Our Town Fairbury: Health Care

FAIRBURY, Neb. (KOLN) - The hospital in Fairbury is known as Jefferson Community Health & Life. It offers a variety of services, and health care options are accessible all over town as well.

Lana Likens is the Public Relations Director for Jefferson Community Health & Life. She says the hospital fulfills a number of missions. “Our hospital has been in this community since 1963,” Likens said. “We are actually celebrating our 60th anniversary this year of serving this community. We have around 260 employees. We offer a family medicine clinic, that’s attached to the hospital side of the complex. We have hospital services, we have 24/7 ER services, we have outpatient services, and that means we have about 23 specialists who come here. Along with that, we have occupational health, home health, and we have a fitness center. The “Bob and Wauneta Burkley Fitness Center” is open to the community, much like a YMCA or that type of facility would be. We have long-term care called “Gardenside”, and we offer many things to the community in the way of education and support groups.”

You might notice the name of the hospital is not just “Fairbury Hospital.” It’s called “Jefferson Community Health & Life.” Likens says the name is based on some re-branding done back in 2017. “What we wanted to do was make sure people understood that we are way more than just a hospital,” Likens said. “We want to be involved in people’s lives. The hospital is there to take care of people when they are sick, and that’s true. But we also try to reach out to the community, to help them stay well, and to help them learn how to have good health.”

The hospital is also very important to the economy of Our Town Fairbury. “Our employees come from in the community and from around our community,” Likens said. “We actually have people who drive from up to 45 minutes away to come to work. We serve a pretty broad area.”

There are many other health-related services offered throughout the town of Fairbury. “We have two dental offices,” Likens said. “We have an eye doctor in town. We have two different mental health care providers who are outside the hospital, as well as one who comes here to the facility. We have two nursing homes in town, one that’s attached to the hospital and one that’s down the street. It is called Heritage Care Center. We have an assisted living facility, and that’s on our campus here. Fairbury is also fortunate to have a chiropractor. Because of all this, we have some folks who might tend to choose Fairbury as a place to live, because the health care services are convenient.”

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