{"id":14946,"date":"2024-05-07T08:00:00","date_gmt":"2024-05-07T12:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/news.colgate.edu\/magazine\/?p=14946"},"modified":"2024-05-07T10:29:05","modified_gmt":"2024-05-07T14:29:05","slug":"the-beginnings-of-community-memorial-hospital","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/news.colgate.edu\/magazine\/2024\/05\/07\/the-beginnings-of-community-memorial-hospital\/","title":{"rendered":"The Beginnings of Community Memorial Hospital"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

In 1947 a survey conducted by the New York State Department of Health revealed that Madison County was lacking hospital beds. Hamilton heard the call \u2014 just four years later, in a joint Colgate-village effort, Community Memorial Hospital would open for operation. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

In every respect, the hospital was a community effort \u2014 a year of fundraising preceded the hospital\u2019s opening in January 1952. Local funds ranged in source and scale, from sizable household contributions to small carnivals held by local young people. During their commencement, the Colgate Class of 1949 matched these local funds to provide a $125,000 donation, an equivalent purchasing power of $2,892,500 today. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cThis past spring, residents of this section had a dream, a dream of a hospital,\u201d read an article in the Mid-York Weekly<\/em> on Jan. 12, 1950. \u201cThey went to work on that dream and raised $125,000 that it might come true.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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An open house allowed more than 2,000 people to tour the new hospital in November 1951. <\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Prior to the hospital\u2019s opening, a nine-man board of directors, including three members designated by Colgate\u2019s trustees, was instated. The board oversaw business affairs relating to incorporation and preparation of final architect\u2019s plans, which were brought to life following the groundbreaking ceremony in June 1950. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Construction continued through January 1952, when on the first day of the new year, Community Memorial Hospital was officially opened. The 50-bed facility would feature local emergency care and surgery services previously sought in distant communities.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cThe realization of a modern hospital to serve the area and the University is truly a striking example of the effectiveness of community enterprise and cooperation,\u201d the Mid-York Weekly<\/em> reported on Nov. 22, 1951. \u201cIt is a monumental project, which has served to unify and stimulate the area as nothing has ever done before.\u201d <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

The history of how the Hamilton community joined together to establish a hospital in town.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1263,"featured_media":14947,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_hide_featured_image":false,"_jetpack_featured_image_duplicate_dismissed":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[1619],"tags":[2286,1240,910],"coauthors":[1451],"class_list":["post-14946","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-salmagundi","tag-community-memorial-hospital","tag-healthcare","tag-hospital"],"jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/palXSH-3T4","amp_enabled":true,"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/news.colgate.edu\/magazine\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/6\/2024\/04\/M2034_b001_f001_i003.jpg","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/news.colgate.edu\/magazine\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/14946","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/news.colgate.edu\/magazine\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/news.colgate.edu\/magazine\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/news.colgate.edu\/magazine\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1263"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/news.colgate.edu\/magazine\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=14946"}],"version-history":[{"count":8,"href":"https:\/\/news.colgate.edu\/magazine\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/14946\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":15171,"href":"https:\/\/news.colgate.edu\/magazine\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/14946\/revisions\/15171"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/news.colgate.edu\/magazine\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/14947"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/news.colgate.edu\/magazine\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=14946"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/news.colgate.edu\/magazine\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=14946"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/news.colgate.edu\/magazine\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=14946"},{"taxonomy":"author","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/news.colgate.edu\/magazine\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/coauthors?post=14946"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}