Recognizing Peterson Health's 75th Anniversary

Floor Speech

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Mr. ROY. Mr. Speaker, I rise today to recognize Peterson Health in their seventy-fifth year of serving the Texas Hill Country. The community is forever grateful to Hal and Charlie Peterson, two brothers who envisioned a full-service hospital in Kerrville, Texas. The Petersons' efforts began in 1944 by establishing the Hal and Charlie Peterson Foundation with an initial donation of one hundred dollars. Three years later, the Foundation board green-lit construction of a hospital for ``the benefit of the people of the Hill Country in general.'' The brothers started building on their land at Sidney Baker and Water Streets in Kerrville. Named for their father, the Sid Peterson Memorial Hospital opened its doors on July 3, 1949. I include in the Record an excerpt from the Petersons' opening ceremony speech that day:

``And so here it is; it's yours to use. If it will ease a little the sufferings of the sick and injured; if it will help a little to mend their broken bodies; if it will provide a place where the next generation--and the next--can enter this world with the best of care and attention, and if it can do these things at a minimum of expense to those who must be patients, then our purpose in building it and giving it to the Hill Country community has been well-served.''

It was a world-class facility, the first in America to have a central air conditioning system. Another groundbreaking feature was the intercom system that connected each patient's bed to the nurse's station. In 1969, the hospital underwent extensive upgrades and increased bed capacity to eighty-six. A six-million-dollar expansion plan was completed in 1985, including a new Surgical Annex. The hospital became independent from the Hal and Charlie Peterson Foundation five years later. At the turn of the millennium, medical air transport services were added to San Antonio and Austin.

In 2008, the hospital changed locations to the new Peterson Health campus, complete with a brand-new hospital building. It was the only hospital in Texas to be named a Top 20 Rural Community Hospital by the National Rural Health Association. A groundbreaking ceremony was held in 2022 for the Amanda and J. David Williams Surgery Center which will expand surgical capacity by 25% and procedure rooms by 50%. Congratulations to CEO Cory Edmondson and the entire staff on seventy-five years of service to the Hill Country. I applaud Peterson's stated mission of ``maintaining their status as an independent, private, nonprofit health system.''

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