Section C: Transitions

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PRESS & DAKOTAN SATURDAY, AUGUST 6, 2011 PAGE 8C: YANKTON 150 IT S A Z 2011 August 19 20 21 YS w ww .riv erboatdays.com RIVERBOA TD TON A NK Come Celebrate 28th Annual OUT THERE! YA Yankton Riverboat DaysThe Summer Arts Festival & OO August 19 20 21 Come Out & Enjoy... Fireworks Friday Night 150+ Arts & Crafts Booths Parades Over 50 Food Booths 5K Road Race Arm Wrestling Classic Car Show Children s Activities Rodeo Log Carving Kids Pedal Pull Old West Reenactors Sportscard Show Water Fights Tri-State Old Iron Association Exhibit Amphitheater Performances... Dakota District Pipes & Drums, Yankton Children s Theatre, Sheltered Reality, Fiddler Nelson, Mogen s Heroes Bands... Friday Night Main Avenue Warehouse Saturday Night The Dweebs find a complete listing of events at: www.riverboatdays.com Medical From Page 7C At that time, there was treatment, but the thing that has evolved along with medication and the treatment plan is we now treat each process differently, Walloch said. There are different signs and symptoms for diseases. Back then, everyone was kind of treated the same. There was treatment, but I think the difference in the disease process wasn t really recognized like it is KELLY HERTZ/P&D now. Lewis and Clark Specialty Hospital completed a $4.5 million diagnosThroughout the 1960s and tic imaging suite in February 2011 and broke ground on a $5 million 1970s, the medical care in Yankmedical office building in July. Hospital staff Marla Neukirch, lead ton continued to evolve as more technologist; Dr. Tom Posch, radiologist; and Michelle Hlavac, radioland more medications and techogy director, are seen here with some of the new equipment in the imnologies were introduced. aging suite. The State Hospital, renamed the Human Services Center in physicians here, their commitlength of stay in the acute pro1974, began to provide less rement to education because they gram has reduced by 500 perstrained care to patients as more cent, Walloch said. were all still involved with the laws were introduced protecting medical school, he said. I knew Amongst Doctors Michael them. who I was going to be practicing McVay, Jay Hubner, Duane ReBefore the 1970s, HSC operwith, I knew this group and I aney and Barry Graham, there is ated in terrible living conditions knew they were all really high a common belief that Yankton is no air conditioning, no priquality and I could have a good lucky to have such a knowledgevacy for patients who lined the practice here and good life. I had able medical community. halls, only sinks in bathrooms grown up in Yankton and knew I This is a very sophisticated but when Medicaid was intromedical community for a commu- would have a good quality of duced, the was forced to meet its nity of its size. There are few life. standards. Dr. Jay Hubner said he becommunities of 13,000 that have I remember big changes in lieves the greatest advancements the capabilities of Yankton. They the mid 70s when the hospital in the medical arena have been have many specialties that a had to meet Medicaid stanin immunizations, sophisticated town this size doesn t have. The dards, Roger Olson, mental technology that is available is not lab tests that have allowed for health aide in the easier and earlier di The physicians in Yankton realized that to Adult Acute Proagnosis, and the gram said. We had provide good care to patients, to allow people amount of medicato move out of tions now available. to stay in the community, you have to step out buildings so they Yankton contincould fix them up. and take on new technology. ues to be blessed Changes really with an enormous kept coming with DR. MICHAEL MCVAY medical community better care, more that provides widerights for patients. spread care with It took a lot to stay when those available in most towns this size, the latest equipment. Joining the conditions were really bad. three major institutions as a Dr. Graham said. There is a hisIn 1981, Yankton s two medical tory in Yankton of having a soleader in healthcare in 2002 was clinics merged to form the Yankthe Lewis and Clark Specialty phisticated medical community. ton Medical Clinic, stationed at its It lingers, which is a good thing Hospital. With a commitment to current location, and Sacred education, the specialty hospital for this town. It s the history of Heart moved into its present has five areas of specialty and Yankton that brings them here. building. The transition for both There has been an expectation; it strives to improve healthcare institutions into better-equipped has been a medical destination of standards with more personal buildings was important as the service. the region for a long time. 1980s saw a huge boom in medi The physicians in Yankton reAs Yankton has been a model cine and technology. alized that to provide good care of medicine in the Midwest, SaThe first CAT scan