Campbell Memorial Hospital

Duane's take

Here's my telling of what the official marker has to say about Campbell Memorial Hospital in Parker County. Now, for the better part of the early twentieth century, if you needed a doctor in Parker County, you went and found yourself one doctor. One individual, with one practice, and whatever instruments fit in one bag.

That was the whole system. Not exactly reassuring if things went sideways on a Tuesday night. Then came 1924, and things started to change.

A man named Dr. E.D. Fyke had his eye on a particular piece of real estate, a twenty-eight room family home belonging to the G.M.

Bowie family, sitting right there in the 600 block of North Main Street. Twenty-eight rooms. Now that is a house that has ambitions.

Dr. Fyke purchased it, converted it, and opened the Bowie Memorial Hospital. Parker County finally had itself a real hospital.

Dr. Fyke ran that operation all the way through 1945. Two decades of keeping that place going.

But 1945 brought a change in hands, the county itself purchased the building and renamed it Parker County Hospital. Remodeling followed. Major additions followed.

Parker County was growing into its healthcare, and the building was growing with it. Then in 1958, the hospital changed names again. This time, it took on a name worth knowing.

Campbell Memorial Hospital, named for Dr. William Campbell, a man who practiced medicine in Parker County for sixty-eight years. Sixty-eight years.

By his own calculations, and I imagine he kept careful count, he delivered more than five thousand babies during his career. Five thousand. That is not a career, friends, that is a legacy.

By 1968, it was time to think bigger. The hospital board of directors selected a thirty-five acre tract of land bordering Eureka Street and Santa Fe Drive, room enough not just to build, but to grow. And on November 9, 1972, Campbell Memorial Hospital opened its modern, well-equipped facility.

Ninety-seven beds. A campus large enough to expand as healthcare itself kept changing. And expand it did.

An ambulatory department formed in 1988. The emergency department expanded in 1995. In 2006, the hospital board leased the facility to what is now Medical City Weatherford.

The Campbell Health System, now operating as the Parker County Hospital District, carried right on through all of it, continuing its public health duties without missing a beat. From one doctor with one bag to a thirty-five acre campus with room to keep reaching. That is the story Parker County's marker is telling, and it's one worth stoppin' to hear.

What the marker says

In the early twentieth century, medical care in Parker County was restricted to practices of individual doctors. That changed in 1924, when Dr. E.D. Fyke purchased the twenty-eight room G.M. Bowie family home in the 600 block of North Main Street and converted it into the Bowie Memorial Hospital. Dr. Fyke ran this hospital until 1945. That same year, the county purchased the building, renaming it Parker County Hospital. Remodeling and major additions followed and in 1958, the hospital changed names again. Dr. William Campbell, for whom the hospital is named, practiced medicine in Parker County for sixty-eight years and by his calculations, delivered more than five thousand babies during his extensive career as a doctor. In 1968, the hospital board of directors selected a thirty-five acre tract of land bordering Eureka Street and Santa Fe Drive as a site for a new ninety-seven bed hospital. On November 9, 1972, Campbell Memorial Hospital opened its modern, well-equipped facility with a campus large enough to expand to meet the changing demands of healthcare. Growth continued as an ambulatory department formed in 1988, and the emergency department expanded in 1995. In 2006, the hospital board leased the facility to what is now Medical City Weatherford. The Campbell Health System, now the Parker County Hospital District; continues in all of its public health phases and duties. This building continues to be a valuable resource for providing healthcare to the residents of Parker County and serves as a testament to the advancements in medical care in the area. (2017)