IT'S HARD TO IMAGINE WOLF LAKE INDIANA AS ANYTHING BUT A RURAL WIDE SPOT IN THE ROAD, BUT FOLKS HERE HAVE A DIFFERENT VIEW. THEY'D POINT OUT THAT ONCE UPON A TIME WOLF LAKE WAS HOME TO A CUTTING EDGE REGIONAL MEDICAL CENTER, BUILT BY THE TOWN DOCTOR, JAMES LUCKEY. DOCTOR LUCKEY USED TO PRACTICE OUT OF HIS HOME, BUT WHEN HIS TWO BOYS BECAME DOCTORS AND CAME HOME TO PRACTICE WITH DAD, HE BUILT A LITTLE HOSPITAL IN THE BACKYARD.
Sandra: When this was built it had everything in it that was available at that time. Fort Wayne didn't have anything better.
FROM 1929 TO 1957 LUCKEY HOSPITAL IS WHERE RURAL FOLKS FOR FIFTY MILES AROUND CAME FOR MEDICAL CARE…TWENTY PATIENT BEDS, FULLY EQUIPPED OPERATING ROOM, X-RAY, LAB AND PHARMACY..LUCKEY HOSPITAL HAD IT ALL.
Sandra: This truly was something to be here in this little community of 350 people.
AFTER IT CLOSED THE HOSPITAL STOOD EMPTY FOR DECADES, RESCUED BY RELATIVES OF THE DOCTORS LUCKEY, AND TURNED INTO A HOSPITAL MUSEUM. SANDRA HUNTSMAN IS OUR TOUR GUIDE TODAY. THE OPERATING ROOM HAS BEEN RESTORED WITH PERIOD INSTRUMENTS..THE PHARMACY STOCKED WITH AUTHENTIC DEPRESSION ERA MEDICINES AND SUPPLIES. A LOT OF FOLKS OWE THEIR LIVES TO THIS LITTLE HOSPITAL, INCLUDING SANDRA HUNTSMAN'S HUSBAND, RUSHED HERE AS A LITTLE BOY IN 1943 WITH A DANGEROUSLY HIGH FEVER.
Sandra: He got the first penicillin shot it was experimental at that time, but the first shot given here was given to my husband it saved his life.
AND LUCKEY HOSPITAL IS DESPENSING MEDICAL CARE ONCE AGAIN. A FREE CLINIC IS HELD HERE THE SECOND AND FOURTH THURSDAY OF EACH MONTH, PUTTING THE OLD HOSPITAL BACK TO WORK, AND NO DOUBT WARMING THE COCKLES, OF AN OLD CAREGIVERS HEART. ERIC OLSON OUT IN YOUR COUNTRY.
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