was to patients, to allow people to cred Heart and HSC have ignited brought into Sacred Heart in stay in the community, you have many changes and have greatly 1982 and better techniques have to step out and take on new techbenefitted the community. decreased patients stays greatly. nology, Dr. McVay said. An The economic benefit of hav Pharmacology, the drugs that ing people employed and supplies other thing to Yankton s credit are available have exploded. Anpurchased is just a great boom in has been their interest in medical tibiotic usage has increased exthe community, Graham said. education. The physicians at the ponentially there are so many Having a sophisticated medical clinic and Sacred Heart have more antibiotics to choose community is a great recruitment been very forward in trying to from, Dr. McVay said. Treattool for other businesses in the train medical students here. ment has progressed so that you community as well. I think they re ability to keep can do more in less time. In Sacred Heart is the leading up with technology has allowed terms of modern surgery, laparo- employer in Yankton, HSC is secthem to stay a medical destinascopic surgeries have changed ond, said Lois Halbur, staff detion for patients in the entire redramatically. Recovery time is velopment coordinator at HSC. gion, Dr. Graham said. Patients much less modern anesthesia When you look at this commuhave become fairly sophisticated has improved so that people can nity and the medical impact, it s as well in recent years and be safely operated on and go very strong and has been for they ve become aware of the dehome that same day. The list can decades. ficiency in technology, they will go on and on with all the After receiving the majority of go somewhere else. It s been the changes. It s breathtaking that all his training at the University of Yankton medical community s that has happened in just a couability to stay current and mainKentucky-Lexington, Dr. Michael ple generations. tain specialties that have allowed McVay said the reason he reNot only did the clinic and turned to Yankton was the physi- them to maintain the level of hospital benefit from the incare they provide. cians dedication to continuing creased medical supply, HSC was education. able to more efficiently treat pa I had a great respect for the tients with mental illnesses. The Human Services Center Has Deep Roots In Yankton Contract with Neighboring States In his 1870 message to the Legislature on Dec. 6, Gov. John A. Burbank urged the providing of adequate care for mentally ill patients. The Legislature responded with a law that authorized the governor to contract with the states of Minnesota, Iowa or Nebraska for the care of the mentally ill from Dakota Territory. A contract was made with Minnesota in 1871 and records show three patients in 1876 and seven in 1877 being cared for at the St. Peter State Hospital, which was the name during that time period. The completion of the railway into Yankton in 1873 gave added impetus to immigration and by 1878 the effect of the gold rush was reflected in the number of Dakota patients at St. Peter Hospital, totaling 22. Governor William A. Howard was advised in June by Minnesota that no more patients could be accepted after July 1 because of crowded conditions at that hospital and all Dakota patients would have to be removed by Oct. 1, 1878. The Governor contacted Iowa hospitals without success, then traveled to Lincoln, Nebraska, and found that institution overcrowded but by completing some unfinished rooms, accommodations were arranged for five patients until the following February. Another contract with Minnesota resulted in an extension until Feb. 1, 1879, for removal of the patients from St. Peter. Establishment of Hospital for Dakota Territory Gov. Howard searched for a building to be used for a hospital in nearby towns of Vermillion, Elk Point and Canton with no success. In Yankton, he found two large wooden buildings. One belonged to the city and the other to the Territory; both built to house German-Russian immigrants. The governor secured the buildings and arranged to have them rebuilt on school lands north of Yankton at the personal expense of $2,286.85. The 13th session of the Dakota Territory Legislature met on Jan. 14, 1879, and in the governor s message he advised the lawmakers of his action and the necessary laws were passed. Early Years During the first six months, there were five employees; and, 31 patients were cared for, five being discharged, fully recovered. The appropriation for the first two years was inadequate and citizens generally did not realize that patients needed much more than food and clothing so future legislatures were inclined to reduce recommended allowances for their care, treatment and support. In 1880, Gov. Howard was reimbursed for his personal contribution. At that time, there were 50 patients causing overcrowding and the