milan opened in 1953, and will celebrate their 70th anniversary with an event next week.
Chief Executive Officer Martha Gragg says the event December 5th will also celebrate the community’s support and the existence of the Sullivan County Memorial Hospital Foundation, which was started in the early 2000s.
An employee craft fair and bake sale will be from 9:30 to 12:30. The bake sale is a fundraiser for the Residents Fund to help patients in the hospital’s nursing facility.
Richardson’s Supermarket of Milan will cater a free meal from 11:30 to 1 o’clock. Reservations are not required.
The Sullivan County Memorial Hospital Foundation will hold a 50/50 raffle fundraiser to go toward buying hospital equipment and other items the hospital needs.
There will also be a 1950s photo booth.
Gragg says the 70th Anniversary Celebration will include the sharing of stories of the past and people born at the hospital through the years. She notes the hospital does not currently offer labor and delivery, but a lot of community members were born there and received services there. Gragg, herself, was born at the hospital.
The event will also include tours of the current Sullivan County Memorial Hospital and presentations on future endeavors, like plans for a new facility, as Gragg says, to serve the community another 70 years.
She explains the hospital proposes a new facility will be built in the next three years. The hospital is in the early planning phases, and she does not yet know the exact design of a new building.
Gragg expects the new facility to stay in the general Milan area, but a specific location has not yet been identified.
Gragg says the hospital is working with a network of healthcare providers to try to collaborate and consolidate services as much as possible, so residents can stay closer to home and get “good, quality care.” The providers include the Sullivan County Health Department, Sullivan County Ambulance District, and North Missouri Health Council.
Gragg reports the Sullivan County Memorial Hospital started in 1953 through Housing and Urban Development funds. It was noted that hospital care and services were needed for the area.
Gragg started working at the hospital in the 1970s. She has worked as a nurse, in the laundry department, and in central supply. She has served as the CEO three times, with the most recent time starting in March.
She comments that there have been a lot of changes through the years.
Gragg says the hospital wants to expand OB-GYN and cardiac rehabilitation services as well as other services.
The Sullivan County Memorial Hospital’s Facebook page has more information on the 70th Anniversary Celebration December 5th. More information is also available by calling the hospital at 660-265-4212 or coming to the hospital during business hours.
