DUANE
Duane's take
Here's my take on what the official marker has to say about Wichita General Hospital in Wichita County. Pull up a chair — this one spans more than a century, and it earns every mile. Wichita Falls was a growing town in 1882, the kind of place professionals were sniffing out for opportunity.
Dr. Perrigo had already beaten most of them to it — he arrived in 1881 and is believed to be the first doctor to actually practice in Wichita Falls. That's a distinction worth something in a frontier boomtown.
Then, in 1909, Dr. Samuel Burnside opened the first modern hospital the city had seen. But here's the thing — as far back as 1884, the citizens and physicians of Wichita Falls had already been saying they needed a county hospital.
So when construction finally started in 1915, that word 'finally' is doing a lot of work. Thirty-one years of expressed need. Local architects Field and Clarkson designed what came out of all that waiting: a three-story red brick building.
Forty beds. Named Wichita General Hospital. And before the year was even out, the school of nursing opened — December of 1915.
They weren't wasting time. Then 1918 arrived, and with it the flu epidemic, and on top of that an oil boom that was swelling the population like a river after rain. Wichita General hit its breaking point.
The answer? Build up. Construction added a fourth story and fifty-five more beds.
After that, the expansions were quieter — classroom space, offices — until 1940, when the hospital started buying up the surrounding buildings to house student nurses, classrooms, and supplies. The next major move came in 1956, when the fourth and fifth floors were expanded. Then the 1960s brought a whole wave of construction at once: a new front entrance, the Frank Wood Chapel, the Gaines Educational Pavilion, the Bridwell Surgical Pavilion, and Streich's Intensive Care Center.
A 1983 project added an infant intensive care unit. By the mid-1980s, community leaders were asking harder questions — how to provide health care more effectively, more efficiently. And in 1997, Wichita General merged with Bethania Regional Medical Center to form the United Regional Health Care System.
By 2011, all services had been consolidated to an expanded campus on 11th Street. And in 2013 — after more than a century of delivering babies and nursing the sick and training nurses and weathering epidemics — the Wichita General facility was razed. Sometimes the end of a building is the full measure of everything it held up.
What the marker says
WICHITA GENERAL HOSPITAL Wichita Falls was a growing town in 1882 as professionals started to arrive looking for opportunities. Dr. Perrigo arrived in 1881 and is believed to be the first doctor to practice in Wichita Falls. In 1909, Dr. Samuel Burnside opened the first modern hospital. As early as 1884, the citizens and physicians of Wichita Falls expressed the need for a county hospital. In 1915, construction finally started on a 40-bed hospital. Local architects Field & Clarkson designed a three-story red brick building. It was named Wichita General Hospital. Wichita General Hospital's school of nursing opened in December of 1915. By 1918, the new hospital was at its breaking point as the flu epidemic and population growth from the oil boom created a need for a bigger hospital. Construction of a fourth story created 55 more beds. Classroom expansion and office space were the only additions to the hospital until 1940 when buildings surrounding the hospital were purchased to house student nurses, classrooms and supplies. The next major addition to the hospital was in 1956 when expansion of the fourth and fifth floors was completed. In the 1960s, a new front entrance, the Frank Wood Chapel, the Gaines Educational Pavilion, Bridwell Surgical Pavilion and Streich's Intensive Care Center were constructed. An additional project in 1983 added an infant intensive care unit. By the mid-1980s, community leaders began to consider how to more effectively and efficiently provide health care services and, in 1997, Wichita General merged with Bethania Regional Medical Center to form United Regional Health Care System. By 2011, all services had been consolidated to an expanded campus on 11th street; the Wichita General Facility was razed in 2013. (2014)