Sentara Obici Hospital, located in Suffolk, Virginia, has a storied history built on love, generosity and healing. It started with Amedeo Obici, an Italian immigrant who co-founded Planter’s Peanuts and developed a method for blanching and roasting that made him wealthy. He moved his successful business to Suffolk, where Amedeo and his wife Louise made the city their home in 1924.
When Louise died in 1938, Amedeo vowed to have a hospital built in her name. He died in 1947 while it was still in the planning stages, but left a lasting legacy. The Louise Obici Memorial Hospital opened in 1951 with 117 beds, 58 physicians and 30 registered nurses; charitable trust was established to support the institution.
The hospital grounds became the final resting place for the Obicis. Fifty-one years later, in 2002, the trust helped fund the construction of a new, larger hospital. The new hospital merged with Sentara Health in 2006 to ensure long-term viability and grow services and programs.
History is honored and reflected upon in the hospital’s art collection. Inside the hospital’s walls, remnants of the earlier hospital are visible at the entrance to the current hospital. Bronze sculptures from the Obicis’ personal collection are displayed in the main lobby. A pictorial history, newspaper headlines, portraits of Amedeo and Louise and memorabilia from their lives are displayed in Heritage Hallway on the garden level near the cafeteria.
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