HDH celebrates 100 years with May 3 open house
The Highland County Press
Highland District Hospital will celebrate its 100th anniversary with a special open house from 1-4 p.m. Saturday, May 3.
As part of this community event, there will be tours of the hospital, history displays and meetings with current and former staff members. Hors d'oeuvres and light refreshments will be served.
According to Melanie Phillips, marketing coordinator at Highland District Hospital, the open house provides an opportunity to "thank the employees and community for aiding HDH in reaching this benchmark.
"Few hospitals are fortunate enough to say that they have served their community for 100 years, and even fewer are able to say that they are governed by members of their own community. The community has been responsible for building and sustaining the hospital for 100 years. We could not be more proud to say thank you to those who have donated, volunteered and worked at HDH."
In addition to marking its 100th anniversary, just last year Highland District Hospital was named to the Top 500 of the 2013 HomeCare Elite, a recognition of the top-performing home health agencies in the United States.
Jim Baer, CEO of Highland District Hospital, credits credits talented, caring and dedicated employees and a team effort toward service excellence with the hospital's ability to achieve recognition as one of the HomeCare Elite.
"I am so proud of the staff and their accomplishments as we continue to strive for excellence in patient care," Baer said.
Highland District Hospital traces its roots to 1839, when Oakland Female Seminary (the first female school in the State of Ohio) was founded on an 18-acre tract of land between U.S. 50 and S.R. 124 in Hillsboro.
In 1883, the Oakland Seminary was torn down, and the Bowers mansion was built by Mary Ann and W.T. Bowers.
The home had 17 rooms with 12-foot hallways, trimmed in black walnut. Mrs. Bowers built the home with the idea of outdoing the Greystone, which was the lovely mansion of the Beechers just across the street, which was built the year before, in 1882.
W.T. Bowers, formerly from Cincinnati, owned a confectionery and restaurant on W. Main St. in Hillsboro and had the idea that this home would house not only his children, but also spouses when they married, as well as their grandchildren. This was not to happen, however, since all the children eventually moved away.
The Bowers home was lost to the Western & Southern Life Insurance Company, which held a huge mortgage on it. The company foreclosed in 1909 after the death of Mr. & Mrs. Bowers.
The next year, in 1910, a group of local physicians planned the formation of a stock company for the purpose of building a hospital in Hillsboro.
A general hospital was planned and was to be owned by the stock company. A committee was picked to look for a site for the future hospital. Directors were: Dr. A.H. Beam, President; Dan Morgan, Vice-President; Dr. C.C. Cropper, Secretary; Dr. W. Hoyt, Treasurer; and Dr. Mora Mason. Dr. Hoyt and Dr. Cropper were to select a site for the hospital.
In 1912, the association purchased the Bowers property on Chillicothe Pike.
In September 1912, a plan to raise $30,000 for the purpose of building additions to the hospital, repairing, remodeling, furnishing and equipping was announced. Two professional promoters, Bert Wells of Dayton and Grant Whitslar, were placed in charge. By Oct. 2, 1912, $18,000 had been raised, but more money was needed.
The next two years included more fundraising and organization in preparation for the hospital.
In 1914, the hospital opened with three large patient rooms on the east side of the hospital’s first floor – which had been a grand ballroom.
Prior to the opening of the hospital, 36 physicians were practicing medicine in Highland County and much of the care was given in the homes.
Among those early physicians were: A.H. Beam, B.D. Granger, W.W. Glenn, B.T. Holmes, Wm. Hoyt, J.C. Larkin, D.M. McBride, J.D. McBride, V.B. McConnaughey, L.M. Holson, M.A. Russ, E. Edmonston, W. Marice Hoyt, R.J. Jones, J.B. Glenn, J.C. Martindill, J.R. Mercer, W.H. Ambrose, R.E. Holmes, W.B. Roads, J.H. Frame, C.C. Cropper, J.T. Gibson, R.W. Pratt, T.W. Roberds, H.W. Chaney, F.K. Granger, P.E. McKinney, J.K. McMulty, M.K. Teachnor, J.D. Varney, Mathews (Buford), O.R. Eyler, M.F. Funk and S.M. Mason, Kleckner (Lynchburg).
Today, Highland District Hospital has 361 employees and 121 physician members of its medical staff.
For more information, go to http://www.hdh.org.
(Special thanks to Melanie Phillips for contributing to this article.)