Calhoun County
Texas was formally organized in 1846. At that time its main industry
was commercial fishing and farming. The first physician on record
was Dr. William G. Peterson. Dr. Peterson traveled 536 square miles
by horseback between the years of 1897 and 1901 to care for the health
of some 1,110 Calhoun County citizens. By 1950 over 9,000 residents
lived in Calhoun County.
A
hospital for Port Lavaca was an idea conceived by Doctor Stanley W.
Lester, but in 1939 World War II called for his military services
and the idea of a hospital had to be postponed. In 1947 Dr. Lester
and Dr. Truman Melcher opened a clinic very near the present existing
hospital. That same year, on August 11, 1947, a bond election was
held and passed to purchase land for a county hospital. Judge Howard
Hartzog, Senior, Mary Stevens and Mable McConnico each offered different
land sites for the new county hospital, but all were considered too
far away from the city sewer system. A location was finally decided
upon, and in December 1947 the county purchased a 2.573-acre tract
of land, the B-B Tilly subdivision located on FM 234, for the amount
of $2,572. On September 11, 1947, Wyatt Hidrick was employed as architect
for the new hospital.
In
1950 Dr. Lester's efforts and community support converted his dream
to reality with the opening of our county hospital with four doctors
on the medical staff: Dr. S.W. Lester, chief of medical staff until
his death in 1963; Dr. Truman Melcher, Dr. William G. Smith, and Dr.
Oscar H. Ryon, of Seadrift.
The first Board
of Directors was appointed by the Commissioners' Court on March 17,
1949 and those named were: D.D. Boyd, T.A. McDonald, Sam C. Tisdale,
John Sterling, Thomas G. Harris, Jr., and Earl Sessions. Mrs. Clara
Burke of Victoria was the Administrator of the hospital beginning
July 15, 1949.
A permit to build
the hospital for the sum of $202,000.00 was filed in May 1949. The
total construction of the hospital, however, was built at a cost of
$254,193.80. The hospital opened its doors for service on Monday,
April 10, 1950. There was an open house on April 9, 1950 and approximately
three thousand people visited the Calhoun County Memorial Hospital
on its formal opening.
The
first baby born in the Hospital was Benjamin F. Newton, son of Mr.
& Mrs. Oscar Newton, on April 10, 1950. The first twins born in
the hospital were William Patrick Munsch and Emile Joseph Munsch on
May 14, 1950.
The hospital's
medical auxiliary ("Pink Ladies") came into being in May,
1950, which up until that time was composed of only women, but it
was expanded to include men which is true to this present day and
time. The first nursing school began on January 4, 1952.
In July 1960 the
first expansion to the hospital added thirty-three beds. An expansion
program involving the addition of the third story wing and a remodeling
of the original building began in December 1961. The third floor was
not completed until 1963.
In
1961 Calhoun County Memorial Hospital's name was changed to County
Memorial Hospital, and in 1962 it was again renamed Champ Traylor
Memorial Hospital, in honor of a long time leader in Calhoun County,
Champion Travis Traylor. In March 1986, the hospital's name once again
was changed to the present, Memorial Medical Center.
An addition to
the hospital began in 1991 and was completed in June 1993. A second
renovation to the hospital was started in February 1994 and completed
in February 1995. Memorial Medical
Center now has a total of forty-nine beds and is the only hospital
in Calhoun County.
In
October 1999 Memorial Medical Center opened the doors to Memorial
Medical Plaza. Located a few blocks from the hospital on the corner
of Highway 35 and Virginia Street, Memorial Medical Plaza is the home
to Memorial Medical Center's Kidney
Dialysis Unit, Home Health,
Physical Therapy and the
Calhoun County YMCA.
Memorial Medical
Center is a non-profit institution, owned and operated by Calhoun
County.
Article
information contributed by George Fred Rhodes
Chairman, Calhoun County Historical Commission
