History
The need for a hospital began with an emergency on May 22, 1938. Seven people were seriously injured in a head-on crash near Waukon. The medical office of Drs. Rominger and Jeffries, located above what was recently Klenske Drug Store and is now Gemini Salon, was immediately furnished with beds so the seven victims could be “hospitalized.” The medical office continued to serve as the hospital.
A short time thereafter, Drs. Rominger and Jeffries expanded and began a maternity hospital in a gray-framed house in downtown Waukon.
A few years later, the City of Waukon purchased the land for the construction of the first hospital in 1947. The hospital itself was completed and opened to the public on October 1, 1950. The hospital was named Veterans Memorial Hospital in honor of the Veterans who had served recently in both World Wars. The hospital had an OB department, an operating room, an ER room, and eight inpatient rooms with 12 beds on the main level and 14 on the upper level. It was managed by the Good Samaritan Society.
In 1962, Veterans Memorial Hospital had its first expansion. It added 15 more patient rooms and another shower room on each floor. The Foyer, which now holds the administration offices, was also added at that time and served as the main entrance to the hospital.
Also in 1962, the first patient was flown by airplane from the Waukon Airport to a larger hospital for advanced emergency care. At that time, the local ambulance service was managed by the Gilbert family until they turned it over to the City of Waukon in 1977, and the hospital staff then began to manage the service. The hospital’s service became a paramedic provisional service in 2005 and now has three trucks available for emergencies and transfers, and helicopters regularly land right outside the ER to transfer critical patients. Local ambulance services who frequently bring patients to Veterans Memorial Hospital include Harpers Ferry, Lansing, Monona, New Albin, Postville, and Waterville.
On January 1, 1975, the City of Waukon took over the ownership of Veterans Memorial Hospital from the Good Samaritan Society. That is when IPERS began as the employee’s retirement plan.
Approval was given in 1976 for an addition to expand emergency and radiology services. This was completed in December of 1977.
On July 1, 1995, the hospital began managing Allamakee County Public Health for the county, renaming it Veterans Memorial Hospital Community and Home Care. The office remained in the Allamakee County Courthouse until 2000, when the hospital had room to move them onto the third floor of the building.
The Franciscan Skemp Healthcare Waukon Clinic, which then became the Mayo Waukon Clinic, was opened in early 1998. It was built with plans for the hospital to adjoin it the next year.
In May of 1998, Veterans Memorial Hospital broke ground for a 3-year building and renovation project, which was completed in January 2001. The project allowed for one central heating and air conditioning unit, replacing the 50-year-old boiler system, allowing each patient room to have control of its own heating and cooling needs. The other main reason for this necessary project was to add a shower to each patient room, replacing the single shower available on the entire patient floor. In addition, the project included a new main entrance, allowing us to separate the ER and main entrances for privacy; convenient access to all medical specialists; a new CT scanner within the building and updated radiology department; a totally new laboratory; a surgery suite; and rehabilitation, therapy, and fitness services. The maternity services area was completely redesigned to provide care with up-to-date standards. Overall, this project allowed for a greater availability of private rooms and gave each room its own private restroom facilities.
Also included in this project was a chapel, or Meditation Room, for patients and their families to reflect and have quiet time during the stay of a patient. This room is dedicated in memory of Ingrid Dehli Hogan, a long-time hospital employee who expressed how much a chapel was needed. In 2022, this was renamed the Ingrid Dehli Hogan Healing Center in order to meet the CMS requirements for the cultural competencies of Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion.
In 2005, the Gundersen Lutheran Waukon Clinic, now Emplify Health Clinic, was built and attached to the south end of the hospital.
In June of 2008, Veterans Memorial Hospital began the renovation of the Same Day Surgery area, making it able to serve more patients, more privately. In January of 2012, Veterans Memorial Hospital added the I.C.N. Conference Room with I.C.N. capability for long distance learning. In 2012, the Nurse’s Station was remodeled for patient privacy and service, and the Hospitality Room was added. In 2013, the patient rooms were remodeled for easier staff access and patient comfort. Radiology upgraded their structure and became digital. In 2019, a new permanent MRI unit was placed in the MRI lot for all images, offering more tests than before and providing more patient comfort, and a second massage therapy room was added.
The Waukon Mayo Clinic closed their doors in December 2019, but fortunately, Veterans Memorial Hospital now has ownership of that building, and on May 3, 2021, we opened the new VMH Clinic-Waukon in that building after some minor renovations, new flooring, and paint.
Then, on July 5, 2022, we opened the VMH Clinic-Postville in the Postville Medical Clinic location that had been owned and operated by Dr. Thomas McMullan and his wife, Dr. Gloria Blanco, for nearly 40 years. In October of 2022, our first Behavioral Health Clinic was opened, meeting a huge community need.
On Tuesday, November 8, 2022, the residents of Allamakee County overwhelmingly voted to convert VMH from a city-owned to a county-owned hospital with a near 72% approval rate ensuring that VMH will be here to serve all of Allamakee County and the surrounding area, right here at home, which we have done for over 70 years.
Improvements and efficiencies are always taking place at Veterans Memorial Hospital, but as stated by Mary Riley, RN, long-time employee, and known as the founding “mother” of the hospital, “You still get the best care here at Veterans Memorial Hospital. The building is incidental—it’s the people who are the important factor.”
