Harbor Beach Hospital

Harbor Beach Hospital. . History , 1921-2011 , In 1920 The Huron Milling Company of Harbor Beach acquired property at the corner of Broad and First Streets, consisting of two lots, each with a frame building. With this nucleus, a hospital was started to serve their employees and the community. A new brick-faced, fireproof building was built, containing four private rooms, three three-bed wards, laboratory, sterilizing room and operating room. The nursery, reception room and living quarters for the nurses were in the frame building. The original cost was $40,000. Improvements were made during the following years. In December, 1956 the Hercules Powder Company purchased the Huron Milling Company and thus acquired the hospital. This property was donated to the community in 1957 and became known as the Harbor Beach Community Hospital, governed by a non-profit corporation formed by a group of citizens. It soon became apparent that the existing facilities were no longer sufficient to serve the community. On June 8, 1961, plans were made to launch a campaign to raise a minimum of $150,000. Three hundred and twenty-five people of the community and surrounding areas worked together and on July 10th a record crowd of workers attended a dinner at the Our Lady of Lake Huron Church and reported $226,680.47 had been given and pledged for the purpose of building an addition to the hospital. Total pledges in the amount of $262,000 were received when the campaign concluded., Harbor Beach Community Hospital Timeline, 1920: Huron Milling Company acquired property of two lots on the corner of Broad and First Streets with a frame house on each lot for a hospital., 1921: A tile and cement addition was built adjoining the house on Broad Street which contained three three-bed wards, four private rooms, laboratory, sterilizing and operating room. , 1957: Hercules Inc. purchased the Huron Milling Company and donated the property and facilities to the community. Since that time the hospital has been known as the Harbor Beach Community Hospital. A non-profit organization was incorporated to operate the hospital and is governed by local citizens. , 1958: The needs of the hospital continued to grow and laboratory services were Introduced., 1961: A campaign to raise funds for a needed expansion was started which included Dietary, Laboratory, X-Ray and Obstetric services and other priority needs., 1970: A surgical suite, sterilizing area, patient area and a new maternity unit were added., 1975: Additional space was needed to address the specific needs of the elderly population in the area and The Long Term Care Unit was opened in May with 40 licensed beds., 1976: A new Acute Care unit was added., 1992: In October the hospital introduced Ultra-Sound technology services, providing state-of-the-art diagnostic capabilities. , 1994: In July the Henry Ford Health System donated a physician's office, formerly the Oakes Clinic, on Sand Beach Road which is now known as the Harbor Beach Medical Clinic. , 1995: January saw the first patient benefit from CT Scan and the first Laproscopic surgical procedure was performed in June. , 2005: Property was purchased in Port Hope and July 27th was the grand opening of the Port Hope Medical Clinic. , 2008: The First Baptist Church on the corner of First and Broad Street was purchased on October 24th, which now includes the Conference Center and the Administration Building. ,