Bonner General throws community party

SANDPOINT — It was a celebration 75 years in the making.

While the original hospital was floated up Lake Pend Oreille in 1949 and constructed where the Sandpoint-based hospital still stands, Bonner General Health has grown and evolved with the community, CEO John Hennessy said Friday as he watched the hospital's anniversary party with a smile.

"We wanted to celebrate our staff, our providers, board of directors and volunteers," Hennessy of the hospital's decision to throw the community party. "Really, everyone who's been a part of the hospital for the past 75 years that's made this happen."

Twenty-four years after the hospital's first building was floated north, a new building was dedicated to serve what was then a population of 26,000. Five years later, in 1978, the surgical wing was added which encompasses an intensive care unit and radiology section. The emergency room addition was built in 1988 and the purchase of the former Safeway building in 1991 helped Bonner General add a medical office building to the hospital complex.

A west wing was added to Bonner General in 1998, which brought about the addition of a heliport. In 2004, construction of the Healing Garden began and, a year later, the hospital opened Bonner General Immediate Care. With space provided with Kootenai Cancer Services in 2007, local chemotherapy services were offered and, in 2012, the hospital acquired Sandpoint Women's Health.

In 2015, the Jack Parker Skybridge was dedicated, connecting the main hospital with its new Health Services building. Opened in 2020, Bonner General Ophthalmology has already surpassed 1,000 surgeries; and, during the pandemic, BGH administered over 13,000 COVID-19 vaccinations.

In 2023, the hospital purchased 3D mammography and an exoskeleton for its Rehab department.

Friday's celebration was a chance to showcase those clinics and departments — and the many other services offered at Bonner General, Hennessy said.

"We just want people to know that we have a robust number of services that we offer," Hennessy said. "We're a small critical access hospital but we act more as a community hospital with the wide breadth of services that we do have. We have top-notch physicians that I would compare to anywhere else in the country working here … It's really just a wonderful hospital to work at to be a part of, and I think the community is really lucky to have something so great here."

While some may think of the hospital as only a place to go when there's an emergency or in terms of in-patient beds, Hennessy said Bonner General is much more than that. From imaging and lab to ophthalmology and orthopedics, most health services needed by the community can be found right at home.

"The bulk of the things that one of our community members need, they don't need a travel south," he said. "We have it right here locally, with great providers and staff that are staffing those clinics."

Planning for the celebration has been in the works for at least the past three months, with brainstorming for the 75th anniversary, with everyone from staff to manager brainstorming ways that would be fun for everyone but also fit the hospital's mission of healthy living. Soon, dinner with healthy food options — complete with recipe cards for those wanting to recreate the salads at home — was on the table as were a variety of booths to showcase the many different services offered at Bonner General.

The salads are not only delicious but cost-effective, too, Hennessy said.

"We're trying to show anybody can eat healthy, regardless of budgets," he added.

Hennessy said it was important to hospital staff to make the party something fun for the community and to showcase what the hospital offers in terms of services and programs. 

A large showing of hospital staff and volunteers turned out to help at the anniversary party, staffing the different booths, among them one showing hospice service, the BGH Auxiliary, the emergency department and more. A loose-flowing cornhole games, music by Harold's IGA and a performance by Star the Magician added to the party vibe and plenty of water stations and misting areas complemented the fun as well.

While the spirit exhibited by those who brought the original hospital building north from Farragut to Sandpoint 75 years ago, Hennessy said those healthcare pioneers might not recognize the thriving, modern health facility that Bonner General has become.

"We were looking at the history and how it first started, where it was being kind of barged up Lake Pend Oreille and kind of assembled here and then over the years kind of, you know, pieced together," he added. "Now to have this beautiful new building (BGH Health Services) built in 2015; to have 150,000 square feet, 450 employees and the breadth of services we offer is something to really admire for a community our size and it's really a cornerstone of the community and we plan to be here for another 75 years — and on and on."

Hennessy said it was important for the hospital to celebrate 75 years of serving the community with a party that put the community at the heart of the celebration. It is a way, he added, for BGH officials and staff to thank the community for its support.

"I really just want to thank the community for their support over the last 75 years. The hospital is really here for them," Hennessy said. "And that's what keeps us going. Our staff is here truly to provide high-quality care and to serve the community. That's what they love to do. That's what gets them excited, and we're very thankful to everybody that came out tonight."

    A group finds a spot of shade to enjoy a healthy dinner offered to community members at Bonner General Health's 75th anniversary celebration Friday.