KEOSAUQUA, IOWA -- Hundreds of people turned out Sunday afternoon at the campus of Van Buren County Hospital to celebrate its 60th birthday; but that was not the only reason for celebration. The hospital also broke ground on a new community center.
“We’ve been waiting for this day, actually for 21 years,” said Lisa Schnedler, CEO and Administrator of Van Buren County Hospital.
“Our doors opened 60 years ago and we thought, what a great opportunity; as we are breaking ground on this new community center; how wonderful it is to celebrate our birthday party at the same time,” said Schnedler.
The building will house a handful of organizations; including the Head Start program, the WIC program and Grant Support programs. Schnedler hopes to have the building completed in late March.
“It's just incredible, because we like to be the focal point and we are for health care in this county; and the board has expanded that definition to mean all community services that contribute to health that others are not doing,” said Schnedler.
But all of this would not have happened if it was not for the support of the people of Van Buren County.
“As we always tell our community members - they pay the taxes - they own the building - they determine what goes in it - and we are just a reflection of them,” said Schnedler.
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