Wishard Nursing Alumni Association hopes to bring graduates back to share memories
September 10, 2007
Contact: Don Kaczorowski
Phone: (317) 630-7949
Pager: (317) 310-5972
Indianapolis, September 10, 2007 – To commemorate the 27th anniversary of the closing of the Wishard Memorial Hospital School of Nursing, the Wishard Nursing Alumni Association plans to host a homecoming event to bring Wishard nursing school instructors and graduates back to where their careers began.
On Saturday, September 15, the Wishard Nursing Alumni Association will mark 27 years since the closing of the school with a homecoming celebration at Wishard Memorial Hospital, 1001 W. 10th Street, Indianapolis.
Sharon Benefiel, president of the Wishard Nursing Alumni Association and a 1973 graduate, said trying to track down the 1,026 addresses of nursing school alumni on file has been difficult. She said some of the alumni may be deceased or their addresses are unknown. She said she is hopeful the homecoming event will help bring many of the graduates and instructors back to Wishard.
"Many graduates went on to distinguished careers in nursing throughout the United States and abroad including military and missionary work," Benefiel said.
The event will start with a continental breakfast at 9 a.m., then a walking tour of Wishard Memorial Hospital, followed by a buffet lunch. In the afternoon, a business meeting will be held with a memorial service and will feature speakers Dr. Lisa Harris, chief executive officer and medical director for Wishard Health Services, Lee Anne Blue, chief nursing officer for Wishard Health Services, as well as former instructors at the Wishard nursing school.
As the first nursing school in Indiana and the second nursing school west of the Alleghenies, the Wishard Memorial Hospital School of Nursing's history is impressive. From the first class of five in 1885 to the last class of 31 in 1980, more than 2,500 nursing students graduated from the school.
Many alumni have stayed close to one another and to Wishard through the years. Today, several of them help staff the Wishard Nursing Museum, which has displayed nursing memorabilia and hospital artifacts for the past 26 years, allowing the public to get a glimpse at what it was like to be a nurse a half century ago.
Housed in the parlor of the old nurses' residence, the museum is a non-profit organization that relies on donations from private donors and nursing alumni. The museum is always looking for volunteers and donations to improve exhibits, promote education, stabilize artifacts and support general costs.
Wilma Eberly, a 1948 graduate of the school, was working at the nursing school as a nursing instructor and recruiter when the Wishard Memorial Hospital School of Nursing closed in 1980. She said when she and others associated with the nursing school learned it was going to close, a decision was made to try to save the old nursing equipment, records and documents so the items could be preserved. In 1981 the Wishard Nursing Museum opened to the public. It is one of only two nursing museums in the country. The museum's most visible claim to fame came during the 1980s when it was used to film various hospital scenes in the classic sports movie, Hoosiers.
For more information about the Wishard Nursing Alumni Association homecoming event please contact Sharon Benefiel at (317) 630-7991, or by email at sharon.benefiel@wishard.edu.