The Callaway Chamber of Commerce hosted an official welcome reception for the new administrator and director of nursing at Callaway Good Life. A large crowd gathered at Henry’s Bar on Friday, Sept. 16, for a meet and greet.

Administrator Lori McConnell is a native of Arnold. She began her duties as administrator on June 6. Betsy Spanel is Good Life’s director of nursing and has been a nurse for more than 36 years. She has lived in Callaway with her husband, Craig, for 29 years. Both ladies began their new jobs at Callaway Good Life Center in June.

The nursing home was previously owned by Good Samaritan Society. When the closure of the facility was announced, a community group led by Ron Jorgenson began an effort to keep the doors of the facility open.

“When the facility was originally opened in the 1960’s (I believe it was owned by Evangelical Lutheran) there was an agreement in place that stated the building was to go back to the community if the facility were ever closed in the future,” explained Brett Eggleson. “Ron knew this agreement was in place and was able to produce a copy of the document that transferred ownership of the building to the community.”

At that time they had a building, but no money to operate. A community meeting was called to discuss the closure and by the end of the night nearly $250,000 was raised to help fund the creation of a new entity and provide cash for initial operations. The facility is now owned and operated by Callaway Good Life Center, Inc. a community led non-profit organization.

CGLC is governed by a five-member board consisting of Mary Ross, Randy Kimball, Tracey Sutherland, Marcia Keeney and Jim Smith. Callaway Good Life Center is a 35-bed facility. Visitors are allowed but must be screened and wear masks.

“CGLC is an integral part of Callaway’s healthcare services and the community should be very proud of the efforts to maintain the facility,” said Eggleston.