PMC Foundation Observes Hospital District Golden Jubilee

The creation of the Prowers County Hospital District in 1968 was celebrated this past Friday, May 11^th, at the Prowers Medical Center campus, with a gala jubilee.  The district was formed a half century ago in order to expand services and provide better and continuing healthcare to the residents of southeast Colorado.

Prowers Medical Center CEO, Craig Loveless

PMC board members, members of the hospital medical and administrative staff and various community members attended the semi-formal, black tie event. As a hospital is responsive to the changing health needs of the community, so too is it able to respond to the changing elements of local weather.  What had been planned as an outdoors, tented event was moved indoors to the spacious rehabilitation gymnasium as there were concerns imminent wind gusts could have been disruptive to the evening event .

PMC, COO, Karen Bryant and Mike Bryant

Craig Loveless, Prowers Medical Center Chief Executive Officer, provided the welcoming address, thanking the event’s contributing sponsors, including CPR Anesthesia. Loveless highlighted the Foundation board of directors, noting their service to the community and the hospital since the group’s inception in 2011.  Following hors d’oeuvres provided by the hospital’s food services staff, Amber Rider, PMC executive assistant, compared the 50 years of the life of the hospital district to several national companies still in existence after a half century such as Calvin Klein and Red Lobster while many others had not endured.   Rider provided historical events from 1968 that have impacted our lives such as the first heart transplant or the innovation of 911 emergency service calls.  She also listed the financial impact Prowers Medical Center has on the local community, generating 200 jobs and contributing an estimated $12M into the community through wages and retail sales.

Members of the PMC Auxiliary

The development of the hospital and its role in community health was also highlighted, from the years of early medical practices, dating back to the 1890s in the county, to the transitions of several hospitals into what is Prowers Medical Center today. The one facet that binds those events together was the community’s recognition of the need for a centrally located medical facility and its early financial commitment to sustaining its development for Prowers County.

Contributing sponsors for the Jubilee included: Legacy Bank, Lamar Rotary, Lamar Area Hospice, rfarmer LLC, Community State Bank, Banner and Bower, PC, Brase Insurance, Jim and Carrie Smith, PMC Auxiliary in memory of Vivian Ply, KVAY Radio, City of Lamar, Theron Hammer, Edward Jones, Mulliken Werner Berg & Joliet Attorneys, George and May Gotto and La Mission Villaneuva.

By Russ Baldwin