Over the past few months we have been featuring businesses that make Callaway a special place to live. Perhaps no local story better exemplifies the spirit of the Seven Valleys than Callaway District Hospital.

Back in the 1950s Callaway District Hospital was built, and Dr. Chalupka was the physician at the facility when it opened and for many years after. In the late 1960s Chalupka moved his practice to the county seat of Broken Bow, and the medical facility in Callaway closed its doors. That is when the townspeople took matters into their own hands. "There was a group of community members that were

"There was a group of community members that were passionate about making sure there were healthcare services in Callaway," shared hospital CEO Brett Eggleston. "All of these people came together with the goal to reopen a hospital."

This group of individuals set out with literally nothing but a dream. "They had no staff, no money, no license to operate a hospital. They just did everything they possibly could to get community support, and went out and recruited a doctor to come to Callaway. That was Dr. Shepherd," Eggleston continued.

Dr. Shepherd lived in New Jersey at the time, but that didn't stop the team who made multiple trips to visit him there. Their persistence ultimately paid off, and Shepherd relocated to Nebraska and reopened the Callaway hospital.

"In the meantime they had to appeal to the State Board of Health to get a license to operate a hospital. At that time they were very selective on where they placed beds in the state, so they had all the control of whether or not you had a hospital in your community. They actually were denied, because the board said there were too many beds in the area and this wasn't needed," Eggleston said.

Not about to give up, the group appealed to the governor and met in the state capital with the governor, his cabinet and the state health representatives. Eggleston recounted the story as it was shared with him.

"The governor looked at the individuals from health and human services and said he didn't understand what their issue was, and told them to give these people their hospital. If those people had not persevered, and spent their personal time and money we would not have a hospital."

Once the license was granted it quickly became apparent that the original building was not sufficient to become certified for Medicare qualified payments, due to the poor condition of the building. In the late 1970s a bond issue was formed for the purpose of constructing a new hospital, which passed.

"In 1978 they moved into a new facility, and that is where we currently operate today," said Eggleston.

"These people put up their own assets - homes, land - to make the mortgage on the hospital. Talk about a leap of faith!," added hospital CFO Caleb Poore.

Currently Callaway District Hospital has three physicians and one physician's assistant on staff. They cover the hospital, the clinic in Callaway and the clinic in Arnold . In total, the hospital and clinic employs 65 people.

"We're actually looking at options for building a new clinic facility in Arnold," Eggleston said. "At this point we kind of have an idea of what we want to do, it just comes down to what piece of land we can acquire to build on ."

"That obviously entails us hiring another provider to operate the clinic, and we have actually had conversations with providers to hopefully make that decision," Poore added.

Callaway District Hospital is licensed for 12 beds. The typical census of in-patients prior to Covid was one or two patients per day, and Eggleston said during Covid the hospital ran closer to four or five patients per day.

The district encompasss 694 square miles and includes the communities of Callaway and Oconto. "We have patients that come from all over the place, not just in our district. About five years ago I looked at where our patients come from, and found that 70% of our patients come from outside of our district," said Eggleston.

Callaway District Hospital is a general acute care facility, focusing primarily on family medicine. In addition, specialists visit the hospital to offer various specialized services including cardiology, oncology, orthopedics, a general surgeon who performs colonoscopies and endoscopies, and podiatry.

"In every facility outpatient services are on the rise and have been for many years," said Poore. "I think majority of the reason for that is that the centers for Medicare and Medicaid are really focused on quality programs to keep people out of the hospital."

The facility offers quality imaging services as well, including MRI each Saturday. A large range of lab services are also offered in-house.

"Our goal is to keep people as close to home as possible for all of their healthcare," said Eggleston.