WALTHILL, Neb. (KTIV) -The Dr. Susan La Flesche Picotte Center held its open house Sunday afternoon.
Dr. Picotte was the very first Native American physician and founded the center back in 1913 as the first privately funded hospital on a Native American reservation.
Over the years, it fell into disrepair, prompting community members to restore and preserve it.
One member, Gary Bowen, said it took many years and a lot of fundraising to restore the center to its former glory.
“It’s a wonderful dream come true for all of us,” Bowen said. “We had wonderful support from private foundations and government agencies and individuals.”
The executive director of the center, Elizabeth Lovejoy Brown, said Doctor Susan’s legacy inspired her, and others, to make the center into a place of healing once again.
“When I was a little girl, I was told about Doctor Susan, and from that point on I said, I want to do the same thing as her. I want to go to college and I want to come back and give back to my tribe,” Brown said. “We want to fulfill and carry on the legacy that she had made. For this hospital.”
The Picotte Center will feature health care services like a medical clinic and mental health support.
It will also have an exhibit on Dr. Picotte’s life, and a makers space where community members can access tools to create cultural pieces and regalia.
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