Public lines up to see new hospital

The public turned out in huge numbers Wednesday to get a look at the new ThedaCare Medical Center-Shawano.

At least 200 people packed a tent to hear comments from ThedaCare officials and others involved in the project, while well over 100 more gathered in the parking lot waiting to tour the new facility.

Reasons for being there ranged from simple curiosity to the practical.

“The main reason I wanted to be here was so that I know where I need to go when something happens,” said Jan Ebert, who came from Gresham for the event.

“I’m interested in seeing how the inside is laid out. I donate blood on a regular basis and I needed to find out where I need to go the next time,” said Barbara Wetzl, who has been a blood donor for about 40 years.

Some were drawn by the novelty.

“It’s something new; got to check it out,” said Dennis Fredrick, of Clintonville.

A lifelong visitor to the former Shawano Medical Center, Fredrick said he will continue to use the new hospital.

There was also a sense of civic pride for many.

“It’s a big event for our city; something that will be here for a long time and take care of a lot of people,” August Spitzberger said. “It’s a nice addition.”

At least one visitor Wednesday may have been the happiest to see the new hospital open, outside of ThedaCare officials.

That would be Phil Hagen, who lives across the street and has been contending with the inconveniences of the hospital construction.

“I’ve been putting up with this for three years when they were building it,” he said, “so I wanted to see what it was all about.”

Hagen said he looks forward to continued use of ThedaCare.

“ThedaCare is my clinic,” he said. “I’ve been coming here for years to the old place and I’ll continue to.”

Getting ready for Wednesday’s event was no small task.

“We’ve had group meetings for maybe six months or so,” Community Relations Manager Carol Ryczek said. The meetings included SMC staff and ThedaCare’s corporate marketing department.

“There was a lot of it coordinating (about) how can we make this happen and still have semis coming through the parking lot tomorrow morning,” she said.

About 200 chairs were set up in the tent where the speakers gave their remarks. That space quickly filled to overflowing.

Meanwhile, a constant flow of shuttles went back and forth to the nearby high school parking lot, where visitors were diverted for parking.

After the speeches, people crowded around the front entrance of the new hospital for the ribbon cutting and began to pour into the building for the tours.

Those who took the tour were then given a memento courtesy of ThedaCare and the Menominee Indian Tribe — a sprig of cedar attached to a thank you card, assembled by Menominee Indian School District students.

“It’s a gift from the Menominee Language and Cultural Department,” Ryczek said. “Cedar is a traditional healing plant. It’s really meaningful to the Menominee culture. So this is our way of saying ‘thank you’ to people. As they leave the tour they’re going to get this little thank you remembrance.”