• Home
  • About Us
    • About Us - Our History
    • About Us - Mission
    • About Us - Leadership
    • About Us - Physician Directory
      • About Us - Physician Directory - Adam Paoni, DO
      • About Us - Physician Directory - Chandroutie Latchman, DO
      • About Us - Physician Directory - Chris Jacquinot, O.D.
      • About Us - Physician Directory - Dakota Bunch, MD
      • About Us - Physician Directory - Douglas K. Brown, M.D.
      • About Us - Physician Directory - Dustin Bonzo MD
      • About Us - Physician Directory - Katherine Painter OD
      • About Us - Physician Directory - Katrina Burke, MD
      • About Us - Physician Directory - Lisa Salvador M.D.
      • About Us - Physician Directory - Mindi S. Garner, D.O.
      • About Us - Physician Directory - Scott McClintick, DO
      • About Us - Physician Directory - Shane R. Kannarr, O.D.
      • About Us - Physician Directory - Taka Kido, M.D.
    • About Us - Board of Trustees
    • About Us - Contact Us
  • Patient Resources
    • Patient Resources - Online Payments
      • Patient Resources - Online Payments - Online Billing Resources
    • Patient Resources - Hospital Patient Portal
    • Patient Resources - Clinic Patient Portal
    • Patient Resources - Patient Financial Services
    • Patient Resources - Financial Assistance
    • Patient Resources - Family Patient Information
    • Patient Resources - Mobile Patient Portal App Registration Instructions
    • Patient Resources - No Surprise Billing
      • Patient Resources - No Surprise Billing - No Surprise Billing Out of Network Notice
      • Patient Resources - No Surprise Billing - No Surprises Uninsured Notice
    • Patient Resources - Notice of Patient Rights
    • Patient Resources - Notice of Privacy Practices
    • Patient Resources - Online Patient Portal Instructions
  • Departments
    • Departments - Senior Behavioral Health
      • Departments - Senior Behavioral Health - About Us
      • Departments - Senior Behavioral Health - Referrals
      • Departments - Senior Behavioral Health - Resources
      • Departments - Senior Behavioral Health - FAQs
      • Departments - Senior Behavioral Health - Map
    • Departments - Tranistional Care
    • Departments - Cardiopulmonary Rehab
      • Departments - Cardiopulmonary Rehab - Cardiac Rehab
      • Departments - Cardiopulmonary Rehab - Pulmonary Rehab
      • Departments - Cardiopulmonary Rehab - Peripheral Artery Program
    • Departments - Surgery
    • Departments - Therapy
    • Departments - Radiology
    • Departments - Home Health
    • Departments - ER
    • Departments - Community Outreach
    • Departments - Laboratory
    • Departments - Additional Services
      • Departments - Additional Services - Community Outreach
  • Primary Care Clinics
    • Primary Care Clinics - Girard Medical Center Health Clinic
    • Primary Care Clinics - Girard Medical Center of Arma
    • Primary Care Clinics - Girard Medical Center of Cherokee
    • Primary Care Clinics - Girard Medical Center of Fort Scott
    • Primary Care Clinics - Girard Medical Center of Frontenac
    • Primary Care Clinics - Girard Medical Center Uniontown
    • Primary Care Clinics - Girard Express Care
    • Primary Care Clinics - Patient Forms
  • Specialty Clinics
    • Specialty Clinics - Bariatric Services
      • Specialty Clinics - Bariatric Services - Bariatric Surgery
      • Specialty Clinics - Bariatric Services - Patient Testimonials and Before/After Pictures
      • Specialty Clinics - Bariatric Services - Patient Resources
      • Specialty Clinics - Bariatric Services - Bariatric Seminar Slideshow
      • Specialty Clinics - Bariatric Services - How much weight loss can I expect?
      • Specialty Clinics - Bariatric Services - Requirements for a Sleeve Gastrectomy
      • Specialty Clinics - Bariatric Services - Abdominoplasty (Tummy Tuck)
    • Specialty Clinics - Behavioral Health & Psychotherapy
    • Specialty Clinics - Wound Care
      • Specialty Clinics - Wound Care - Wound Healing Overview
      • Specialty Clinics - Wound Care - Types of Wounds Treated
      • Specialty Clinics - Wound Care - Wound Care Treatment Plans
      • Specialty Clinics - Wound Care - What Can Wound Care Patients Expect?
      • Specialty Clinics - Wound Care - Our Wound Care Team
    • Specialty Clinics - Specialists
  • Careers
    • Careers - Why work for GMC?
    • Careers - Job Openings
    • Careers - Online Application
  • Resources
    • Resources - Gift Shop
  • Our Foundation
    • Our Foundation - Mission & Purpose
    • Our Foundation - Meet the Board
    • Our Foundation - Giving Opportunities
    • Our Foundation - Donate
      • Our Foundation - Donate - Donation Thank You
    • Our Foundation - Smiles From Jamie
      • Our Foundation - Smiles From Jamie - "The Tree" Mural and Poem donated by "Smiles from Jamie" and Haderlein/GMS Students
    • Our Foundation - News & Events
  • Volunteer
    • Volunteer - Girard Medical Center Volunteer Association
    • Volunteer - News & Events
  • News
  • Calendar
Quick Links
Skip to main contentSkip to navigation
Main Navigation
MenuMenu Toggle
Toggle extra links
  • Patient Resources
    • Online Payments
    • Hospital Patient Portal
    • Client Patient Portal
    • Notice of Privacy Rights
    • Current conditions as of 20 May 18:55 pm CDT

