LINCOLN — Nebraska’s doctors are stepping up to help restore a historic hospital founded by the nation’s first Native American physician.

The Nebraska Medical Association just launched a fundraising effort to encourage doctors to donate to the final phase of restoration work on the long-closed Walthill hospital founded by Dr. Susan La Flesche Picotte, the nation’s first Native American physician.

Dr. Britt Thedinger, an Omaha ear doctor and surgeon, said he was astounded a couple of years ago to learn the story of Picotte, who, after years of using a horse and buggy to visit her patients on the Omaha Indian Reservation, opened the hospital in 1913.

“This is a remarkable woman who accomplished incredible things,” Thedinger said. “How did this go under the radar?”

It prompted the doctor, a former president of the Nebraska Medical Association, to join the effort to restore and reopen the historic Picotte hospital, and to ask fellow doctors to get involved.

“The physicians of this state need to know this story. She’s a colleague, she’s a member of our profession,” Thedinger said. “Our idea is to bring awareness of Susan La Flesche and her story, to honor her service, sacrifice and dedication.”

Restoration of the Picotte hospital, first launched in 2017 in conjunction with the Omaha Indian Tribe, already is underway.

A new roof was installed two years ago, and the original windows and lap siding of the wood-sided, 33-room structure have been restored.

Now, the nonprofit foundation behind the restoration work is seeking to raise the final $2.5 million to complete the job of turning the once-neglected hospital into a modern community center. It will include a medical/mental health/substance abuse clinic for the tribe, as well as programs for youths, Native American arts and culture, and a historical exhibit of Picotte’s life and work.

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