Community Health Facility celebrates 10th anniversary

10/28/2009
"A penny buys a lot." That was the slogan used in the 1994 sales tax campaign to fund the Community Health Facility, which celebrates its 10th anniversary this year. On Nov. 8, 1994, 15,714 Douglas County voters approved the 1-cent sales tax 57 to 43 percent. Three years later, ground was broken to build the $14.1-million dollar facility that has served 391,511 Douglas County residents since then. "We basically found a way for the people advocating for a variety of needs to push together for all the same thing," said Craig Weinaug, who has served as county administrator since 1992. "It took everyone getting into a mindset. that they were all legitimate needs that needed to be met by cooperative efforts. And we got it done." The original occupants - Bert Nash Community Mental Health Center, the Lawrence- Douglas County Health Department and the Douglas County Visiting Nurses Association, Rehabilitation and Hospice Care - have continued to use the building, which allows for all three agencies to coordinate care from one central location. An open house to celebrate the anniversary and thank the public for its investment in community health will be from 1 to 3 p.m. Nov. 8. A ribbon cutting, followed by comments from former and current community leaders, will take place from 1 to 1:30 p.m. Local radio personality Hank Booth will emcee the event and the Alferd Packer Memorial String Band will perform. Following the ribbon cutting and remarks, the public are encouraged to take selfguided tours of the facility from 1:30 to 3 p.m.

Related Links:
Community Health Facility celebrates 10th anniversary (PDF) - http://www.douglas-county.com/mycounty/news/docs/pdf/chfannivopenhouse.pdf

Media Contact:
Katherine Shaw, Webmaster
Information Technology Department
(785) 832-5184
webmaster@douglas-county.com