WHEATLAND – Who doesn’t like a little extra comfort while experiencing a stay at the hospital or living in an assisted care nursing facility? The all-volunteer Platte County Hospital / Legacy Home Foundation Board was formed many years ago to raise money for the hospital and nursing home facilities in Wheatland in order to fill needs that go above and beyond what the budgets can purchase.
With support from generous volunteers, the foundation has been able to help fund a remodel the emergency room, provide a special medical part (Hamilton TI ventilator) that allows quick and easy conversion of a patient’s ventilator from the ambulance to the emergency room or emergency flight transport systems. Because of donations, the foundation has been able to also provide an IV pump for the ER, educational assistance, scholarships for aspiring nurses.
Donations to the foundation have also helped purchase many comfort items for the Platte County Legacy Home, including a blanket warmer, soft serve ice cream machine (a resident favorite), popcorn machine, haircuts for residents, a kitchen for occupational therapists and life skills training, comfort pets (which mimic real-life house pets), tablets for nurses, and educational assistance for staff. Donations to the foundation have also enabled the purchase of an activities sound system, wheelchair and piano.

The foundation chooses the items for each facility based on resident and staff recommendations a and a desire to fill the needs and provide the most benefit to residents and patients.
This year, the foundation would like to replace older mattresses currently used by residents in the Legacy Home. Their goal is to purchase as many medical-grade bariatric mattresses as possible, but each one is expensive and 45 in total are needed. The medical-grade mattresses help reduce pressure sores by helping distribute patients’ weight more evenly and do not require electricity or an electric pump.
In order to raise the funds, the Foundation is seeking donations through its annual fundraiser, beginning at 6 p.m. on Saturday, March 22 at the Agriplex in Wheatland. The Cajun Night fundraiser has started to become a fun tradition for the community, boasting good food, fun, a 50/50, silent auction, and a cash bar. Tickets to the event are being sold at First State Bank, Platte Valley Bank, Simply Creative, or from Foundation board members. Call 307-331-0420 for any questions.
“There are wonderful people who do the cooking,” board member Lauren Nordeen said. “In addition to the raffle and silent auction, there is also a raffle of an autographed and framed Josh Allen white Buffalo Bills game jersey which was donated by a board member.”
The jersey is displayed in the window of Murel’s Great Treasures (717 9th Street in Wheatland). Raffle tickets can be purchased from a Foundation board member, at Murel’s, or remotely at Venmo-@Christina-Lambert-38 or cash app-$ckbcab3. The drawing will be during the fundraiser, but the winner does not need to be present to win.