      Fair

      Location:Girard
      Feels like:NA°
      Humidity:47
      Wind: 5 mph
      Fair72°
      Tonight
      Clear, with a low around 51. West wind 5 to 8 mph becoming calm in the evening. Winds could gust as high as 18 mph.
      Wednesday
      Sunny, with a high near 74. North wind 3 to 6 mph.
      Wednesday Night
      A 20 percent chance of showers and thunderstorms before 1am. Mostly clear, with a low around 53. Northeast wind 3 to 5 mph.
      Weather forecast provided by weather.gov.
  • Sign In Sign In Link

Girard Medical Center

Return to home

Girard Medical Center Logo

  • Online Payment
  • News
  • Calendar
  • Careers

News

  1. Home Link
  2. breadcrumbs: News

Website Navigation   As Staff Page Only

Set as Default Template Help

 

HTML Editor:

Your session will expire in 0 minutes.

Feature & Share

Working...

Ajax Loading Image

 

Girard Icon - Dr. Wesley Hall!

Article by Alex Battitori, Hometown Girard

By Alex Battitori on April 06, 2018

Launch the media gallery 1 player

He’s one of the most well-known and well-liked Girard locals. Though he didn’t arrive in Girard until his professional career began, he has impacted just as many lives as any native Girardian. In fact, if you were born in the Girard General Hospital or Girard Medical Center between the early ‘60s and early ‘90s, this man may have very well been the first person you saw.

              But, believe it or not, Dr. Wesley Hall didn’t always have his heart set on becoming a doctor.

              He was born in Green Forest, Ark., but didn’t remain there long until his family uprooted first to Sherman, Kan., then back to Arkansas, and then on to Canyon City, Colo., when he was in eighth grade. The constant moving was a necessity for Hall, whose father served as a Baptist minister.

              His largest move came in the midst of WWII, when he was still in high school. Temporarily breaking off his education, Hall joined the Navy and was assigned as a gunners mate in the Philippines.

              “That was when I really began thinking about going into medicine,” he said. “I decided I wanted to attend KU and take the pre-med curriculum.”

              And, after returning from the Philippines and finishing his high school degree, that’s exactly what he did. It was also during that time that he met his future wife, Norma.

              “I was serving as a nurse at Halstead Hospital, where Wesley worked in the research lab,” Norma said.

              The two were married in 1952, and Dr. Hall completed his undergrad a year later in 1953. He would remain at KU for medical school before relocating to Kansas City for his internship at Bethany Hospital in 1958.

              But Dr. Hall, who had spent his childhood in a plethora of small towns, already had his sights set on practicing medicine in a rural setting—so long as the town had its own hospital. Fortunately, such an opportunity came calling that same year, an opportunity by the name of Dr. Jack Walker.

              “Dr. Walker grew up [in Girard] and came back there to practice, but he was wanting to head up the program at KU, so he came recruiting for someone to replace him back in Girard,” Dr. Hall said. “I bought his practice upon arriving in Girard, and he went up to KU.”

              Girard’s medical landscape looked much different back then. The hospital—then Girard General Hospital—didn’t have a lab or even an X-ray machine of its own. Anyone in need of either service had to make the trip to Mt. Carmel instead.

