CEO'S NOTES

It has seemed like the year of the disappearing season.

First cold. Then rain. Then wind. Then heat, lots of heat. Then cold, shivering cold. Then rain.

Then a brilliant, beautiful day.

There must be a moral in the weather. Perhaps it is just that you should cherish those beautiful days that remind us why we live or visit here where blue skies carry eagles and are reflected in the pure waters of our lakes.

Bad weather last fall affected our building project, setting it back a couple of months. But now the sheet rock is going up and the new operating rooms, patient rooms, emergency room and the atrium area are taking shape.

No matter what the weather, when I walk around the new structure, it seems like one of those beautiful days we should be grateful for.

We have been busy this past year. There are new windows being installed in the Communities and new appliances going into the Villa apartments. Fresh colors of paint and carpeting are planned for the Communities. We have reconstructed the parking lot surface that serves the Villa, and placed new utility piping in the process. Our day care building is finished and it is a bright, cheery place for the children of both our staff and our community.

Less obvious, but just as important, are the upgrades we have been making in our medical mission. As an example, we are looking forward to the benefits for our seniors in having orthopedic hip and knee replacements done on site and close to home in our new operating rooms. As a first step we acquired a C-arm fluoroscope, a machine that can give a real time moving picture of orthopedic operations for the surgeon. Dr. Dan Baker has already put this machine to good use.

We have acquired other new equipment, including a state of the art mammography machine. But along with the steel and technology I am even more proud of the people who run these machines and who make our hospital and senior care facility work so well. During the last year our staff has gone to school and gone to workshops, taken tests and taken board exams. They have gone the extra mile to improve themselves and their ability to serve our patients and residents.

Yes, it is really a very beautiful day.