Centennial Dedication and Ceremony

 

St. John’s Medical Center celebrated the 100th anniversary of the dedication of the first St. John’s Hospital with “Honoring the Past, Celebrating the Future,” a ceremony featuring the sealing of an anniversary time capsule, remarks by Wyoming Governor Matt Mead, and introduction of new medical center CEO Paul Beaupré, MD. Outgoing CEO Lou Hochheiser received a standing ovation for his 4 years of service and was presented with a photographed signed by Board of Trustee members.

The ceremony was held under a white tent at St. John’s Medical Center on September 9, 2016, with refreshments, a display of the contents of the time capsule, and music by the Minor Keys, who played music popular in the early part of the 20th century. Winners of the Youth Essay Contest were honored on stage before the time capsule was sealed.

Essay

Time Capsule Youth Essay Contest

Congratulations to the Youth Essay Writing Contest winners! Winning entries will be placed in the Anniversary Time Capsule to be sealed at a public Ceremony and Celebration at St. John’s on September 9, featuring special remarks by Wyoming Governor Mead.

WINNING ESSAYS

Grades K-2

1st place – Silvia Kim-Miller

2nd place – Piper Benjamin

3rd place – Metta Campbell

Grades 3-5

1st place – Aidan Kim-Miller

2nd place – Will King

3rd place – Dafne Hernandez Flores

Grades 6-8

1st place – Josie Berry

2nd place – Alexander Perez-Leon

3rd place – Sofia Madera

Each Age Category will have a 1st, 2nd, and 3rd place winner. Winners will receive:
  • 1st place – $100 cash price and the story is placed in the time capsule.
  • 2nd place – $20.16
  • 3rd place – $19.16

WRITING TOPICS

Entering Kindergarten to entering 2nd Grade

What do you and your family do to stay healthy? In 2066, when you are grown up, what will you be doing to stay healthy? (Illustrations encouraged too)

Entering 3rd Grade to entering 5th Grade

It is 2066 and you work or volunteer at St. John’s Medical Center. Write a story about what your job is at the hospital and what you do to help people be healthy. (Illustrations encouraged too)

Entering 6th Grade to entering 8th Grade

Submit a story about a medical invention that improves the world. What is the invention? How does it work? How will it make the world better? (Illustrations encouraged too)

Help Fill our Time Capsule

Healthy Jackson Hole Time Capsule

We are seeking items to include in the St. John’s Time Capsule, which will be sealed behind a centennial plaque and opened in 2066. Items should adhere to the following criteria:

  1. Relate to the theme “Healthy Jackson Hole 2016”
  2. Conform to Time Capsule dimensions: 10” x 8” x 18”

Please include content idea, why it should be included, and name, phone number, and email of the person submitting the suggestion.

A panel of medical center employees will evaluate community suggestions.

The Time Capsule will be installed on Friday, September 9.

Submit suggestions by August 31 to:
timecapsule@tetonhospital.org

or call 307 739 7380 or Contact Us

St. John’s Hospital Foundation Announces Grammy Award-winning Band for Centennial Celebration

To celebrate the 100th anniversary of St. John’s Medical Center, St. John’s Hospital Foundation is hosting a birthday party open to the entire community on Sunday, July 31st at the Snow King Ballfield. Grammy Award-winning bluegrass band The SteelDrivers is headlining this free, family-friendly event to thank the community for supporting St. John’s Medical Center.

The St. John’s Hospital Foundation is thrilled to bring the 2016 Grammy Award-winning bluegrass band The SteelDrivers to Jackson. After winning a first-time Grammy award for the acclaimed #1 album The Muscle Shoals Recordings, The SteelDrivers are taking 2016 by storm. The group has played to numerous sold-out venues this spring.

“What better way to celebrate one of the community’s most important assets – St. John’s Medical Center – than with a community celebration and birthday party,” said John Goettler, Foundation president. “The Jackson Hole community has been incredibly supportive of St. John’s Medical Center since it was built 100 years ago. We are grateful for the commitment and financial support of our community donors, and this party is a chance for the Foundation to say thank you! We hope that everyone in the community will come and join the celebration.”

Festivities will begin at 4:00 pm with the Hootenanny Allstars, featuring several members of the Jackson Hole Hootenanny. Brent Moyer and Friends take the stage next, with special guest Nashville artist Mike Dowling on guitar. Rounding out the concert program is the Nashville-based band The SteelDrivers, which has been playing to sold-out audiences throughout the country. The music portions of the Centennial Celebration will be produced by Jackson Hole Live.

The Jackson Hole Hootenanny, itself a historic institution, goes back 50 years when Bill Briggs brought artists and musicians together under a bridge in Grand Teton National Park. In the 1990s, the Hoot (as most people call it) moved to Dornan’s Bar in Moose and showcases musicians every Monday night.

