|
|
|
The year was 1980.
Fresh out of grad school and new to the area, Carol Rohrsen was navigating the streets of Glendale Heights to apply for a job at the recently built Adventist GlenOaks Hospital.
“I stopped at a place to get directions because I got lost,” Rohrsen said. “Someone said to me, ‘There’s no hospital in Glendale Heights.’”
Determined to find the facility people said did not exist, Rohrsen got back in her car and again pulled out the map.
Soon she arrived at 701 Winthrop Ave.
Now, three decades later, the Carol Stream resident and a nurse in cardiology stress testing will be honored during the hospital’s anniversary celebration along with several other employees who have been with GlenOaks since its founding. The event will include a dedication and prayer service.
| If you go WHAT Adventist GlenOaks Hospital’s 30th anniversary celebration WHEN Noon Tuesday, March 9 WHERE Adventist GlenOaks, 701 Winthrop Ave., Glendale Heights |
Village officials are expected to adopt a proclamation declaring March 9, 2010, as “Adventist GlenOaks Hospital Day” in recognition of the hospital’s importance in the community.
A new work of art with the hospital’s mission statement, “Extending the Healing Ministry of Christ,” created on canvas by renowned local artist Timothy Botts will be unveiled.
Botts’ wife, Nancy, a nurse in the hospital’s obstetric unit, is another employee who will be recognized during the celebration.
Nancy Botts remembers the perks of working in a brand-new facility.
“I got to rip the plastic (coverings) off all the new things,” she said. “It was before we even had patients.”
Adventist GlenOaks Hospital opened as Glendale Heights Community Hospital on March 9, 1980, on 15 acres east of Glen Ellyn Road that once included the childhood home of Merle Reskin, a founding father of Glendale Heights.
Brinsley Lewis, the hospital’s chief executive officer, said in the early 1970s, there were no physicians practicing in Glendale Heights.
“Local leaders joined more than 200 community residents in rallying to develop a community hospital,” she said. “Their efforts led to a groundbreaking in 1977 and the hospital’s opening in 1980. We are now a 186-bed award-winning hospital treating patients from all over northern DuPage County.”
Botts came to Adventist GlenOaks after working at Delnor Hospital in Geneva because she liked the idea of working at a place just getting off the ground. She stayed because of her experience.
“I really enjoy the people I work with,” she said. “We work as a good team.”
The year was 1980.
Fresh out of grad school and new to the area, Carol Rohrsen was navigating the streets of Glendale Heights to apply for a job at the recently built Adventist GlenOaks Hospital.
“I stopped at a place to get directions because I got lost,” Rohrsen said. “Someone said to me, ‘There’s no hospital in Glendale Heights.’”
Determined to find the facility people said did not exist, Rohrsen got back in her car and again pulled out the map.
Soon she arrived at 701 Winthrop Ave.
Now, three decades later, the Carol Stream resident and a nurse in cardiology stress testing will be honored during the hospital’s anniversary celebration along with several other employees who have been with GlenOaks since its founding. The event will include a dedication and prayer service.
| If you go WHAT Adventist GlenOaks Hospital’s 30th anniversary celebration WHEN Noon Tuesday, March 9 WHERE Adventist GlenOaks, 701 Winthrop Ave., Glendale Heights |
Village officials are expected to adopt a proclamation declaring March 9, 2010, as “Adventist GlenOaks Hospital Day” in recognition of the hospital’s importance in the community.
A new work of art with the hospital’s mission statement, “Extending the Healing Ministry of Christ,” created on canvas by renowned local artist Timothy Botts will be unveiled.
Botts’ wife, Nancy, a nurse in the hospital’s obstetric unit, is another employee who will be recognized during the celebration.
Nancy Botts remembers the perks of working in a brand-new facility.
“I got to rip the plastic (coverings) off all the new things,” she said. “It was before we even had patients.”
Adventist GlenOaks Hospital opened as Glendale Heights Community Hospital on March 9, 1980, on 15 acres east of Glen Ellyn Road that once included the childhood home of Merle Reskin, a founding father of Glendale Heights.
Brinsley Lewis, the hospital’s chief executive officer, said in the early 1970s, there were no physicians practicing in Glendale Heights.
“Local leaders joined more than 200 community residents in rallying to develop a community hospital,” she said. “Their efforts led to a groundbreaking in 1977 and the hospital’s opening in 1980. We are now a 186-bed award-winning hospital treating patients from all over northern DuPage County.”
Botts came to Adventist GlenOaks after working at Delnor Hospital in Geneva because she liked the idea of working at a place just getting off the ground. She stayed because of her experience.
“I really enjoy the people I work with,” she said. “We work as a good team.”
As a Christian, Botts said she also values the hospital’s mission statement.
In Lombard resident Sue Karau’s 30 years, she has watched Adventist GlenOaks change with the times. Karau is a physical therapy treatment assistant and coordinator of physical therapy.
“Certainly with technology,” she said. “As the years go on, we get better technology. In most departments, you can see that. From back in the day when MRIs weren’t all that popular, and then getting our own machines.”
Rohrsen said the hospital is a great place to work.
“Being small, we’re really allowed to take time to get to know people and help them,” Rohrsen said. “You feel good about your work.”
Karau expressed similar sentiments.
“We know the patients by name,” Karau said. “They don’t just get lost in the shuffle.”
