DUANE
Duane's take
Here's my telling of what the official marker has to say about Kahn Memorial Hospital in Harrison County. Now settle in, because this is a story about a town that kept deciding — over and over again — that its people deserved a place to heal. It starts in April of 1909, when three doctors named James F.
Rosborough, Rogers Cocke, and Frank Littlejohn joined forces. Marshall had a growing need for a real medical facility, and these three men meant to meet it. They set up shop in a home and former sanitarium that had belonged to a Dr.
John H. Pope — a place that already carried some history in its walls — and they called it Memorial Hospital. Now, a building needs more than a name to keep the lights on.
The estate of a man named E. Kahn, who had been a former patient of Dr. Rosborough's, gave the bulk of the money.
In gratitude, the twelve-bed facility was renamed for him. Kahn Memorial Hospital. Nursing training began in 1911.
By 1912 it had become a public institution — and here's the part that ought to stop you cold — the stockholders who funded it went in fully expecting never to see a financial return on their investments. Not a dime back. They just believed Marshall needed it.
By 1926 the hospital was ready to grow again. The community and the county threw their support behind it, and a new structure went up on that same site. John Pope's old home and sanitarium — the one they called Valleloma, the hospital's very first building — got a second life as a nursing school and residence.
The hospital incorporated in 1931 and received a state charter as a nonprofit private enterprise in 1936. Then the 1940s came calling with yet another expansion, pushing Kahn Memorial to sixty-six beds. This time, though, Valleloma wasn't repurposed.
It was razed, and a new nursing school rose in its place. By 1954, the finances had gotten shaky enough that the board hired a business manager for the first time — the first time in the hospital's entire history — and he reorganized what the marker plainly calls a failing financial situation. The board was offered a way out: become a city-owned facility, or a county-owned one.
They declined. Instead, they reached back out to the citizens of Marshall one more time. And Marshall showed up.
The community rallied, and the hospital found its footing again. In 1957, Kahn Memorial hired its first female physician. In 1964, two African American doctors were made full members of the staff.
The hospital would go on to be renamed Marshall Memorial Hospital, and later Marshall Regional Medical Center — but whatever the name on the door, it was the same institution that three doctors started in a borrowed house in April of 1909, kept alive by a town that never quite let it fail.
What the marker says
In April 1909, doctors James F. Rosborough, Rogers Cocke and Frank Littlejohn joined forces to meet the increasing need for a medical facility in Marshall. Established in the home and former sanitarium of Dr. John H. Pope, the new facility was to be called Memorial Hospital. The estate of Rosborough's former patient, E. Kahn, gave the bulk of the monies and the 12-bed facility was renamed for him. Nursing training began in 1911; Kahn Memorial Hospital became a public institution in 1912, though stockholders expected never to receive a financial return on their investments. By 1926 the hospital was ready for expansion. Through major community and county support, a new structure was erected on the same site and Valleloma, John Pope's former home and sanitarium and the hospital's first building, became a nursing school and residence. The hospital incorporated in 1931 and was granted a state charter as a nonprofit private enterprise in 1936. Another expansion was necessary by the 1940s, making Kahn Memorial Hospital a 66-bed facility. Valleloma was razed and a nursing school was erected in its place. In 1954 the board hired a business manager for the first time and he reorganized Kahn Memorial's failing financial situation. Given the option of becoming a city- or county-owned facility, the board declined and reached out to its citizens once again. The community rallied and the hospital began to succeed once more. Kahn Memorial Hospital hired its first female physician in 1957 and made two African American doctors full members of the staff in 1964. Renamed Marshall Memorial Hospital and later Marshall Regional Medical Center, the facility continues to serve the area's medical needs at the dawn of the 21st century. (2000)