Community Healthcare System will change its name to Powers Health — a nod to one of its founding directors Donald S. Powers — effective July 1, according to a letter sent to employees Wednesday.
The change, detailed in a letter penned by Community’s CEO Donald P. Fesko, was approved by the CHS board of directors.
“Don Powers was a visionary leader who laid the foundation for our strong, integrated system,” the letter reads. “He worked tirelessly to bring advanced healthcare close to home. His vision and determination continues to guide us.”
Powers, who died in 2015, helped establish the Munster’s Community Hospital which opened in 1973, its Community Foundation, and The Theatre at the Center. He was a prominent developer in the town of Munster and owned the Don Powers Agency.
Fesko, who is Powers’ grandson, wrote that the name change will help avoid confusion with similarly named hospital systems that include the word Community in and outside of Indiana.
The name change won’t impact its acute care hospitals — Community Hospital, St. Catherine Hospital in East Chicago, and St. Mary Medical Center in Hobart — but there will be some changes elsewhere. The Community Stroke & Rehabilitation Center will become the Powers Health Rehabilitation Center; all location or hospital-based health center names will change to Powers Health Outpatient Center; and Community Care Network, Inc. will become the Powers Health Medical Group.
