LANCASTER COMMUNITY HOSPITAL CO-FOUNDER DIES AT 87 : SENSEMAN WAS LANCASTER'S ONLY PHYSICIAN IN '40S; LEFT LASTING MARK IN LOCAL MEDICINE.Byline: Bhavna Mistry Daily News Staff Writer Dr. William Senseman, who came to the Antelope Valley This article is about the Los Angeles County region. For the census-designated place in Wyoming, see Antelope Valley-Crestview, Wyoming. The Antelope Valley in 1936 and co-founded Lancaster Community Hospital This article or section needs sources or references that appear in reliable, third-party publications. Alone, primary sources and sources affiliated with the subject of this article are not sufficient for an accurate encyclopedia article. in 1964, has died at age 87. He died Sunday in Lancaster Community's W.R. Senseman Tower, named for him in 1985, two years after he suffered a stroke and discontinued dis·con·tin·ue v. dis·con·tin·ued, dis·con·tin·u·ing, dis·con·tin·ues v.tr. 1. To stop doing or providing (something); end or abandon: his medical practice. ``He's been a very enterprising en·ter·pris·ing adj. Showing initiative and willingness to undertake new projects: The enterprising children opened a lemonade stand. man,'' said Dr. Eldon Buzbee, who worked with Senseman for most of his career. ``He knew a lot of things and taught me a lot. He made a great impact (on) this community.'' Services will be at 4 p.m. Saturday at the Lancaster Seventh-day Adventist Church The Seventh-day Adventist Church (abbreviated "Adventist"[2]) is a Protestant Christian denomination which is distinguished mainly by its observance of Saturday, the "seventh day" of the week, as the Sabbath. , 43824 30th St. W. Burial will be private. He helped build and finance the Lancaster Seventh-day Adventist Church, and he was active in civic projects. He was best known, however, for his mark on the city's medical landscape. Senseman and his wife, Marie, bought a small hospital in Palmdale when they moved to the Antelope Valley in 1936. They sold it two years later and bought a six-bed facility in downtown Lancaster. During World War II, Senseman was the only medical doctor practicing in Lancaster. His wife helped him treat patients around the clock after he was unable to attract another doctor to come to the area. Senseman worked out a contract to fly his own airplane out of what is now Edwards Air Force Base Edwards Air Force Base, U.S. military installation, 301,000 acres (121,805 hectares), S Calif., NE of Lancaster; est. 1933. It is one of the largest air force bases in the United States and has the world's longest runway. so he could serve patients otherwise unable to get a doctor. ``He did what he had to do,'' said his son, Albert Senseman, a Lancaster businessman. ``He couldn't get any other help up here.'' After the war, a few other doctors settled in Lancaster. In 1964, they joined Senseman in opening the 47-bed Lancaster Community Hospital. Shirley Kupferer, director for utilization management Utilization management is the evaluation of the appropriateness, medical need and efficiency of health care services procedures and facilities according to established criteria or guidelines and under the provisions of an applicable health benefits plan. , social service and discharge planning at Lancaster Community Hospital, first worked with Senseman 25 years ago. She was an operating-room nurse then. ``He was always a gentleman and always a man of his word,'' Kupferer said. ``He was good to his staff and cared about what he was doing.'' |
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