History of Scheurer Healthcare Network

From Our President & CEO

When Dr. Clare A. Scheurer first established his medical clinic in the Village of Pigeon in 1934, he couldn’t have possibly imagined the enormous impact that first step would have in a healthcare journey of a thousand miles. His office space on Main Street soon became inadequate and generous community donations totaling $20,000 were collected which resulted in the construction of the 21 bed hospital in downtown Pigeon in 1945.

The healthcare journey continued with the construction of the current hospital which opened in June of 1972. Again the community was generous. Donations and pledges poured in and soon more than 1.2 million dollars were raised to construct the building and provide the necessary equipment. By then the journey required the assistance of more employees and an expanded medical staff.

In 1985 a wing was added to the hospital to expand the emergency room and provide space for other medical services. In 1989 a medical arts building was constructed to accommodate additional physicians joining the growing medical staff. The healthcare journey expanded its elder care services in 1993 with the addition of Country Bay Village, an independent living facility located directly east of the hospital. It was soon surrounded by a series of duplex dwellings and in 1998 a fourth wing was added to the congregate facility.

As the century drew to a close, the changing face of healthcare required even more services. Satellite medical clinics were constructed in Caseville, Sebewaing, and Elkton and a retail pharmacy was added to the medical arts building.

In 1998 a new ambulance garage was constructed along with a new purchasing and receiving wing. New physical therapy space was added in 1999 which included a therapy pool and accommodations for cardiac rehabilitation services. New space was added for CT scanning and nuclear medicine and in 2000 the Scheurer Professional Center was developed in a renovated building west of the hospital.

The journey is not yet complete. In recent years, a 30-unit assisted living facility was constructed and a second retail pharmacy as well as a health center has been added in the town of Sebewaing. In addition, we are pleased with the completion of the replacement building for our 19-bed Long Term Care unit. A health and fitness center has been established near Sand Point and construction completed in the spring of 2008 has expanded new and renovated spaces for our emergency, surgery, laboratory, and radiology services.

A journey of a thousand miles always includes some bumps and unexpected detours. It requires commitment, tenacity and dedication. Lots of that can be found in the 440 employees currently a part of the Scheurer Healthcare Network. It also requires support and generosity from the community served by the network. We’re grateful that there has been an abundance of that as well. We continue to be committed to the journey and we will always be thankful that Dr. Scheurer took those first steps.

Dwight Gascho
President & CEO
Scheurer Healthcare Network