hospital was understaffed. The population of Yankton was more than 3,400, a remarkable increase from the less than 50 in 1859. In 1899, a devastating fire took the lives of seventeen female patients. The catastrophe prompted the state Legislature to appropriate much-needed funds to the institution. Laws were enacted requiring fireproof buildings, defining fireproof structures, prescribing smallest area of floor space per patient and describing the minimum per capita amount of air in apartments where patients were kept. The Early 1900s In 1918, the name of the hospital was officially changed from Dakota Hospital for the Insane to the Yankton State Hospital. The patient population in the mid 1920s became more diverse. In the late 1920s and early 1930s, the institution went through, as did the rest of the nation, a difficult period. The situation at Yankton was almost impossible to handle; an increasing rate of admissions combined with a decreasing budget. Ironically, money was somehow found to build a nine-hole golf course at the institution during 1930-1931. Overcrowding was a serious problem in the mid and late 1930s. With the advent of therapeutic treatments, however, incoming patients were released within a few months, thus helping to ease the overcrowding problem. World War II disrupted the flow of progress. The Selective Service Act, then in effect, forced the hiring of youth too young for the draft or people too old for military service. In addition, wages at the institution were poor and with so many men gone to war, hospital employees left to take up better-paying jobs. Changing Attitudes The 1950s brought increased understanding of mental illness and relatives of patients were more willing to accept them, rather than wanting to hide them in Yankton. Medical work at Yankton in the early 1950s became more varied and systematized. Changing attitudes toward the mentally ill contributed greatly to improving conditions at the hospital. Various forms of physical force, such as the use of strait-jackets, were discontinued. The development of antipsychotic medications also brought about a significant reduction in the hospital census. Changing Staff and Facility The 1960s saw a significant enlargement of the medical staff. The staff was also of better quality than at any previous time. The need was also seen at this time for a geriatric department. The intensive treatment program established in the early 1960s showed results as the decade wore on, for the population at the hospital continuously decreased year after year. From 1968-1973, a great deal of activity took place. Construction began on a new dietary building as well as a new recreational facility. In addition, Ordway, Herried, Mellette and Kyle Buildings were renovated. On July 1, 1974, the name of the facility was changed from Yankton State Hospital to the South Dakota Human Services Center. The change was enacted by session of the Legislature to more clearly reflect the services offered. 100 Years Later The year 1979 marked Human Services Center's (HSC) 100th anniversary. The 1980s saw further development in services and programs available to patients. In 19891990 changes took place at HSC following reorganization of the state board which previously coordinated the center s work. In 1988, voters abolished the Board of Charities and Corrections, which was created under the South Dakota Constitution to handle the state s inmates and patients in need of various services. In place of the board, two new cabinet-level departments were created which separated the responsibilities for inmates from those of patients. The Department of Human Services, one of the two newly-created departments became the governing authority for HSC. The Future In 1991, Gov. George S. Mickelson directed a study of the existing HSC campus be conducted. This study found it would be more costly to upgrade existing buildings than construct new ones specifically designed for patient treatment. Gov. Mickelson advanced bills proposing design and construction of a new psychiatric facility which passed by an overwhelming majority of the 1992 Legislature. Dedication and Ground Breaking Ceremonies were held on April 28, 1994. Recognizing the efforts of Gov. Mickelson, the new facility was dedicated George S. Mickelson Center for the Neurosciences. The new facility was completed in the fall of 1996 and was occupied in October of that year. The Human Services Center is a stateof-the-art treatment center providing inpatient psychiatric and chemical dependency treatment services to South Dakota s residents. Stop & See us at our New Location! Screen Printing & Official Riverboat Days Embroidery Apparel Provider Logo Design Bucks & Gazelles Apparel Promotional Products Rhinestones/Rhinestuds Custom Team Uniforms Apparel Sports Equipment & Goods Let us make you look good! 201 Pine Street Yankton, SD 605-260-0920 across from the old Gurney s building