McLEANSBORO – August 28, 2010. An enthusiastic crowd greeted Gov. Pat Quinn as he visited the McLeansboro Rehabilitation and Health Care Center. The Petersen Health Care facility hosted a meet-and-greet event as one stop on a day long, health care related tour of Southern Illinois. The visit provided the Governor an opportunity to chat with McLeansboro Rehabilitation and Health Care residents and staff. A group of local legislators accompanied Quinn including Sen. Gary Forby, D – Benton, Rep. John Bradley, D – Marion and Rep. Brandon Phelps, D – Harrisburg.

In addition to hosting the legislators and members of the news media, representatives from the Illinois Health Care Association (IHCA) were also on hand. The IHCA brought a video crew from the Springfield-based GM Anderson Agency to capture content for a future long-format video on the Governor.

Earlier in the week, Petersen Health Care President Mark Petersen was proud to learn that the Governor was interested in visiting residents and employees at a Petersen-owned home in southernmost Illinois. The McLeansboro location was selected not only because of it’s proximity to other events on the Governor’s tour, but also due to its consistently superior resident care.

According to Administrator Pamela Haywood, she learned of the Governor’s visit on Wednesday. “In light of the recent legislation, we’re always prepared for unannounced visits from state officials. But regardless of which way you lean politically, it’s very rare that a sitting Governor visits our city, let alone our home. The entire staff embraced it as a terrific honor and opportunity to represent Hamilton County, the city of McLeansboro and Petersen Health Care. So we got right to work. By the time Saturday morning rolled around, we were absolutely ready for just about anything.”

During his roughly 30 minute stop Quinn visited at length with residents, staff and even shared a humorous moment with the home’s pet dog Oakey. Because of the importance of successfully hosting such a high-profile and significant happening, special efforts were taken to make certain the event went off without a hitch. According to GM Anderson President Patrick Anderson “It was a pleasure to work with members of the Petersen Health Care staff in McLeansboro. The nursing home staff was very cordial and accommodating.”

Before departing, the Governor posed for pictures with the MRHCC staff and said “Older adults who require 24-hour care deserve a safe, high-quality home, and must have the care and treatment they need to live full and productive lives. The staff here at the McLeansboro Rehabilitation and Health Care Center does a terrific job and we appreciate all your hard work.”

After departing McLeansboro the legislators made a stop in Carmi before heading on to events at the DuQuoin State Fair. Earlier in the day Quinn and Forby visited Franklin Hospital in Benton.

Click here to visit the MRHCC facility website for a gallery of photos from the big day in McLeansboro.

This entry was posted on Monday, August 30th, 2010 at 2:23 pm and is filed under News. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed.