Margaret Lawler recalls the day that the concept of building a medical center in Jupiter transformed from a dream into reality 50 years ago. As the first shovel of dirt was moved in 1974, she was holding her first-born in her arms. “What a wonderful feeling,” she recalls.
Today, Margaret and her husband Dr. Joel “Peter” Lawler speak with pride about how far Jupiter Medical Center has come and they have every right to—they helped build it. Five decades on, the Lawlers continue to support JMC as benefactors because they share gratitude and respect for the state-of-the-art, world-class medical center it has evolved into. Reflecting on the vision of the community and grassroots supporters in the early days, Margaret says, “It was incredible. They wanted to make the hospital the best—and they have.”
Specialists Arrive and Make Their Mark
The Lawlers moved to Palm Beach County in 1971 after Peter earned a medical degree at Albany Medical College in New York followed by an internship and residency in Internal Medicine at Hartford Hospital in Connecticut and a two-year stint in the Navy as a Lt. Commander at Portsmouth Naval Hospital in Portsmouth, Virginia.
In Florida, he was ready to start practicing medicine in private practice. “I went to work for a group of internists in North Palm Beach,” says Peter. “We fell in love with the northern Palm Beach area.”
The Lawlers bought a home in Jupiter Inlet Colony where they still live. Margaret taught at North Palm Beach Elementary School and then at North Palm Beach Private School (now The Benjamin School). In 1974, she had their first son, Will, and left teaching to raise their family.
By that time, Peter was on his way to building a successful career as an internist. Medicine was a lot different back then. “In those days, you had to take emergency room calls,” Peter recalls. Sometimes, this required him to see patients late into the afternoon at his North Palm Beach office, then rising early to do hospital rounds each morning. On many days, he would also be on call for emergencies. Because there were no hospitals in northern Palm Beach County, he would travel south to Good Samaritan Hospital and St. Mary’s Medical Center daily. “We made rounds every morning. I was always thinking about where I could sleep,” conceded Peter, who would often spend the night at Good Samaritan.
Dr. George Ford, a prominent local orthopedic surgeon, was part of the consortium that owned a retirement community that established the roots of JMC. The retirement community closed in 1971, and the consortium bought it and donated a 30-acre parcel for a medical center. When Ford shared his vision for a hospital in Jupiter, the Lawlers were quick to volunteer their help. “I went to the ladies’ groups at St. Jude Catholic Church and at Jupiter Inlet Colony and asked them to please donate,” says Margaret.
Peter advanced Ford’s vision—and enhanced JMC’s status. “I remember the nurses would always complain about having to move patients in other hospitals because patients didn’t get along or this one snored,” says Peter. “They said they would spend half their day moving patients. I suggested the new hospital in Jupiter have private rooms and they took my advice.”
The first building opened in 1974 on the JMC campus was a 34-bed Convalescence Center followed by the Outpatient Center and the hospital in 1979. As it turned out the first patient admitted to the Jupiter Hospital was Peter’s.
The Lawlers continued to support JMC as it continued to flourish. Margaret recalls working side-by-side with Ford’s wife addressing invitations to the inaugural Pink & White Ball (still a charity season favorite called the Annual Black-Tie Ball) while Peter helped treat patients in a clinic Ford had set up on the site of what today is Jonathan’s Landing.
In 1989, Margaret was asked to serve on the Jupiter Medical Center Foundation board. By that time, her husband had started his own practice. “Peter needed help in his office, so I took a course in insurance,” says Margaret. “I was the only woman on the board, I think because I understood the regulations of Medicare and insurance,” says Margaret, who served on the board until 1996.
Peter and Margaret raised three children, Will, Helen, and Paul. Following in her father’s footsteps, Helen is an endocrinologist on the faculty at the University of Colorado. Peter retired in 2015, and the couple, now grandparents, spends their time swimming and walking along the beaches in Jupiter.