Hall of Fame: Butch Eaton & Jim Klausman
Jim Klausman and Butch Eaton, the founders of Midwest Health Management Inc., have been business partners and great friends since 1977 when they leased their first nursing home and created Midwest Health.
Jim grew up understanding the nursing home business. His grandfather owned a nursing home in Easton, Kansas, and his parents owned one in Valley Falls. Jim worked at that facility all through high school and then moved to Lawrence for two years to attend the University of Kansas. He transferred to Washburn University to finish his degree and began working at Sears Automotive part time, where he met Butch, also a student of a local university.
The two soon became the best of friends.
In early 1977, when Jim was offered the opportunity to lease Woodland Health Center in Topeka, he knew he needed a business partner to make it happen. He immediately thought of Butch.
The two men grew the business slowly over the next several years. But all of that changed with the introduction of assisted living in the 1990s. Seeing assisted living as a better alternative to skilled nursing facilities, Jim and Butch built their first facility: Rolling Hills Assisted Living at 24th & Urish Road. Midwest Health now has 65 facilities in five states.
EXPANDING THE VISION
In addition to Midwest Health, Jim and Butch embarked on a variety of other business ventures together. They opened Breathe Oxygen & Medical Supply in
2002, which provides oxygen and respiratory equipment and supplies and durable medical equipment such as wheelchairs, walkers, rollators and medical beds. They created Caregivers Home Health, a home care provider that allows seniors to remain safely in their own home while receiving medical care or assistance with personal care and other daily tasks.
Other ancillary business ventures include a partnership with Grace Hospice and SeniorRx Care Pharmacy, which provides medications for the Midwest Health facilities and other medical facilities.
That pharmacy venture opened up an entirely different aspect of business for Jim and Butch. To house the new pharmacy, in 2008 they renovated the old Dibble’s grocery building at 121 SE 6th St. in downtown Topeka. That led to expanded interest in other areas within the Topeka community.
In addition to several properties downtown and restaurants in Topeka, Lawrence and Kansas City, Jim and Butch are the driving force behind Wheatfield Village at SW 29th and Fairlawn. The development is home toThe Wheatfield 9 Theater by B&B Theaters, Johnny’s Tavern, PT’s Coffee and SPIN! Pizza. The new Springhill Suites by Marriott opened the first of the year, and Wheatfield Village is in talks to add multi-family apartments to the complex. And that is just what they are doing in Topeka.
In May, Midwest Health is opening Homestead Estates of Wichita, a new senior living community that offers independent living, assisted living, and memory care on one campus. They are also renovating existing properties including Homestead Estates in Leawood, Kansas. The project will open this fall and offer Leawood seniors an upscale assisted living option.
Jim and Butch are also welcoming a new Chiefs Fit location in Kansas City’s Country Club Plaza. The new facility, which will be housed in the Jack Henry building that Jim and Butch own, will offer group fitness classes, personal training services, cryotherapy treatment, hydromassage machines, Normatec recovery systems, spray tan booths, a sauna, fuel bar and a retail shop.
A COMMUNITY VIEW
Successful entrepreneurs understand the importance of giving back to the communities where they do business. Jim and Butch each have organizations and causes that they care about and support.
Jim served as president of the Kansas Health Care Association, the industry’s largest trade association, in 1979 and again in 2007-2008. He is a past chairman of the Greater Topeka Chamber of Commerce. He served as the president of Northeast Kansas Junior Achievement and is currently on the board. In addition, Jim serves on the Board of Directors of Blue Cross and Blue Shield of Kansas, and GO Topeka.
Butch is a proud supporter of the Greater Topeka Chamber of Commerce, Downtown Topeka Inc., Junior League of Topeka, The Arthritis Foundation, The American Heart Association, The Alzheimer’s Association, Topeka Civic Theatre & Academy, Capper Foundation, Shawnee County Parks and Recreation Foundation, and the Ronald McDonald House.
Jim and Butch don’t seek out the spotlight, but it is hard to avoid it when you are making such a difference in your community.
“In looking at the landscape of Topeka and the progress we have made, their vision is written all over what we have accomplished. Without their passion and commitment to Topeka we would be years behind where we are today,” said Brent Boles, member of the JA Business Hall of Fame selection committee.
