Reid Health Connersville dedications honor community stewardship of 3 people
When Bill Ducey was 10 years old, his father taught him an important early lesson about stewardship.
A blade on the family’s mower had broken and young Bill hoped that meant he wouldn’t have to mow that week.
“My dad said, ‘Well, then you better walk around and ask neighbors if you can borrow their mower,’” Ducey said.
A neighbor agreed to lend the family his gas-powered Lawn Boy – a big deal in 1965 – and Ducey made short work of the yard.
He was about to return the mower when his dad asked a question.
“Did you check the gas and oil, and did you wash it?” he asked his son, who gave his father a puzzled look.
“If you borrow something, you give it back to them better than when you got it,” the elder Ducey said.
It was a lesson that stuck with Ducey throughout a 30-year career as a vascular surgeon at Reid Health and one that – in part – provided the motive for he and his wife, Amanda Brinker, RN, to make a $100,000 donation to the capital campaign for the new Reid Health Connersville campus.
Amanda cared for patients as a nurse manager at Reid’s main campus in Richmond for many years and now serves as the health system’s Peer Review Specialist for Quality.
“Amanda and I had the privilege of caring for many Fayette County residents,” Ducey said. “Despite having several other options for their vascular surgical and hospital care, they overwhelmingly chose to come to Reid, year after year. That was very gratifying, and it helped to support Reid, my practice, and our family.
“Giving to this project seemed like a great way to pay that back.”
In honor of their contribution, the specialty care office space on the second floor of the new Connersville facility has been named the Ducey Brinker Specialty Care area.
“A major community asset like this Reid facility is a critical multifunction lifeline, a cornerstone of community pride, well-being, and future development,” Ducey said. “Amanda and I gave this gift in a spirit of thanks and gratitude for the support given to us by this community.
“And we can think of no better gift than one that supports a heavily invested, constantly improving healthcare system that serves this community, from within this community.”
An official dedication ceremony was held at the facility Tuesday, one that also marked the formal naming of another nearby space.
The Dave Rodgers Green Roof honors the longtime former owner and operator of the Whitewater Broadcasting radio network, whose $500,000 donation served as the lead gift for the capital campaign.
“Before he passed in May 2025, Dave was a community champion who worked tirelessly to improve the local quality of life, often giving quietly and anonymously,” said Mark Harrington, Chair of the Reid Health Governing Board.
“Dave had a heart for the Connersville community, and he was passionate about environmental conservation, so it’s fitting the Dave Rodgers Green Roof now bears his name.”
Over his more than 50 years at Whitewater Broadcasting, Rodgers supported numerous organizations through his servant leadership and philanthropy. He made time to volunteer and serve on numerous charitable boards and gave generously to those and other organizations.
Along with his other charitable contributions, Rodgers championed community development projects aimed at helping East Central Indiana grow and prosper and served as a mentor to many nonprofit leaders throughout the community.
“Reid Health is able to do the things we do in the communities we serve thanks to the support of people like Dave, Amanda, and Bill,” said Jason Troutwine, Reid Health Vice President and Reid Health Foundation President.
“That lesson in stewardship – leaving a place better than how we found it – is reflected in Reid’s mission to lead our communities to well-being, one person at a time. We can’t thank them enough for helping us realize that mission.”