When a car crash upended their wedding anniversary plans, Gundersen staff brought the celebration to them

Wisconsinites are well-versed in their state’s restaurant hierarchy. Amidst the state’s fast-food icon Culvers, bar food classics or Friday-night-fish is a category of eatery too special to simply be labeled “restaurant.” A place where generations of families and communities come together with prime rib, brandy old-fashioned sweets and salad bars. The Wisconsin supper club is a place to reconnect, recharge and celebrate life’s small and large moments, like the end of a hard work week or another year around the sun.  

La Crosse area natives Fred and Patti Lezpona have long celebrated their wedding anniversary at Lake Delton’s iconic Ishnala Supper Club near Wisconsin Dells. 

“I’m not really sure how the tradition got started,” Fred says. 

This year, however, Fred and Patti were involved in a car crash and hospitalized at Gundersen La Crosse Hospital. Their recovery timelines were different, making it unlikely they would be able to celebrate their 39th anniversary together at Ishnala. 

Bringing the celebration to them

Preparing to be discharged from the hospital before Patti, Fred told Inpatient Physical Therapy Assistant Maria Spearbecker about the tradition and his disappointment that this year would be different. 

While Maria couldn’t bring the beauty and atmosphere of Ishnla to the Hospital, she set out to create a special moment for the couple to celebrate together. Working with Clinical Manager Lisa Lund and Gundersen’s Patient Experience department, they surprised the couple with a special anniversary meal in the Hospital’s rehab dining room, complete with a table draped in white linen, cake and goblets full of sparkling juice.  

“They shocked us both,” Fred says. “It was very emotional but in a good way.” 

The lights were dimmed, a bouquet of flowers was placed on the table, the dining room’s fireplace was lit, and staff delivered anniversary cards to help the couple celebrate.  

To complete the special moment, members of Fred and Patti’s family joined the celebration alongside Gundersen staff.  

“We just had great people helping us,” Fred says.  

It is moments like this that separate Bellin and Gundersen Health System from the rest of the healthcare industry. As the organization prepares to become Emplify Health, it is stories like this that lay the foundation of a future healthcare system that amplifies empathy. Empathy is what brings Love + Medicine to life.