President Becky Brunsing gave a quiet bell ring to bring the Wagner Rotarians to order on November 29th. There were a few Rotarians missing as they were attending the Build Dakota conference being held at the Wagner Theatre in conjunction with Wagner Community School students, teachers, and members of the business community in the City of Wagner.

Rotarian/Pastor Bill Heermann gave a prayer of thankfulness for the nice day that was the beginning of our Winter season, and the nourishment for our bodies provided by Booms to help us go out into our community to do our Father’s Will.

There were no guests present and both song leaders were absent, so President Brunsing suggested we sing Jingle Bells and we managedbut barely.

Membership Minute Chairman Ken Cotton spoke about the Rotary International Offices. They are in Evanston, Illinois, in a building called One Rotary Center. It has a 190-seat auditorium, Rotary’s archives, and an executive suite with conference rooms for the RI Board of Directors and Rotary Foundation Trustees and the offices of the RI President and other senior officers. It also features a replica of Room 711, the site of the first Rotary club meeting.

Assistant Sergeant at Arms Jordan Weber fined $2 to Jerry Weber for thinking it was Saturday when he missed last week’s Wednesday Rotary meeting; $2 to Bill Frei for not reporting his absence last week; $2 to Jamie Soukup, and Amanda Bechen, Jeff Doom for not being present but attending the meeting at the theatre; $2 to Bill Frei and Jeff Doom, and Rachel Woods for the terrible showing at the recent Vikings football game; $2 to Bill for always driving around to see if Jamie Soukup is at Taco Johns; $2 to Linda Soukup for leaving a recipe for coconut at Craig Krsnak’s seating (he hates coconut); $1 to Craig for whining about it; $2 to Scott McAdaragh for making his Mom pick up the meals at noon for the Rotary; $3 to Bryan Slaba who had to run outside and shut off his vehicle which kept honking; and $2 to Jerry Weber for feeding Jordan’s cattle. There were no Happy Fines.

President Brunsing had the winning ticket number which brought some whispers of “fixing” but they were immediately quenched when she drew the eight of spades.

Secretary Craig Krsnak reported that the attendance race stands at nine misses for the Juffer team and seven misses for the Frei Team. Football book winners were from Book #38, and they were Seth Gill sold by Jeff Doom and Marcia Johnson sold by Patty Frei.

Rotarian Scott McAdaragh introduced Bryan Slaba who is the CEO at Wagner Community Memorial Hospital, and he gave an update on the Wagner hospital. The renovations at the hospital are currently in Phase Two and consist of remodeling several areas of the hospital which previously contained the Dr. Bubak clinic. The entire area of that clinic is making room for the five providers which are currently serving WCMH: Dr. Koenig, Jordan Weber, Lyndsay Nedved, Brooke Plooster, Jasmyn Soukup and Brooke Duermier. These people were all recruited in the last few years.

Rooms have been set aside for outreach clinic patients served by Urology, Podiatry, Orthopedic, and Cardiology physicians who come into the clinic to treat local patients. Slaba stated that they are currently helping to put four other physicians through the last phases of their medical education.

The current renovation phase has been planned for some time. Slaba said that due to our current rural location we cannot expect to have medical students come to Wagner to practice as most of them are looking to settle in a bigger more urban setting. Recently, on the acute side of the hospital there were 2,400 patients seen in Emergency care. On the clinic side there were about 10 patients presenting a day. There are now 34 patients being seen by the five providers.

Behavioral Health has become an important part of the remodel phase also. Providers in that area can see up to five patients a day. This was a need of great importance in the Wagner Community. That area is also included in the renovation to give providers and clients the utmost privacy.

The planning for this renovation has been in the works for years. It began when Mr. Slaba called leaders in the community, all his providers, and the WCMH Board members together to “Plan for what we NEED, not what we WANT. Back in the year 2007 the hospital was borrowing money on a regular basis to pay its providers and workers a salary. The hospital now has sixty-three full-time personnel. They grossed thirty-four million last year and are hoping to get as high as 40 million this year.

He reported that IHS and the WCMH have a good relationship compared to past years and the Ambulance Association is struggling to make ends meet but there is hope for the future there. They are planning to purchase a new CT Scanner in the immediate future. It was a very positive report, and the Rotarians were impressed with all the details that he provided.

The meeting ended with the recitation of the Four-Way Test: Of the things we think, say, or do: Is it the TRUTH? Is it FAIR to all concerned? Will it build GOODWILL and Better FRIENDSHIPS? Will it be BENEFICIAL to all concerned?