Joe Turpen (in white hat), president of the Lincoln-Scott township hospital district board, is flanked by representatives from Olathe Medical Center representatives and local officials as he scoops up a shovelful of dirt during a groundbreaking ceremony Sunday for La Cygne Family Care. (Photo by Dustin Kass)
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A groundbreaking clinic
First Shovelfuls Of Earth Moved During Sunday Ceremony At Future Site Of New La Cygne Health Clinic
By Dustin Kass, dustinKass@miconews.com
The first dirt was moved Sunday on the site that will someday hold La Cygne Family Care.
With those few shovelfuls of earth behind an aging yellow home at 1017 E. Market St., Lincoln-Scott township hospital district members, local officials and Olathe Medical Center representatives kicked off a new era of health services in the area.
More than 40 people turned out Sunday for the groundbreaking ceremony, which is the latest step in the district’s effort to build a new health facility.
Following opening comments from Joe Turpen, president of the hospital district board, a pair of local elected officials praised the efforts. Linn Valley City Council member Roger Taylor called the coming facility a “phenomenal situation.”
“The folks in Linn Valley are looking forward to it,” he said.
La Cygne Mayor Keith Smith also hit on the value of the clinic to the area, saying it is “sorely, sorely needed.”
The residents of north and south Lincoln and Scott townships shared that feeling. More than 51 percent of registered voters in the area signed a petition requesting the development of the hospital district, a petition that was approved by the Linn County Commission in March 2007.
The move came after commissioners voted to dissolve the former Linn County Hospital Board in June 2006 and move more than $400,000 left in the group’s coffers into the county’s general fund. The former hospital board was created in 1998 to control the clinics in La Cygne and Mound City after Saint Luke’s Health Systems left the county.
The commissioners voted unanimously last month to award $100,000 to the hospital district to help reduce taxes being raised to fund the new health clinic, with a promise of using future funds to raise that amount to $140,000 for the proposed 4,000 square foot facility.
While it will still be some time before the clinic is constructed and ready to accept its first patients, the city of La Cygne and the entire area should start seeing its benefits quite soon, Smith said.
“It’s more and more difficult for small towns to attract people and businesses,” Smith said. “This will attract people to our town. I think it’s great.”
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With those few shovelfuls of earth behind an aging yellow home at 1017 E. Market St., Lincoln-Scott township hospital district members, local officials and Olathe Medical Center representatives kicked off a new era of health services in the area.
More than 40 people turned out Sunday for the groundbreaking ceremony, which is the latest step in the district’s effort to build a new health facility.
Following opening comments from Joe Turpen, president of the hospital district board, a pair of local elected officials praised the efforts. Linn Valley City Council member Roger Taylor called the coming facility a “phenomenal situation.”
“The folks in Linn Valley are looking forward to it,” he said.
La Cygne Mayor Keith Smith also hit on the value of the clinic to the area, saying it is “sorely, sorely needed.”
The residents of north and south Lincoln and Scott townships shared that feeling. More than 51 percent of registered voters in the area signed a petition requesting the development of the hospital district, a petition that was approved by the Linn County Commission in March 2007.
The move came after commissioners voted to dissolve the former Linn County Hospital Board in June 2006 and move more than $400,000 left in the group’s coffers into the county’s general fund. The former hospital board was created in 1998 to control the clinics in La Cygne and Mound City after Saint Luke’s Health Systems left the county.
The commissioners voted unanimously last month to award $100,000 to the hospital district to help reduce taxes being raised to fund the new health clinic, with a promise of using future funds to raise that amount to $140,000 for the proposed 4,000 square foot facility.
While it will still be some time before the clinic is constructed and ready to accept its first patients, the city of La Cygne and the entire area should start seeing its benefits quite soon, Smith said.
“It’s more and more difficult for small towns to attract people and businesses,” Smith said. “This will attract people to our town. I think it’s great.”