BroMenn Healthcare History
It is difficult to imagine a time when there were no cars, televisions or airplanes. To think back to when it cost only two cents to mail a letter. And electricity was a luxury.... The turn of the century may have been a simpler time, but it certainly was not easier. Life expectancy was 52 years, medicine was more art than science and hospitals were generally thought of as a place to die.
This was the setting for BroMenn Healthcare's beginnings. In 1894, five local physicians each contributed $500 and began looking for a future hospital site to serve the area's ever-growing population. An ideal spot was finally located on eight acres midway between Bloomington and Normal.
"Deaconess Hospital" officially opened May 8, 1896. Within two years the hospital outgrew its capacity and a second building was begun. In 1901, Abram Brokaw, a wealthy plowmaker, made a sizable contribution of $10,000 and the hospital name was changed to Brokaw Hospital in his family's honor. A Brokaw Hospital nursing school was also established.
In 1901, Dr. J.W. Wyatt purchased a large two-story home in the small Woodford County town of Eureka and remodeled it for use as his practice and residence. Dr. Robert Smith bought the house in 1914 and converted it into a hospital by closing in the open porches, thus creating patient rooms on the second floor.
In January 1919, several Mennonite Church leaders proposed a plan to establish another hospital and training school in Bloomington through the united work of all the Mennonite churches of central Illinois. They purchased property in Bloomington for $10,000.
Within the first year, the facility became overcrowded, so Kelso Sanitarium (at 807 North Main Street) was purchased, including the Kelso Training School. The sanitarium was renamed Mennonite Hospital, with the training school eventually becoming Mennonite School (later "College") of Nursing.
Over the years, the hospitals have been courageous pioneers. Brokaw was the first hospital in the area to have a CT scanner, a hospital-based chemical dependence unit, psychiatric care, cardiac rehabilitation, neurosurgery, birthing rooms and a separate pediatric unit.
Mennonite Hospital debuted corneal transplants, hospital-based long-term care, hospice, adult day care, wellness programs, home health services, pastoral education and counseling.
The Mennonite Health Care Association bought Eureka Hospital in 1978. As the only hospital in Woodford County, Eureka Hospital had added a new building to the original house in 1961 and benefited even more from its affiliation with Mennonite. Its name changed to Eureka Community Hospital in 1984.
BroMenn Healthcare Unveiled in 1984
With such innovation in common, it was only natural that all three hospitals would eventually come together. In July 1984, the hospitals proudly unveiled BroMenn Healthcare, a new healthcare system that combined the resources of all.
After a major expansion in 1991, Brokaw Hospital became BroMenn Regional Medical Center, one of the most advanced medical centers in central Illinois. Eureka Community Hospital had major expansions in 1986 and 1994, and today shines as a sterling example of a modern rural community hospital. Mennonite became BroMenn Lifecare Center and functioned from 1991-1998 as a unique facility with services dedicated to enhancing quality of life. The Mennonite Hospital building was vacated and sold in the late ‘90s and is now the corporate headquarters for the Electrolux Company, world-renowned manufacturer of vacuum cleaners and other products. Mennonite College of Nursing became Illinois State University's sixth academic college in 1999 (Brokaw's nursing school had become part of Illinois Wesleyan University in 1962).
Since the merger, BroMenn has introduced many cutting-edge services to the community, including “clot-busting” medications for stroke treatment, a sleep disorders lab, electrophysiology for irregular heartbeat, a wound healing center, new treatments for chronic pain, stress echocardiograms, routine newborn hearing tests, and electron beam tomography for early detection of heart disease.
In 1995, BroMenn Physicians Management Corporation (BPMC) was formed as a means of providing a more comprehensive healthcare delivery system. BPMC is now composed of nine primary care offices and a behavioral health practice. BPMC grew to encompass specialty practices as well. Illinois Heart & Lung Associates, a physician practice specializing in cardiology, pulmonology, critical care and sleep medicine, joined BPMC in 2006, and BroMenn Neurology Associates opened in 2007. The BroMenn Provider Network (BPN) was created in 1996 to maximize the managed care contracting capability of both BroMenn and the medical care providers who make up BPN's membership.
It is exciting to imagine what the future will bring in health care. BroMenn will always make this region's health its mission, relying on faith, technology, education and the skills of so many to help keep the local quality of life high. As their communities' only locally governed hospitals, the BroMenn System will continue to strive to bring health care of the highest standard to central Illinois—educating the mind, healing and comforting the body, and serving with the spirit of compassion. That's the way it's been for over one hundred years, and the way it will be for the next hundred as well.
