The Springfield City Hospital was located in Springfield, Ohio along High Street and was in operation from 1931 to 2011.
The Springfield City Hospital was located in Springfield, Ohio along High Street and was in operation from 1931 to 2011.
The evolution of Springfield’s hospitals began with the dedication of a 15-bed Mitchell-Thomas Hospital at East Main Street and the Big Four Railroad in 1887 and the dedication of the replacement City Hospital on June 27, 1903. The latter was constructed at the corner of Selma Road and East Street, where over 2,000 bowed their heads in prayer at the cornerstone laying ceremony. Oliver S. Kelly quipped that “in behalf of sick and suffering humanity, I lay the cornerstone of this hospital.” The profane nature of the comments left spectators were left speechless and were visible moved.
Voters in 1928 voiced their desires for a larger and more modern facility with a 65% majority to issue $1.8 million in bonds. But on July 6, 1929, a committee of the Clark County Medical Association filed a lawsuit in the Clark County Common Pleas Court, stating that the Hospital Common that desired a hospital at Main Street and Burnett Road had no legal authority to do so. That decision, they noted, should be left up to the City Commission and mayor. The Association also argued that the location was “unaccessible, uneconomical, unsanitary and not fitted to meet hospitalization needs,” and that the railroad tracks and the traffic signals in the area would slow ambulances.
A judge ruled in the Association’s favor in January 1930 and the city did not appeal. The Retail Merchants’ Association pressured the city to move on with the hospital plans, especially as the economy was souring at the heels of the Great Depression, and proposals for a hospital were sought by mid-February. On March 3, the commission chose the southeast corner of High Street and Burnett Road. The new City Hospital opened in 1932.
In 1966, City Hospital was renamed The Community Hospital after changing from a city-controlled facility to a not-for-profit that was privately owned. It was in that year that the hospital – along with Mercy Hospital, requested a $6 million bond issue to construct additions. The measure passed, and the east wing of Community Hospital was completed in 1971. A year after the renaming, Community and Mercy attempted to reduce healthcare costs and duplication of services, agreeing to consolidate all maternity services at Community and pediatric services at Mercy.
Another expansion occurred in the late 1970s after a joint plan for long-range health needs of Springfield was developed between the two hospitals. The 1976 plan called for expansion of the existing facilities to introduce new services and procedures and to construct new patient rooms. The end result was a $48 million expansion project at both hospitals. The partnership between the two hospitals was solidified even further when Community Hospital and Mercy Health Partners completed two years of planning and negotiations to merge into one organization: Community Mercy Health Partners, a deal that was finished on July 1, 2004.
In May 2006, Community Mercy Health Partners signed a development agreement with the city to construct a new hospital in downtown adjacent to the cancer center. The new Springfield Regional Medical Center opened on November 13, 2011. An auction of the interior contents of the City Hospital was held from April 17 to April 20, 2012.
The Community Hospital School of Nursing, later known as Springfield Regional School of Nursing, was an affiliate of Community Mercy Health Pertners, which offered a Diploma in Registered Nursing. Started in 1904, the school received the National League for Nursing Accreditation in 1953 and students began receiving college credits from a regionally accreddited cooperating university in 1970. Thirty years later, Urbana University offered general education courses on the School of Nursing’s campus.
On June 30, 2012, the Springfield Regional School of Nursing closed and the RN program was merged to Clark State Community College in Springfield. The last class to graduate was on May 8.
For more photographs, visit the Springfield City Hospital page after the jump »
20 Comments
Add Yours →I WAS BORN & RAISED AT SPRINGFIELD CITY HOSPITAL. MY FAMILY LIVED NEXT DOOR UNTIL BOUGHT BY THE HOSPITAL FOR EXPANSION. MY FATHER, BROTHER, BROTHER-IN-LAW, AND I WORKED THERE. MY SISTER & SISTER-IN-LAW GRADUATED FROM THE SCHOOL OF NURSING, AND WORKED THERE AS RNS. I PLAYED, EXPLORED, AND DELIVERED NEWSPAPERS THERE AS A BOY. I WAS SAD TO LEARN OF ITS CLOSING, AS I SPENT MANY HAPPY YEARS THERE.