Songwriter and multi-instrumentalist Brent Moyer moved from Jackson Hole to Nashville in 1986, but makes a pilgrimage each year to reconnect with the Jackson music scene. Known to many as the Global Cowboy, which is also the name of his 2008 recording, Moyer has released a total of 13 albums.

Mike Dowling spent more than a decade in Nashville playing sessions, fronting his own band, and writing songs for artists that included Del McCoury, Kathy Mattea, and Emmylou Harris. His engaging voice, self-deprecating wit, and arsenal of elegant interpretations of old blues, swing, ragtime, and original tunes captured the hearts of acoustic music fans.

Complimentary activities at the celebration include birthday treats, face painting, hula hooping, Jackson Hole Public Art’s mobile studio, the strider bike park, giveaways, and tips for healthy living. Food trucks and beverage vendors will be available, as they are for Jackson Hole Live events.

Partners for the event include Jackson Hole Public Art, Friends of Pathways, and the Jackson Hole Recycling Center.

For more information, contact Rachel Merrell at 307 739 7517 or rmerrell@tetonhospital.org

First time use of a Simpson Obstetrical Forceps in General Surgery

You have never heard of obstetrical forceps? Well, forceps are used to assist in a vaginal delivery, and often is the last step before the decision is made to perform cesarian delivery. Forceps have been in use for over one hundred years, are named after the obstetrician who developed each particular kind, and are still used today in special circumstances. This story tells of a time when obstetrical forceps were used in my general surgery practice. To date, and after thorough review of the surgical literature, there is no record that this instrument had ever been used outside the practice of Obstetrics.

Let me introduce myself. I am Dr. Roland Fleck, and I am a graduate of the University of Innsbruck Medical School in Austria. Although I am an Austrian native, a portion of my training was also at the University of Paris, France. In 1957, 6 months after my graduation, I came to the United States on an immigration visa to do my internship at Providence Medical Center in Portland, Oregon. I then proceeded into residency and specialty training at University of Wisconsin, Madison in General Surgery and Urology.

The first job after my training was at the MacIntosh County Memorial Hospital, Ashley, ND. The 26 bed hospital had lost their only doctor, and was about to close. My one year contract turned into 15 years, 8 of which I served as the only physician in a county of 5000 people. I practiced the whole spectrum of medicine, including general surgery, urology and Ob/Gyn. It was so remote that I even delivered two of my own kids. It was a busy part of my life and I LOVED it. Often I refer to this section of my life as my “Albert Schweitzer” experience. When a blizzard ripped through the region, you were cut off from the world, no matter what support you needed. You had to be very self-sufficient, and rely on your own resources.

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Hospital’s history built on many donations

From the Jackson Hole News & Guide article on 02/03/2016:

“The hospital was enlarged and improved in 1919. David Skinner of the Elk Ranch donated $10,000 to cover the cost. The actual expense of materials and labor exceeded the estimate, so Mr. Skinner contributed another $2,500, a fundraiser was held, and Dr. Huff contacted his own sources back east for additional money.

In 1925 a fundraising effort was begun for another major expansion of the hospital. It took two years to raise $6,302. Plans called for a 60-by-70-foot, two-story, T-shaped wing to be added to the facility on its east-facing side. The $30,000 project was headed by Dick Winger, because he was treasurer of the St. John’s mission. An article in the Courier cited Dr. Huff and his nurse, Alice Estelle Wheeler, for their vision, energy and hard work in making the development possible.”

Read the rest of the article by Connie Owen in the Jackson Hole News & Guide.

Dr. Huff meets JP Morgan

Soon after the log cabin was built, JP Morgan Jr. and his family were in Jackson Hole on vacation, when Mrs. Morgan broke her leg on a backcountry pack trip. Dr. Huff, the first doctor in the community, went in on horseback, put her leg in a splint, and brought her to St. John’s Hospital to care for her. Meanwhile, JP Morgan had his private railroad car sent to Victor, ID. He requested that Dr. Huff accompany his wife on the train back to New York.

When Dr. Huff arrived in New York, he was taken to a beautiful brownstone mansion where he found a suite prepared for him, including his own monogrammed pajamas. JP Morgan asked Dr. Huff to move to New York and become their family physician, and offered any additional schooling that Huff wanted.

Dr.Huff declined, saying his place was in the valley of Jackson Hole.

St. John’s Medical Center has long benefited from the world class expertise of physicians who remain committed to our patients and community, despite being qualified to practice medicine anywhere they choose. Their legacy is a high level of quality care in Jackson Hole that is rare for a remote, rural town such as ours.