About Rooks County Health Center
About RCH
Rooks County Health Center is committed to maintaining and restoring health, enhancing the dignity of the individual and fostering life from beginning to end in an empathetic, caring and professional environment. We believe that health care depends on a combination of medical technology, caring and skilled medical professionals and an excellent medical environment. We are looking forward to taking our health care to the next level.
It is a privilege to work with the medical and administrative staff at Rooks County Health Center. Their dedication and professionalism are noted in the following ways:
- positive patient survey comments
- letters of support
- loyalty to the facility
- the quality of patient outcomes
With support from our constituents, the hospital will continue to provide unparalleled medical care in a facility in which this county can be proud.
Mission Statement
To consistently exceed the healthcare expectations of our patients and their families while supporting the financial growth and stability of our region.
Vision Statement
Rooks County Health Center will give our patients quality, personalized care in a progressive, nurturing and innovative work environment driven by strong rural values, a dedicated staff, and the needs of our communities, and at the same time dedicate resources to develop and manage services to meet our financial obligations.
Stephanie Bjornstad, RN, BSN, CEO
Board of Trustees:
Chairman: Jeff Van Dyke
Vice-Chairman: John Voss
Members: Charlie Allphin
Chuck Comeau
Brad Plumer
Board of Trustees
The Board of Trustees is composed of five people elected by the voters of the hospital district for a three (3) year term. They are representatives from the areas of the district. The Board is responsible for seeing that the hospital is properly equipped, organized, managed and maintained to carry out the goals and objectives of the institution. All policies of the hospital are formulated by the board. All members of the medical staff are appointed by the Board upon recommendations from the medical staff.
The Board of Trustees are responsible to the donors, the community and the district to insure the permanence of the hospital and its services. They are vitally concerned with the finances of the hospital and are responsible for the establishment of a yearly budget.
History
In the spring of 1952, the economy of Rooks County was strong, with as many as 40 new homes built in a single year. The development of area oil fields and increased crop production provided a growing job market. With this growth came a concern for quality health care in the area.
A group of concerned citizens organized and circulated a petition asking for a vote on a County Hospital. Since the county-wide issue at that time was unsuccessful, it was decided to form a hospital district by petition. It was not an easy task, but volunteers from all areas of the district worked diligently to obtain the required signatures. Ralph and Geraldine Arnhold donated one square block of land in Plainville as a site for a hospital.
Early in 1953, the completed petitions were presented to the County Commissioners, thus forming Plainville Rural Hospital District #1. The first Board of Directors elected were businessmen Robert Burkholder and Oren Workman, and area farmers Johnie Dauwe, Harry Moos Jr., and Aaron Thomas. Harold Oelschlaeger, attorney and board secretary and Jewell Lewin, bank cashier and board treasurer. Townships in the original district were Richland, Northhampton, Fairview, Rush, Logan, Walton, Hobart, Plainville, Greenfield, Medicine, Twin Mound, Corning, Paradise, and the City of Plainville.
On February 21, 1955 the hospital doors opened to admit the first patients. Bill Brickley was the Administrator and Medical Technologist for 36 years. Dr. E. C. Petterson, the only physician serving this area prior to the hospital construction, helped recruit Dr. A .M. Pederson and Dr. Vale Page to the county.
On opening day, the medical staff consisted of Chief of Staff, Dr. Petterson, Dr. Pederson, Dr. Page and two dentists, Robert Andreson, D.D.S. and Arvin Rueger, D.D.S. A few months later, Harold Mauck, M.D., William Votapka, M.D., George Hopson, M.D., all of Stockton, joined the medical staff of the hospital. Dr. Petterson, Dr. Pederson, Dr. Page, Dr. Mauck and Dr. Votapka practiced medicine in this county until they retired. Their dedication and outstanding care will be remembered for generations.
In 1989, the Rooks County Commissioners voted to attach the following townships to the hospital district: Zurich City, Woodston City, Stockton City and the Townships of Lanark, Stockton, Farmington, Lowell, Ash Rock, Iowa and the Sarver’s addition to Stockton. The Board of Trustees voted to change the hospital’s name from Plainville Rural Hospital to Rooks County Health Center on January 1, 2003.
The Board hoped the name change would reflect on each community. With the name change, the Board incorporated a new logo for the hospital. The logo’s color blocks were selected to represent the school colors of Stockton (blue), Palco (yellow) and Plainville (red).
In April of 2003, the Board began the application process to secure financing for a new hospital to be sited just north of the City of Plainville. In 2006, an overwhelming majority of the voters of the RHC Hospital District gave their approval to the Hospital Board to begin construction on the new facility. Construction began in 2007 and the Rooks County Health Center officially opened on September 22, 2008. The hospital has an effective area of service of nearly 1,300 square miles and an effective service population of over 8,000 citizens of northwest Kansas.
Our current medical staff consists of Dan Sanchez, M.D., Beth Oller, M.D., Mike Oller, M.D., Ron Williams, APRN, Emily Decker, PA-C, Jerome Molstad, PA-C, Leann Zimmerman, APRN, Mary Takaishi, PA-C, and Cheyenne Armbruster-Wahrman, PA-C. Our rich history has provided the foundation for a hospital that has become the benchmark against which all other rural Kansas hospitals are measured. Rooks County Health Center has been serving this area of Northwest Kansas since 1955.
