It was a tumultuous four-year effort with emotion-filled meetings and numerous votes between the Fort Dodge Mercy Hospital board and Bethesda General Hospital Association.

To support the merger and area health planning, the Iowa Regional Medical Program, part of the University of Iowa Carver College of Medicine, sent its Assistant Director Ronald Probasco, and a few other employees to study, interview, and present the project to the communities in the six-county region.

“This merger was the first successful effort to get a regional approach for providing medical care,” said Probasco. “To see now that it’s statewide is really amazing.”

Probasco, who now lives in Bella Vista, Arkansas, returned to UnityPoint Health — Trinity Regional Medical Center on July 17 to commemorate the 50th anniversary of the merger. He visited with Leah Glasgo, president and CEO of UnityPoint Health — Fort Dodge, and toured the hospital, formerly known as Lutheran Hospital and later Bethesda General Hospital.

“My primary role was to be a mediator,” said Probasco. “The vested interests were very strong. I was originally supposed to be a consultant for only six months, but I ended up staying for two years to support the new hospital board.”

Probasco worked closely with the late Maurie Stark, a tax attorney in Fort Dodge; Dr. James Habermann, pathologist and first chairman of the Trinity Regional Hospital Board; and others in the Citizens Hospital Study Committee. His job was to determine whether merging the hospitals was in the best interest for Fort Dodge, encourage stakeholders and community members to support the merger and manage conflict between the two hospitals.

“Maurie Stark had a reputation for getting things done,” said Probasco. “He was a super mentor. This project gave me an active start in my career, and I couldn’t have had a better work experience.”

Today, Maurie Stark’s legacy can still be felt as his son, David, is the president and CEO of UnityPoint Health — Des Moines. David Stark, a 1990 graduate of St. Edmond High School, fondly remembers his close-knit family, connections within the community and great education while growing up in Fort Dodge. Maurie Stark and his late wife, Mary, guided their family of six children with the principle, “to whom much has been given, much will be expected.”

“My dad was one of the most community-minded people you will ever meet,” said David Stark. “He would be embarrassed by the recognition and did all his community service that way. He called it his ‘civic rent’ to pay forward to a community who gave him and his family so much. He often reflected on the many months of negotiating this deal for the long-term health care needs of Fort Dodge. He was proud of the outcome and the leaders who have led Trinity since the merger. This was one of his crowning achievements that most people never knew about … “

After Probasco’s work in Fort Dodge, he was recruited to head up the Model Rural Health Center in Oakdale. He then helped establish Community Health Care, Inc., a community health center in the Quad Cities. The organization is still in existence, having since expanded its services and added more locations. Probasco retired after 24 years as a county director of health services in California.

“I certainly was not the only one that got it done, but I am proud that I had some role in the merger,” Probasco said..

“We are grateful for the work of Mr. Probasco, Mr. Stark and others for their visionary work,” said Glasgo. “We are proud we continue to grow as a region and offer excellence in specialized care right here in Fort Dodge.”