A Little History of a Little Town’s Hospital

As a member of the Madison County Historical Commission, I have the privilege of writing a daily article for our Facebook page, titled “On this day, in Madison County History”. While researching Sunday’s article, I came across a lot of information about the history of the Madison County Hospital. Given the fact that this is a “hot topic” due to the upcoming Hospital District initiative on the November 2 ballot, I thought that folks might like to see where we’ve come from and where we are now. Most of this information was pulled from Volume I: The History of Madison County. Here is an excerpt from that article:

“On October 10, 1950, Mrs. Don Ballard became the Administrator of the Madison County Hospital and served as Director of Nurses and X-Ray Technician. It was in November of 1950 that the income exceeded expenses for the first time. The area churches assisted with financial aid in 1951 when the hospital census dropped to an average of six or eight patients per day. Dr. J.E. Reed joined the staff in 1951.

Going back to the beginning, the hospital was built during County Judge Dewitt Franklin Brown’s tenure. Judge Brown turned the first spade of dirt and laid the cornerstone for the $150,000 hospital in 1949. He served with commissioners Whit Hooper, W.F. Fannin, R.O. Drake and J.W. Kittleband.

The first board meeting of the Madison County Hospital was held in Judge Dewitt Brown’s office on December 28, 1949. Mrs. Lora Standley was elected president and Miss Mary Lucy Cleere, secretary. In January of 1950, A.C. Tedder was employed as Administrator. The official opening of the twenty-two bed hospital was May 20, 1950. The Medical Staff consisted of Drs. James A. McKay, Jesse B. Heath and I.E. Carroll. Mary Louise Spangler was Director of Nursing Service.

The North Wing was constructed with twelve additional beds and the facility was air-conditioned in 1954. Lee Amerson was employed as administrator in 1962, and the Parten Wing was completed in 1963. Staff doctors in 1963 were Drs. Heath, Reed, McKay, D.P. Heaton, T.T. Peck and Kenneth Fannin. This year, the Parten Wing was opened, adding twenty more patient beds to the facility.

Accreditation procedures were begun in 1964 under the administration of Bob Benthall and Medicare came into being in 1966. Edward G. Clark was hired as Administrator in June 1966, and served until 1982. Departments and services initiated or expanded during Mr. Clark’s administration were: Auxiliary, 1969; Physical Therapy, 1971; Home Health, 1972; Ambulance Service, 1972; Hemodialysis under Dr. Richard C. Morgan’s supervision in 1976; and the L.V.N. School directed by Linnie Emert Stone, R.N. in 1978. The Professional Building was completed in 1976, with space for five doctors’ offices and the Hemodialysis Unit.

The Clark Addition and Intensive Care Unit were opened in 1979, bringing the patient bed total to seventy seven. In 1982, Madison County Hospital was placed under the management of Hospital Corporation of America with Bob Thackston as Interim Administrator. He was followed by Rick Wallace.

In the Mid-1990’s, the Madison County Hospital was sold to St. Joseph’s for $1. While licensed for up to 25 beds, currently only about 12 are in use. A new Rehab center was built in recent years and many Madison County residents take advantage of the “swing-bed” facility. Currently, the maternity ward, home health, intensive care unit, surgery, hemodialysis unit and the L.V.N. school have been discontinued.

In current events, there is an initiative on the November 2 ballot, to create a new taxing authority, the Madison County Hospital District, and to authorize a 30-year, $33 Million bond, for the purpose of constructing a new hospital facility.

In order to finance this bond, the District could levy a property tax increase of up to 25¢ per $100 valuation. Normal exemptions, such as Homestead, Over-65 and Disabled Veteran, would NOT apply to this new tax, drastically increasing the tax burden for many fixed-income residents.

One townhall meeting, put on by the EDC, was held on September 27. Two additional meetings are scheduled for October 19 and October 25. Both meetings will be held from 6 p.m. — 8 p.m., at the Kimbro Center, in Madisonville. The public is invited to attend.