              “Fortunately, we did get an X-ray machine, thanks to Barbara Lohmeyer,” Dr. Hall said. “She came on as administrator in 1958.”

              It also wasn’t uncommon for Dr. Hall to make house calls.

              “They would call, and he would go, and I would call the place where he went to tell him where he needed to be next,” Mrs. Hall said. “Mostly for things like the flu. Even if it was in the middle of the night, he usually went.”

              On one such occasion, when Dr. Hall arrived at the house, his patient was sitting calmly for him at the kitchen table, waiting.

              Recalling the incident with a laugh, Dr. Hall said, “He said to me, ‘It was cheaper for you to come to the house than for me to go in to your office.’”

              Though house calls formed a part of his practice in the early days (he didn’t take house calls for the last five years of his practice), those types of calls were dwarfed by another: deliveries.

              “I can’t tell you how many babies I’ve delivered,” he said.

              He does remember one night, though, when he delivered two pairs of twins, one right after another, in rooms directly across from each other.

              And Dr. and Mrs. Hall had a large family of their own—five sons and two daughters. Mrs. Hall spent most of her time at home raising, a task which she said her nursing background came in very handy for.

              Dr. Hall retired from his office practice in 1993, having split his medical career between the old Girard General Hospital and the new Girard Medical Center, which was erected about a decade after he came to Girard, in 1969.

              “After [my retirement] I went down to Cherokee for a little while, and then came to cardiac rehab at GMC,” he said. For those who know Dr. Hall, it’s not surprising that his official “retirement” wasn’t really a retirement—he’s always liked to stay busy.

              In his spare time, he can frequently be spotted on his family’s farm working on some project or another. He has also been an active member in his church, the Girard Bible Church, which he founded with Martin Schifferdecker, an aspect of his life he has always been proud of.

              On the medical side, he is also especially proud of his AAFP fellowship, which he earned in 1975. The test to become certified as an AAFP fellow is a rigorous one, and it is considered to be the one of the most difficult tests a medical professional can take because it draws questions from across all medical disciplines.

              He has also made a major impact on those he worked with.

              Dr. James Wilkins said of his former colleague, “Dr. Hall was instrumental in my coming to Girard in 1979. He had first met me on a recruiting trip to Kansas City when I was a senior resident. I was immediately impressed by his passion for health care in Girard and as I came to know him better, by his integrity, compassion and faith. He blessed me greatly as I worked for and with him for 19 and one-half years.

“When I and my family felt called to the mission field, Wes was a great encouragement. Girard has been enriched greatly by his presence and I am proud to be able to add my thankfulness to such an outstanding, extraordinary man. He continues to be an inspiration to me both medically and in my Christian walk. He has been a blessing to so many people. Medical care in Girard has been largely shaped by his presence. I wish him the very best in his continued retirement.”

              It’s no surprise, then, that the people—meeting them, helping them and making an impact on them—is what drove Dr. Hall to become one of Girard’s most beloved figures.

              “I really liked the people,” he said simply. “That was what I missed the most when I retired.”

