January 02, 2002

Illini Hospital Dedicates MedCentre To Retiring CEO

Members of the Illini board of directors, hospital and medical staff and community renamed Illini's MedCentre to the Larson Center, in honor of Gary Larson's hard work and dedication.

Larson will step down as Chief Executive Officer of Illini Hospital and Executive Vice President of Genesis Health System on Friday, November 30. With his retirement, this senior statesman of the Quad City health care scene ends a 42-year career that has been "a wonderful challenge and a privilege," he says. "It has been a perfect career for me. It fits me very well. I feel so fortunate that I was guided into a career in health care." Larson was working as assistant administrator of the former St. Luke's Hospital in Davenport, a predecessor of Genesis Medical Center, when he landed the job as CEO of the 1-year-old Illini Hospital in November of 1969. "During his tenure, Illini grew from a hospital with only a dozen physicians to a multi-faceted network of health services with more than 300 physicians on staff," says Leo Bressanelli, President and CEO of Genesis Health System. "As a result, members of the community hold Illini Hospital in the highest regard. I would like to express my most sincere appreciation for his dedicated leadership."

Gary Larson with his wife Pat, holding a rendering of the new Larson Center.

It's that outstanding leadership and hard work by the entire Illini staff that has placed the hospital in the top 5 percentile of Press- Ganey inpatient satisfaction scores and has given it the distinction of several firsts including; being the first Quad City hospital to hire a full-time physician for its Emergency Department, the first in the state of Illinois to establish all Labor, Delivery, Recovery, Postpartum (LDRP) rooms in the birthing unit and the first to develop a patient information system that is now one of the largest patient accounting systems in the world. Illini has also received state recognition for its Domestic Violence Advocacy Program. The program is one of the most successful in Illinois and is now being used as a model for other hospitals wanting to combat domestic violence in their communities.

The Larson Center is a 4 level office building that connects to Illini Hospital. Several area physicians have their practices located in the building. The new sign is expected to be put in place outside of 855 Hospital Road, Silvis, during the week of December 17, weather permitting.