Boynton Beach in Palm Beach County, Florida — The American South (South Atlantic)

Bethesda Memorial Hospital

Photographed by Jay Kravetz, August 5, 2016

1. Bethesda Memorial Hospital Marker

Inscription. The area surrounding this site was first settled in the late 1890s. For six decades, a handful of doctors and midwives provided rudimentary medical care to area residents. With the nearest hospital located 18 miles away in West Palm Beach, critical patients were transported by horse and buggy or by fire engine, and sometimes died en route. In 1947, South Palm Beach County civic leaders and physicians formed the Gulfstream Hospital Association to establish a nonprofit acute care hospital to serve the county’s rapidly growing population. The association worked for almost a dozen years to create a special taxing district, raise needed capital, and acquire 10 acres of land needed to build and staff the hospital. The 70-bed Bethesda Memorial Hospital—named for the healing pool of Bethesda mentioned in the Bible—opened on February 9, 1959. The hospital was staffed by 32 doctors and six dentists. Bethesda Hospital’s first patient had an emergency appendectomy; its first birth took place about a week after it opened. The hospital, now Bethesda Hospital East, began expanding within six months of opening, and has grown

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to become a 401-bed, full-service medical facility with more than 550 physicians in over 40 specialties.

Erected 2013 by The Robert Neff Family, the Delray Beach Historical Society, and the Florida Department of State. (Marker Number F-785.)

Topics. This historical marker is listed in this topic list: Science & Medicine. A significant historical date for this entry is February 9, 1959.

Location. 26° 30.262′ N, 80° 4.201′ W. Marker is in Boynton Beach, Florida, in Palm Beach County. It can be reached from South Seacrest Boulevard south of Southwest 26th Avenue, on the right when traveling south. Marker is in front of the hospital entrance. Touch for map. Marker is at or near this postal address: 2815 S Seacrest Blvd, Boynton Beach FL 33435, United States of America. Touch for directions.

Regionally, this marker is in South Florida,

on the Gold Coast,

on the Treasure Coast,

and in Greater Miami.

It is also in the American South

and on the Eastern Seaboard. Globally, it is in the North Atlantic Region,

North America,

a Gulf of Mexico state,

the Western Hemisphere,

the Western World,

and the Anglosphere.

Historically, it finds itself

Photographed by Jay Kravetz, August 5, 2016

2. Bethesda Memorial Hospital Marker

in what was once New Spain,

the territory of the Mississippian Culture,

one of the Confederate States of America,

and the Antebellum South.

Other nearby markers. At least 8 other markers are within 3 miles of this marker, measured as the crow flies: North Ocean Boulevard (approx. 1.1 miles away); Boynton Woman's Club (approx. 1.2 miles away); a different marker also named North Ocean Boulevard (approx. 2.1 miles away); Del-Ida Park Historic District (approx. 2.1 miles away); Rosenwald Schools in Palm Beach County (approx. 2.2 miles away); Barton Memorial Park Cemetery (approx. 2.2 miles away); a different marker also named Del-Ida Park Historic District (approx. 2.4 miles away); Old School Square Historic District (approx. 2½ miles away). Touch for a list and map of all markers in Boynton Beach.

Another marker is no longer nearby. 1913 Boynton Elementary School (was approx. 1.6 miles away but has been confirmed missing).

Photographed by Jay Kravetz, August 5, 2016

3. Bethesda Memorial Hospital Marker

Credits. This page was last revised on August 8, 2016. It was originally submitted on August 5, 2016, by Jay Kravetz of West Palm Beach, Florida. This page has been viewed 1,405 times since then and 89 times this year. Photos: 1, 2, 3. submitted on August 5, 2016, by Jay Kravetz of West Palm Beach, Florida. • Bernard Fisher was the editor who published this page.