LifeCare Medical Center introduced to the public at “Back Yard Bar-B-Q

There’s nothing like a backyard barbecue to bring together friends and neighbors. Nothing that is, except maybe the announcement of a brand new name and logo for your local healthcare provider.

The Roseau Area Hospital and Homes “Back Yard Bar-B-Q” provided both. The Saturday afternoon festivities held earlier this fall served two purposes: a way to celebrate the hospital’s appreciation for the people it serves; and a chance to unveil the organization’s new name and corporate logo.

The official name change which took effect October 1, was first introduced to the hungry and the curious during a midafternoon program at the event. In total, they numbered over 2,000 but sounded as one when Board Chairman Mike Hetteen made the announcement and the banner reading “LifeCare Medical Center” was unveiled.

LifeCare President/CEO Keith Okeson (left) celebrates the name change with MetLife representative Bill Westin and his wife Kris who drove from Duluth for the event

“The unanimous applause was a moment of real satisfaction for all of us,” says Keith Okeson, President/CEO for the organization. “The board of directors, the administrative staff, and especially our rebranding committee have dedicated hundreds of hours into this moment.”

To the uninformed, what could have seemed like a spur-of-the-moment name change was in fact the result of a well researched and carefully orchestrated rebranding effort to prepare the hospital and its services for life in the 21st Century.

“Healthcare has come a long way in the past 100 years, and to be perfectly accurate we are now much more than what the old name implied, with a service area that extends well beyond the boundaries of Roseau County,” Okeson says.

“Yes, we are a hospital with nursing homes in Greenbush and Roseau, but we’re also the provider of home health care, public health, convenience care, hospice, rehabilitation services, and behavioral health. LifeCare is all those things.”

The “Back Yard Bar-B-Q” rolled on throughout the afternoon with live performances by half a dozen musical groups including Bob Palm and the Sleepless Knights, the Baptist Church Worship Team, and headliner Marcoux Corner.

Guests were treated to free barbecued turkey, baked beans, and chips before heading home with free LifeCare merchandise. Canvas tote bags and T-shirts proudly displayed the new logo and “caring for generations” tagline.

Between that and the fun of door prizes, games, an entertaining clown, adult-sized tricycles and a good old fashioned barbecue, no one seemed to mind inclement weather moved the event from the hospital’s north lawn into the Roseau Arena.

“This was a great day for everyone,” says board member Therese McBride of Warroad. “To be part of something so pivotal in the history of local healthcare is extremely rewarding.”