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About Medford mail tribune. (Medford, Or.) 1909-1989 | View Entire Issue (Oct. 30, 1955)
MEDFORD (OREGON) MAIL TRIBUNE NIKS pro n Sunday, October 30, 1953 I , ''f.A ' j - - t I I It May Be YOU ONE person in EIGHT and ONE fam ily in THREE in this area will need a hospital bed this year. The people of Rogue Valley area critically need additional hospital protection. The problem is . . . shall we make this area a safe place in which to live, or shall we, with lack of adequate modern hospital facili ties, continue to gamble the lives of the people by trusting to luck? The Hospital (Problem is a :Cbminuhit Problem . . .The Community is YOU TTIHIffi MEIEI1D . Over 63,000 Residents of Jackson County Face a Dangerous Shortage of Modern Hospital Facilities The Oregon State Plan for Hospital Construction (1955 Report Classifies the Hospital Needs of Jackson County as Follows): Total bed needs 300 The present "Acceptable Beds" 104 "Acceptable" beds to be constructed.... 196 . 'ACCEPTABLE" BEDS-DATA -JACKSON COUNTY TOTAL N EED ED-300 BEDS EXISTING BEDS 104 PRESENT SHORTAGE -196 BEDS 35-7 65.3 A hospital is classed as "NON-ACCEPTABLE" when the building does not conform with the Oregon Uniform Construction Code for hospitals, and when it does not lend itself to correction. The present "Acceptable" Beds in Jackson County are: Rogue Valley Memorial Hospital 31 Sacred Heart Hospital 100. 73 Total Acceptable Beds 104 A NEW HOPITAL MUST BE BUILT Surveys of the State and Federal Departments for the Construction of Hospitals, consultants and advisors, and local committees all agree , that the present Rogue Valley Memorial hospital (Community Hospital) must be replaced by a modern well-equipped building at a new lo cation. Great credit should be given the Jackson County Chamber of Commerce for Its APPRAISAL OF NEEDS FOR ADDITIONAL HOSPITAL FACILITIES (December, 1954) prepared by the well-known Stanford Research Institute. The following excerpt is from its report: "To meet Jackson County's need for expanding hospital facilities, the most feasible solution is to replace Medford Community Hospital" (now Rogue Valley Memorial) "with an outstanding new unit at a new location. A well-designed new hospital will mean greater efficiency of operation and broader medical care, and this in turn will stimulate interest in Jackson County as a Medical Center." ESTIMATED COST Building (78 Beds), Equipment, etc !..$!, 900,000 FUNDS AVAILABLE: , Federal Aid (Hill-Burton) . $586,000 Pre-Campaign Subscriptions ... 600,000 1,186,000 CAMPAIGN OBJECTIVE $ 714,000 WE MUST ACT NOW Through the generosity of several citizens and a grant by the Federal Government FOR A LIMITED PERIOD -$1,186,000 is NOW AVAILABLE for the new hospital. IF THE COMMUNITY SUBSCRIBES $714,000 it can obtain A HOSPITAL VALUED AT $1,900,000. PROVIDING AMPLE PROTECTION IS A COMMUNITY RESPONSIBILITY WHICH x MEANS YOUR OBLIGATION! Ml jacksou county a (DIFMCDIim Preserving LIFE and HEALTH Should Be The FIRST CONCERN of a Progressive Community In February, 1936, Phyllis Swearingen (now de ceased) and Mabel Coffeen purchased the property which they operated as the Community Hospital. The title was in the name of Medford Hospital Association, Inc., a nonprofit Oregon corporation. Its articles pro vided: "All of the surplus revenues and earnings shall be applied to and expended for hospi tals and lands, buildings and equipment acquired for hospital purposes, and for the care of the sick and infirm who are unable to pay for such services, and no dividends shall ever be declared." The original incorporators of the hospital were Phyllis Swearingen, A. S. V. Carpenter and Ernest S. Bartlam. Miss Swearingen was the administrator until her death in May, 1948. Mr. Carpenter has been a member of the Board of Directors since the organization of the, hospital. After the death of Miss Swearingen, a number of the citizens of the community contributed to a fund to pur chase her interest in the corporation for an amount equal to her original investment and also to purchase from Miss Coffeen her interest on the same basis. The ownership and operation of the hospital was then trans ferred to the Diocese of Oregon of the Protestant Epis copal Church and was so operated until November 29, 1954. At that time the articles of incorporation