Author Bio

View More Headlines
More Headlines
Brain Health Day 2025
Celebrating 5 years of Healing!
Girard Medical Center Foundation Celebrates Grand Opening of 3D Mammogram Machine
Girard Medical Center Congratulates Nathan Jameson on Heart of Health Care Worker Award
Girard Medical Center Foundation Receives Pritchett Trust Grant to Purchase LUCAS Device for Emergency Department
Girard Medical Center Hosts the 3rd Annual Dr. Jay Yost No Sweat 5K
Join US for the 22nd Annual Girard Medical Center Foundation Fall Golf Classic!
Registration Open! 3rd Annual Dr. Jay Yost No Sweat 5K
Honoring the Class of 2024: Celebrating This Year’s Scholarship Winners
Girard Medical Center Applauds Disaster Team Members for Silverback Response Award
Kylie Smith of Girard Medical Center Receives Communication Award
Girard Medical Center Announces Upcoming Sports Physicals for Local Area Schools
Save the Date! May Day Fiesta is May 4th!
Kindergarten Round Up, April 2nd
Girard Medical Center of Arma Now an Official Vaccines for Children (VFC) Provider
Girard Medical Center Awarded $100,000 Grant by Patterson Family Foundation
GMC Paints October Pink for Breast Cancer Awareness Month
Lindsay Pitts, DPT, Bringing Expertise in Pelvic Health to Girard Medical Center
2nd Annual Dr. Jay Yost No Sweat 5K Brings Community Together for a Morning of Fitness and Fun
Celebrating Our Volunteers' Gold Award at the KHA Conference
Exciting News: Express Care Now Available at Girard Medical Center of Cherokee!
Empowering Our Community: Pritchett Trust Grant Fuels 'Stop the Bleed' Program
Investing in the Community - Girard Medical Center's Impact
NEW TELEHEALTH SERVICES COMING TO OUR FRONTENAC CLINIC!
Registration Open - 2nd Annual Dr. Jay Yost No Sweat 5K
SAVE THE DATE! 2nd Anaul Dr. Jay Yost No Sweat 5K
New to GMC Physical Therapy!
Save the Date! 21st Annual Charity Golf Tournament
Coming Soon to GMC of Frontenac!
GMC Receives 2023 KOAM's Four States Finest Best Hospital Award
Girard Medical Center Foundation Donates $2000
Welcome Dr. Katrina Burke to Girard Medical Center!
First Annual Dr. Jay Yost No Sweat 5K A SUCCESS!
GMC Foundation Receives Pritchett Grant Award
Introducing the Inaugural Dr. Jay Yost No Sweat 5K!
Welcome Dr. Dakota Bunch to Girard Medical Center!
2022 Girard Medical Center Service Awards
Grant Awarded to Girard Medical Center
$25 for 25 Years
Girard Medical Center Clinics Receive the 2022 KOAM Four States Finest Award
GMC Comprehensive Wound Care Center Receives Center of Excellence Award
Welcome to Dr. Dustin Bonzo!
2020 Annual Report (Based on 2019 data)
Covid 19 Precautions
Wound Care Opening January 22nd!
2019 2nd Annual 5K Results
GMC hosts 2nd Annual 5K!
Alzheimer's Association Remote Learning Series
2019 Annual Report (based on 2018 data)
Free Stop The Bleed Class Offered at GMC
2018 5k Results
GMC 5K Birthday Bash Dash September 8th at 7:30 am!
2018 Annual Report (based on 2017 data)
Meet Adele, Our New (Almost) Dietitian!
Flu Shot Clinic
Outpatient Cardiac Rehabilitation Now Underway!
2017 Annual Report (2016 year end data)
Board Certified Cardiologist has clinic hours in Girard on Tuesday afternoons!
Annual Foundation Valentine's Dance a Rousing Success!
Congratulations to New Director of Nursing, Danny Ludwig!
Our GMC Team
2016 Annual Report
Free Fall Prevention Program April 5th!
Legacy of Dr. Robert Huebner
PAC Training Coming to GMC!
Reduce Your Risk for Breast Cancer -- GET A MAMMOGRAM!
Girard Medical Center Again Receives Level IV Trauma Center Designation from KDHE
New State-of-the-Art Beds for Senior Behavioral Health!
GMC bids a Fond Farewell to outgoing Board Member, Robert Tersinar!
Mission Accomplished!
Healthy Kansas Hospital Initiative
2014 - Another Year of Growth for Girard Medical Center
Girard Medical Center's Volunteer Board of Trustees
MD News
Welcome Dr. Tang to the Arma Clinic!
Shopping for a Cause
Girard Express Care Open Weekends!
Influenza Activity High in Kansas
Girard Medical Center celebrating over 100 years of serving YOU!
Campaign for Life continues through Breast Cancer Awareness Month
Girard Medical Center's ER has LOW average arrival to depart time!
Congratulations to Karen Sullivan and Jessica Dalton!
GMC among best practices for IQR
Floyd and Barbara Joliet - Two Wonderful Examples of our Amazing Volunteers!
Girard Medical Center Receives Level IV Trauma Center Designation from KDHE
Walk the Walk to End Alzheimer's!
Girard Medical Center Opens Laboratory to High School Students
Girard Medical Center gift targets nursing
GMC Welcomes New Executive Director of the Foundation!
Girard Medical Center302 North Hospital DriveGirard, KS  66743PH: 620-724-8291FX: 620-724-6332
Facebook
SOCS-Simplified Online Communication System  (socs03)SOCS-Simplified Online Communication System  (socs03)SOCS Logo Link© 2025 Girard Medical CenterAccessibilityPrivacy Pledge


Price Transparency
This institution is an equal opportunity provider.
girardmedicalcenter.socs.net