Courtesy THE LAKELAND TIMES - JANUARY 13, 2012 BY KATHRYN BURICH PATTEN
In 1949, the community of Woodruff needed an area hospital. Its local doctor, Dr. Kate Newcomb (the Angel on Snowshoes), was aging, and it was becoming increasingly difficult for her to make the many house calls to which she was summoned. Dr. Kate once journeyed more than 376 miles in one day to visit patients in Tomahawk, Rhinelander and Ironwood, Michigan. In that year, a grateful patient gave Dr. Kate $1,000 to start a drive. That winter, the Lakeland Memorial Hospital Board of Directors was formed. Thanks to Mr. and Mrs. Clarence G. Larson, a piece of land was given for the hospital. The hospital was to be built with help from local volunteers and donations. The fund drive began.
Donations came in slowly. By 1952, they were $50,000 to $60,000 short of what they needed. The hospital board decided to start building anyway, hoping that seeing progress would encourage more people to give, so on July 3, 1952, they officially broke ground.
The building went up quickly. On September 7th, the cornerstone was set, ‘and 'workers rushed to finish the outside before the first snow. Sadly, when the hospital was about three-quarters done, the money ran out, and work had to stop. That fall, in a geometry class at Arbor Vitae-Woodruff High School, the idea for the Million Penny Parade was born.
Mr. Otto Burich, while talking about numbers with his class, came up with the idea of collecting a million of something. The question was, what should they collect? Since Burich collected coins, he suggested they collect one million pennies. The next question was what to do with the money if they reached their goal. Since Burich’s wife was Dr. Kate’s office nurse at the time, it was clear the money would go to the hospital building fund.
So, on November 5, 1952, 500 letters were sent out to start the Million Penny Parade. The class reached its goal on April 15, 1953, gave the money to the hospital fund, and the building started again. Because of the hard work of Burich and his class of 16 students, Ralph Edwards heard about the story and invited Dr. Kate to be his guest on the popular TV show “This is Your Life”.
Dr. Kate was on the show in Hollywood, California, in March 1954. At the end of the show, Edwards asked the audience to send pennies to Dr. Kate, and because of this, another $105,000 was raised. This was enough to finish the hospital, add more rooms, and buy the best equipment available.
Lakeland Memorial Hospital was dedicated in March 1954. Thanks to the hard work of hundreds of local people, Lakeland Memorial Hospital served the community for 23 years. It grew from 19 beds and $55 in cash to a 65-bed general hospital during those years. More rooms were added in 1962, 1967, 1968, and 1972. Lakeland Memorial was renamed Howard Young Medical Center in 1972. The hospital closed on February 28,1977, when the new Howard Young complex opened.
It is estimated that more than 130,000 people were treated at the old Lakeland Memorial Hospital. In 1977, the original hospital became a rehab center and later a nursing home. All medical, rehab, and nursing care in the building ended on November 18, 2009.
The original Lakeland Memorial Hospital was razed. The Dr. Kate Memorial Park was constructed on the site where the hospital stood. There is also a museum in Woodruff that commemorates Dr. Kate’s Life, Otto Burich and the Million Penny Parade, the history of Woodruff and the hospital
