New London hospital seeks artifacts, photos, articles
By John Faucher
In the late 1920s, New London residents began saving and collecting $1 bills along with the Religious Hospitallers of St. Joseph.
In 1930, construction of New London’s Community Hospital began.
The new hospital opened its doors in 1931.
Since then the hospital and campus have grown into a Level IV Trauma facility within a family of award winning ThedaCare Critical Access Hospitals.
Recently, ThedaCare Medical Center-New London current and past team members launched an initiative to create a history wall within the campus.
David Corso, ThedaCare vice president of Critical Access Hospitals-New London, said the project will be made possible through a donation from Dr. Donn Fuhrmann, a long-time hospital employee and other community donors.
Corso said the wall will memorialize the history and evolution of health care in New London.
“We want the community to feel connected and to honor the role that they have played in the advanced care that has taken place for nearly a century in New London,” said Corso.
Project team
A multi-departmental steering committee formed to guide the project from inception through execution and includes plans for ongoing maintenance.
The team is comprised of current and past employees representing hospital leadership, clinical support staff, physician staff, ThedaCare Family of Foundations and marketing.
“We’re hopeful community members will contribute to the project through the donation of hospital history and artifacts, medical equipment, photos, documents and video,” said Corso. “As a community-based hospital, ThedaCare believes community members likely preserved information and artifacts from the hospital.”
The steering committee is vetting a couple of different locations for the history wall.
“The one that is the current front runner at this point is the hallway that exists between the primary care clinic and the hospital,” said Corso. “It’s a very public area and we want this to be in a location that it would be viewed by many, many individuals.”
Corso said items for the wall would be collected through Jan. 10, 2020, with the design phase beginning in February, and subsequent installation to follow.
Community members are encouraged drop off donated items for the project at the hospital administration office, attention Joy Flohr.
Donors can reach Flohr ahead of time by calling (920) 531-2092.