June 8, 2017
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City leaders welcome everyone to celebration By CARLA WATERS, Managing Editor cwaters@intranix.com With the city’s 150th celebration imminent, two men at the forefront of this year’s celebration are the latest two mayors: Bob Harwood, who served the city for eight years, and John Allhands who took office in May. The two men have committed themselves to the well-being of the city, and both are welcoming everyone to this year’s celebration. “On behalf of the city government and both of us, we wish to welcome everyone to Watseka to celebrate our 150th birthday,” Allhands said. “As we celebrate the city, its people and its history, there are a variety of events for people to enjoy,” Harwood said. Harwood said it grew from a two-day event to now spanning four and many people have worked hard to get the events in place. Most of the events are free, something Harwood said was wanted from the beginning. The city put a budget of $70,000 on the event, and the committee has been able to stay within that budget while bringing several concerts, food vendors, car shows, kids games, and other activities to the city for not only the the citizens of Watseka, but for everyone in the area to enjoy. “We invite everyone to come to the city to help Watseka celebrate,” Allhands said. “We wish to bring back former residents and invite people from the surrounding communities so we can celebrate Watseka in unity, fellowship Photo by Carla Waters and camaraderie, he said. “We hope you all share in this celebration of Mayor John Allhands honors Mayor Bob Harwood during the the city’s history. “The city takes pride in being the county seat and we feel this should change of mayorship in May. The two men have worked together on be a county-wide celebration,” he said. “We wish to share this with the a number of issues, including the Watseka Sesquicentennial. They entire area. We want everyone to come to Watseka and enjoy the activi- invite everyone in the area to Watseka to celebrate June 8-11. ties.” Harwood and Allhands each said, too, that the city has a bright future. Watseka, county seat of Iroquois County, has a retail center that gives people from the region opportunities to shop for items they need. Watseka also has job opportunities in the business sector, and city officials continue to work with local businesses to help them grow as well as talking with representatives of new business ventures when those arise. The 150th is a time for everyone to reflect on the history of Watseka and to look ahead to the future. Both men believe in the bright future Watseka has. “There’s no place like Watseka,” Allhands said. The celebration begins June 8 and runs through June 11.
– Serving the area since 1916 – The Iroquois Hospital (the original name) was founded in 1913 through a generous $50,000 donation from Anna Donovan in honor of her husband John L. Donovan. The donation covered the cost of the land, the building and the equipment. On February 25, 1916 the hospital was open for public inspection and on February 28, 1916 with a staff of twelve employees, three patients were admitted. Today with over 425 employees, Iroquois Memorial Hospital and the Satellite Clinics have over 75,000 patient visits annually. Expansion of the campus began in 1952 with a two story wing that was added to the north and to the west of the original building. In 1958 the Iroquois Resident Home was built. It was the first nursing home attached to a hospital in the State of Illinois. In 1961 a third floor was added to the 1952 west wing addition. In 1971 a large three story addition was built on the east end of the hospital. This allowed IMH to expand to accommodate ninety-four patients. The new addition also included space for an Emergency Department, Surgery, X-Ray, Laboratory, Physical Therapy and Purchasing. In 1996 the IMH Specialty Clinic and North Entrance were completed as the first phase of a three phase construction project. The second phase, opened in 2001, was a rooftop helipad, patient transfer elevator, ambulance entrance, and back hallway connecting the Emergency Department to Medical imaging. The third and final phase was a new surgery center with four state of the art surgical suites and two procedure rooms. Iroquois Memorial Hospital’s growth also included clinics in various communities providing healthcare close to home. They included the IMH Milford Clinic in 1986, the IMH Gilman Clinic in 1989, the IMH Kentland Clinic in 1990, the Iroquois Regional Health Center in 2007, the IMH Multi Specialty Physicians Clinic in 2010, and the Iroquois Women’s Health Clinic in 2012. Over the years Iroquois Memorial has received numerous awards. The most recent awards include in 2001 Helipad of the Year by the Illinois Aviation Administration, 2005 a top 100 hospital by Solucient, and in 2015 the Iroquois Resident Home was named on of America’s Best Nursing Homes by U.S. News & World Report.
There has also been a commitment to technology with a 160 slice CT, Nuclear Medicine Camera, 3D Mammography, Ultrasound, and MRI all accredited by the American College of Radiology, IMH also has expanded into telemedicine with Telestroke and TeleICU. In 2017, IMH launched a new logo. Tim Smith, IMH CEO described the logo as “The trunk of the tree is
made up of people. These people represent our employees and the community that we care for. People are what makes IMH strong. The tree trunk is made up of 3 people which represent our past, our present, and our future. The tree has roots. IMH is deeply rooted in our community. We are here to stay. The tree has colorful leaves. IMH is alive and growing. The word believe is carved in our bark. We believe that together we will be successful.”