Southern Nebraska Register
Bishop James Conley joined Nebraska Governor Jim Pillen, Lt. Governor Joe Kelly, and other guests for a tour of Madonna Rehabilitation Hospital in Lincoln March 9 with Paul Dongilli Jr., Ph.D., president and chief executive officer of Madonna.
“It’s amazing to see the constant improvements and genuine care and compassion for the patients at this facility which has such a rich and ongoing Catholic heritage,” the bishop said of the visit.
The Diocese of Lincoln has had a sponsorship of Madonna Rehabilitation Hospital since 1995. Diocesan priests Father Joseph Steele and Father Joseph Finn serve as chaplains and three diocesan priests are residents at Madonna.
Bishop Conley blessed and dedicated a new wing at the facility last May, when they completed a $57 million expansion and renovation project, including 59 private patient suites equipped with the latest technology.
Madonna was founded in 1958 by Benedictine Sisters of Yankton, S.D. They purchased a 24-acre campus, including the Bailey Hospital and Sanatorium buildings, to open a long-term care facility for the elderly in Lincoln. They choose the name Madonna in honor of the Blessed Mother and provided services according to the Benedictine values the hospital continues to follow today. They began offering rehabilitation services in 1966. That same year, Madonna received the nation’s first Medicare certification.
Madonna expanded its inpatient rehabilitation in 1994, and established the first specialty hospital in Nebraska, offering physical rehabilitation to medically complex patients.
SNR photos by Dennis Kellogg
