Bethania Hospital

Duane's take

Here's my telling of what the official marker has to say about Bethania Hospital in Wichita County. Now, you want to talk about a place that grew right along with the city around it, well, Bethania Hospital is that story. But let's back up a beat, because this one starts with oil.

The oil boom of 1918 was still paying dividends for Wichita Falls well into the 1920s, when the population climbed to fifty-five thousand residents. A city that size needs more than one hospital, and two doctors, R.L. Hargrave and M.M.

Walker, could see that plain as day. In 1926, they built the Hargrave-Walker Clinic and Hospital on 11th Street. A solid start.

But the building's bigger story was still coming. In 1934, the Sisters of the Holy Family of Nazareth purchased that hospital. Now here's where the tale gets some real texture.

These sisters came originally from Poland. They had made their way to America in the late 1800s to minister to Polish immigrants, carrying their mission across an ocean and planting it in places that needed tending. By 1935, they had given the hospital a new name: Bethania Hospital.

And it opened with eight sisters in charge, under the leadership of Mother Marie Delourdes. Twenty-five beds to start. Modest, but purposeful.

Then 1942 rolled around, and with renovations came twenty-three additional beds and two new floors. After World War Two, a four-story wing was added to the original building. The place kept reaching, kept growing.

Then 1959 brought something worth noting on its own. Bethania graduated its first class of licensed vocational nurses that year, and the nursing school would go on to continually rank in the top five in America. Not in Texas.

In America. The sisters from Poland, ministering now in Wichita Falls, were turning out some of the finest nursing graduates in the country. More construction in 1972 added four stories to the 1959 building, a section they called the West Tower.

Three new floors went up on the furthest west building in 1986, and atop that tower they placed a twenty-five-foot metal cross. You could see where this place stood, literally and otherwise. In 1988, the original Bethania building was razed to make way for a new entry and parking.

A city hospital moves forward; sometimes that means letting the original walls come down. And in 1997, Bethania and Wichita General Hospitals merged as United Regional Health Care System. The Sisters of the Holy Family of Nazareth stayed with that system all the way to 2006.

And when they finally stepped away, they didn't just leave quietly. They gifted their property on 11th Street to United Regional Health Care System. A gift.

Everything they had built and tended and grown on that ground, they gave it. Women who crossed an ocean to serve, who ran a hospital through a world war and a postwar boom and decades of growth, and at the end, their parting gesture was generosity. That's a legacy worth stopping for.

What the marker says

The oil boom of 1918 was still benefitting Wichita Falls in the 1920s as the population increased to 55,000 residents. Drs. R.L. Hargrave and M.M. Walker saw the need for another medical facility besides the Wichita General Hospital and built the Hargrave-Walker Clinic and Hospital on 11th Street in 1926. The hospital was purchased by the Sisters of the Holy Family of Nazareth in 1934. Originally from Poland, the sisters came to America in the late 1800s to minister to Polish immigrants. They named the hospital Bethania Hospital in 1935 and it opened with eight Sisters in charge under the leadership of Mother Marie Delourdes. In 1942, renovations were conducted, increasing the original 25-bed hospital by 23 beds and adding two floors. After WWII, a four-story wing was added to the original building. In 1959, Bethania graduated its first class of licensed vocational nurses and continually ranked in the top five nursing schools in America. More construction in 1972 added four stories to the 1959 building called the West Tower. Three new floors were added to the furthest west building in 1986 and a 25-foot metal cross was placed atop the west tower. In 1988, the original Bethania building was razed to provide a new entry and parking. In 1997, Bethania and Wichita General Hospitals merged as United Regional Heath Care System. The Sisters remained with the system until 2006, at which time they gifted their property on 11th Street to United Regional Health Care System, leaving a lasting legacy of care to the citizens of Wichita Falls and the surrounding area.