St. Rose history outshines the stars

By Colleen O'Callaghan-Miele

Wednesday, Feb. 25, 2009 | 4:15 p.m.

St. Rose Dominican Hospitals' 2009 Children's Miracle Mardi Gras Ball was an evening of elegance, glamour and entertainment. After 52 years, this is the longest-running fundraising event in Southern Nevada, and I am of the opinion that this year's ball should be up for an Academy Award as the "Best Gala of 2009," if there were such an award.

The performances by the celebrity cast — Donnie and Marie Osmond, Debbie Gibson, the Osmond 2nd Generation and others — were phenomenal. It was a wonderful night of entertainment.

Although, even those stars were outshone by the history in the room. There were three generations of St. Rose supporters, and they had a story to tell about the survival of Henderson's little hospital, which in my lifetime has become a respected player in Southern Nevada health care. I would like to share some of that story with you.

I had the honor of being the guest of my dear friends Troy and Selma Bartlett. Selma along with a handful of her colleagues have believed in and supported the vision of St. Rose Dominican Hospitals since 1956.

The history of this hospital began in the 1940s. The hospital was built as Basic Magnesium Hospital as the medical support for the Basic Magnesium Plant that provided critical goods during World War II.

After the war ended, there was no longer a need for magnesium to be produced for the war, and the plant's production slowed down. The plants were converted to peacetime uses, but attracting businesses was slow, and many of the people began to leave. Not all of them did, though. Some stayed, determined to scratch a living out of the Southern Nevada desert between Boulder City and Las Vegas.

Still, the hospital was put up for sale. It was purchased by the Adrian Dominican Sisters for one dollar a year, the assumption of the debt and a commitment to run the hospital for 25 years. That year, 1947, is where the story of Rose de Lima Hospital, now known as the St. Rose Dominican Hospitals, begins.

From 1955 through 1956, the hospital became accredited and it obtained a radioisotope (nuclear medicine) laboratory with the first accredited cancer treatment center. In 1957 was the first Mardi Gras Ball — the year I was born — and my mother sat on the Event Committee.

Selma was also involved in that early support of St. Rose. She had moved to Henderson in 1954 to work for Bank of Nevada, which she later managed, while her husband, Troy, was stationed at Nellis Air Force Base.

Selma got involved with St. Rose shortly after arriving in Henderson, when Sunrise Hospital made a move to buy St. Rose, which was failing financially. She recalled how community members met with the sisters and the mother general and pleaded with them not to sell the hospital to a private company. The conversation with the mother general went something like this, as Selma recalled:

"We said, 'Don't sell it, don't sell it.'

"But we're losing all this money," the mother general said.

"So a group of us came up with the money."

That group included City Councilman Lou LaPorta, Glen Taylor and James I. Gibson, who later became State Senate majority leader and was father of our current mayor, James B. Gibson.

And the Mardi Gras was born to ensure at least one major fundraiser for Henderson's hospital for the years to come.

Colleen O’Callaghan-Miele, co-publisher of the Home News, can be reached at 990-2653 or [email protected]. She writes a regular blog online at mcommv.blogspot.com.