were amended to eliminate the capital stock of the corpora tion and ta provide: "No part of the earnings of this corporation shall inure to the benefit of any member of this corporation or of any other individual." (The foregoing shall not be amended.) "The provisions relating to the use and dis bursement of the corporation's funds exclu sively for charitable, scientific or educational purposes shall not be amended to permit the use for disbursement of said funds for any other purposes." Many citizens have served or now serve ph the non sectarian Board of Directors and have contributed generously of their time, ability and money. The present hospital has 59 beds in a two-story con verted frame residence joined to a four-story hospital building of wood frame construction with a concrete exterior. ' : Although greatly hampered by the inadequate facili ties of this building excellent service has been given to the residents of Jackson County and surrounding area. This has been accomplished through superior manage ment and the loyal co-operation of its Board of Diree-, tors, medical staff and nurses. For several years your Board of Directors and the community have realized the inadequacy of the facili ties of this hospital. In the fall of 1954 Mr. and Mrs. A. S. V. Carpenter and Mr. John R. Tomlin agreed to make very substatinal contributions for a new hospital. Dr. I. D. Phipps, (ongtime resident, gave five acres of the present 20 acre site on Barnett and Murphy roads. After an extensive survey of the hospital needs of this county and consultation with health authorities, the Board of Directors and Advisory Committees found that a new 78 bed hospital in another location must be built at once to replace the Rogue Valley Memorial Hospital (Medford Community Hospital). It is estimated that the total cost of the hospital and equipment will be $1 ,900,000. Of this amount approx imately $586,000 is anticipated from Federal aid" Hill-Burton funds. About $600,000 has already been contributed by generous citizens. This leaves a little more than one-third of the cost, $714,000, to be sub scribed by the community. . The present hospital building and land will be sold and the proceeds added to the building fund. The use able equipment will be transferred to the new hospital. The control of this non-profit corporation, according to its by-laws, is vested in a board of twenty directors representing - a cross-section of the community reli gious, political, and eocnomic. These twenty directors who now constitute the board shall continue to hold office until the annual election in November of 1957. At that time the terms of office of four of the directors .shall expire. Two of the directors shall be elected by the members of the corporation; one shall be appointed by the Vestry of St. Mark's Parish of Medford, Oregon; and one shall be appointed by the Protestant Episcopal Bishop of Oregon. The four directors so to be elected and appointed shall serve for a period of five years each. At each annual meeting thereafter four additional directors shall be elected and appointed for terms of five years each in the same manner to fill the positions of the four directors whose terms of office shall expire. Remember that this is A COMMUNITY - OWNED HOSPITAL and the BOARD OF DIRECTORS WILL AL XWAYS CONTROL THE MANAGEMENT. It is and will be our community-owned hospital. The problem of the FINANCING IS A COMMUNITY RESPONSIBILITY. A large organization of volunteer workers is being formed to raise money which, together with funds already in hand and to be received from the Hill-Burton funds, is necessary to build the new hospital. PLEASE WELCOME AND COOPERATE WITH THESE VOLUNTEER WORKERS. They are donating their time and solicit you, knowing that you jre vitally interested in hospital protection for your family, yourself and the people who live in Jackson County and Southern " Oregon. The solgan of tjie campaign is "IT CAN BE DONE." This will be true if each person subscribes to the best of his ability and does it NOW. The money you give WILL SAVE LIVES -perhaps SOME DAY YOUR OWN. Rogue Valley Memorial Hospital Campaign Organization OTTO J. FROHNMAYER General Chairman of Campaign. EUGENE D. THORNDIKE, Chairman Advance Gifts Committee ; WALTER G. GARNER, Chairman General Organization SMFE PLACE U ttHICH' Tl LWE!
