John and Pat Neff lived in Fort Scott decades ago, but were impacted by the Sisters of Mercy and decided to give back to the community.

“I was told that John grew up in the area and then they lived here early in their marriage…and adopted two children from Mercy Hospital,” Carla Farmer, Fort Scott Area Community Foundation (FSACF) member said. “Pat reached out in the 1990s and wanted to give back to the local Sisters of Mercy, who helped them adopt two children. That’s the basis of them wanting to give back to the community. This was a couple that was touched by our community decades ago. This was where they raised there children.”

“The Neff’s created an annuity that paid them until they passed away,” FSACF Chairman Craig Campbell said.

John Valentine Neff and Patricia Renfro Neff were married 69 years until his death, according to Pat’s Neff’s obituary. Pat died in July 2022.

Upon her death the annuity money went to the Mercy foundation, and now to the FSACF for distribution into the community for future health care funds.

On November 21, Dr. Katrina Burke will be under the auspices of Girard Medical Center of Fort Scott and will begin seeing patients at the same office in downtown Fort Scott where she has been located for two years.

“All of Dr. Burke’s staff will be staying on, including nurse practitioner, Kristi Harbit,” said Ruth Duling, Chief Executive Officer of Girard Medical Center.

“We really want to emphasize that the clinic is in the same location!” she said. ” Dr. Burke is not leaving the Fort Scott medical community.  She loves her patient population there and she and her staff will continue to provide the same great service they always have.”

“There will be a few days between the last day for Ascension Via Christi and the first day for us, as we will need a few days to reset and get computers in place, etc,” Duling said.

“Patients can call the office to ask that their records be transferred from the Via Christi Clinic to the GMC Clinic,” she said.  “It’s just a matter of getting their records from the Via Christi electronic health record system to ours, but patients do have to request for that transfer to be made.”

The office number is 620-223-7008.

Hours of operation will be 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. on Monday through Thursday and  8 a.m. to 2:30 p.m. on Friday.

“We are extremely happy to have the opportunity to bring Dr. Burke and her staff into the Girard Medical Center family,” Duling said.  “It’s no secret that Dr. Burke is well respected by her patients, her colleagues, and the medical community.”

“Girard Medical Center is fortunate to have family practice clinics in Girard, Frontenac, Arma, Cherokee, and in another Bourbon County community, Uniontown,” she said.  “We do family practice well!  We’re excited to have a physical presence in Fort Scott and we’re equally excited to have Dr Burke’s patients become more familiar with Girard Medical Center.”

“Rest assured, we are doing everything we can to make a smooth transition and to ensure that Dr. Burke, Kristi and the staff are able to continue to provide the same great service they always have and it’s an added plus to be in the exact same location,” Duling said.