Our Past...

"The Woodlawn" opened its doors on November 2, 1905 at the 7th and Pontiac Streets location, to "administer medical and surgical aid to all who desired hospital care." It was founded by Dr. Winfield Scott Shafer who passed away on January 23, 1916. He was succeeded by this son, Dr. Howard O. Shafer, who continued to provide administration for the Hospital. After Howard's death, the Hospital was sold to Dr. Milton E. Leckrone in April 1935. He rebuilt a major portion of the institution to serve a larger community, beginning late 1935 and 1936. Although the new facility practically doubled the capacity of the old Woodlawn, it became evident by the mid-1940's that another expansion would be necessary. This construction was followed by a later expansion and renovation occurring in 1956.

The current facility, constructed in 1979, was designed to treat patients primarily on an inpatient basis. However, just five years, later, changes in the Medicare and Medicaid reimbursement formulas shifted the delivery of care from inpatient to an outpatient basis. The newly constructed Woodlawn Hospital was functionally out-of-stop with the latest mandates for healthcare delivery just five years after construction.

Today, almost three decades later, these inadequacies are even more evident. The facility continues to have difficulty accommodating today's volume of patients that are served on an outpatient basis. Just in the last three years, we have experienced a 17% growth in the number of outpatient procedures.

Another consequence of the reimbursement mandates was that higher rates were assigned to urban designated hospitals and lower rates assigned to rural designated hospitals -- for the same procedures. Rural hospitals, receiving less reimbursement, lost revenue and subsequently found it difficult to accumulate funds to convert their hospitals to deliver care on an outpatient basis. For these hospitals, improvements were to be delayed for years. Over the last 24 years many small hospitals have closed, affiliated with larger hospital systems, have been sold to for-profit chains, or have survived without making major capital improvements.

As nonprofit rural hospitals have struggled, they have no foregone their commitment to provide care for those who cannot afford to pay. Woodlawn Hospital continues to provide compassionate care to anyone financially unable to pay for services. In 2007, Woodlawn Hospital assumed nearly $479,717 in compassionate care and $2,924,730 in uncollectible accounts on gross revenues of $53 million, decreased by contractual adjustments from Medicare and third-party payers of $20 million. While Woodlawn Hospital is a county-owned facility, the taxpayers do NOT pay any money for its day-to-day operations - wages, new equipment, and so forth.

Currently, a national Critical Access program for rural hospitals with 25 beds or less has been implemented to right the reimbursement inequities of the past. Since Woodlawn Hospital's designation as a Critical Access program is based on the percentage of Medicare volume rather than just the total number of patients served. As you may know, our area has a significant number of senior citizens, so this program helps us provide service when it might not otherwise be feasible.

Over the past few years, Woodlawn Hospital has enhanced many of its existing programs and has added several new ones, such as a new 64-slice CT scanner, electronic medical records, and point-of-care electronic records. Woodlawn Hospital continues to recruit specialists and new physicians, so area residents may obtain excellent healthcare, here at home, rather than traveling long distances to larger cities.

Today, Woodlawn Hospital is one of the largest employers in the county, issuing an annual payroll of approximately $15 million for over 300 employees. Woodlawn Hospital is known for its high quality of personal care and an improving image. Climbing rate of utilization encourages enthusiasm for the future.

More Than a Century of Compassionate Care

"The Woodlawn," Rochester's first and only hospital was founded in 1905 in a residence on the site of the present Library. Dr. Winfield Scott Shafer purchased the home of Judge Sidney Keith and opened the Hospital for the purpose of administering medical and surgical aid to all. Soon, patients were coming from distant cities, over 100 miles, to be under the supervision of the Drs. Winfield and Howard Shafer. The community welcomed, supported, and appreciated the facility from its very beginning.

1905 - Since 1905, the guiding principle of Woodlawn Hospital has been to assess and upgrade patient services continuously to meet the changing needs of the communities it serves.

1916 - Dr. Winfield Scott Shafer suffered an untimely death. His son, Howard O. Shafer, took the helm of The Woodlawn, and continued the progressive practices of this father.

1931 - Dr. Howard O. Shafer died at an early age. Dr. Milton Emanuel Leckrone acted as interim administrator.

1932 - Dr. Leckrone purchased the hospital.

1936 - Dr. Leckrone built a new $50,000 brick structure, second to none in Northern Indiana, devoted to modern hospital requirements. The new building, opened on Sunday, January 4, practically tripled its previous capacity.

1945 - Dr. Milton E. Leckrone passed away. The County purchased Woodlawn Hospital.

1956 - A new wing consisting of 18 new rooms was built. Always supported by our community, local donations were made for the purchase of new equipment.

1979 - A new location and structure was built at our current location of 1400 Eat Ninth Street. The two-story, 49-bed all private rooms, building was built for $4.3 million. It was described as one of the most modern in the Midwest. Once again, there was an outstanding response from the community for assistance, donating $192,469 for new equipment.