I worked for Springfield Community Hospital from 1980 until 1991; so sad to see the pictures of this once beautiful, vibrante building abandoned.
Many wonderful memories.
I still can’t figure out why Springfield does not think they need a hospital on both sides of the town. I grew up in Springfield and my mother was born there. I love Springfield but I have not heard one good thing about the new Springfield Regional hospital yet. Thank God they haven’t killed anyone that I know of. I hope and pray when my sister has surgery there next week they have disinfected something. The several people I know have had surgeries (yes infections happen) and they have all gotten infections or have had to lay in their urine and or feces, the rooms are not cleaned properly, and someone else I know was wondering when the blood on the wall was going to get cleaned up. Springfield is a big wonderful town which needs to concentrate on the basic health codes and stop trying to pretend their hospital is wonderful when it is so far from that that it is unreal and maybe it’s staff needs retrained (or maybe it’s the people in charge). Good luck new hospital.
Springfield community hospital was demolished last week. There’s video of the tower crashing down. Saddens me, that the building couldn’t be used for something else. All 3 of my children were born there. 🙁
Hello I am contacting you to inquire about an item that I purchases at a thrift store in Aylmer, Ontario, Canada where I live as well. The item is Genie style lamp 6 1/2 in long. x 4in. tall. with a small candle inserted in the top end. Cream white color with a crest that has written in it Springfield City Hospital, School of Nursing. On the other side is a name stamped on Miss E. Monk. I was curious as to the age of the item or any information regarding Miss E. Mon possibly a student nurse or teaching nurse. I thank you in advance for any information.
I was researching past employers when I came across this site. I am saddened by the images and disregard of all the ones responsible for the decision of our new hospital the Springfield Regional. I can never explain enough how much this place had affected my career as a Nurses Assistant. Although I was only there less than ten years I gained more knowledge from my coworkers than any other place of employment. Now due to deteriating health I can no longer perform full duties as a STNA. But will always be greatful for the memories. I drive by this hospital daily enroute and am slowly watching the destruction. Each time reliving all those memories of past days now gone for good. I have visited the Springfield Regional for many other reasons thus far. I surely hope it will improve a great deal after it gains the years of molding as Community and Mercy Hospitals. It is still brand new as of 2013 and shows much room for improvement. Out of respect for the healthcare team forced to adapt to all the changes, I do wish them all the best. With the good, we certainly must expect the bad.
I’ m not sure this comment will ever be seen, seeing how long ago this has been posted, but I felt a need to share my memories of the LATE COMMUNITY HOSPITAL AND MERCY HOSPITAL in which we all miss so much. Good luck SPRINGFIELD REGIONAL! You have big shoes to fill, so to speak, and a much larger reputation to regain.
Just wondering if there are pics of Mercy Medical Center in Springfield, Ohio when that hospital was abandoned???
Not that I have found. I've even tried to contact community-mercy and they were not giving answers but rather beating around the bush and give me some long ass reply that makes no sense.
From what I understand Mercy isn’t being abandoned, but used as outpatient testing, x-ray, CT, etc. Unless plans were changed. I was born and raised in Sprfld. then moved to FL and now live in VA. I was there in 2010. and had read and sent an article to my mom about Mercy. That’s when I found out, they were keeping Mercy for other things.
Great job and great website! I enjoy the photos and stories on here!
i was just wondering if yall know if they will let a paranormal group in there to investigate??
I was the Dir. Of Engiheering from March 1970 to Aug. 1978. My wife Naomi worked from 1970 at Community Hosp. She started as a Unit Clerk and over the years held several position (asst. dir. Environmental services, dir of environmental services, director of purchasing, vice papers of facility services, she assumed additional responsibilities which included clinical services. As the merger was developing with Mercy Hosp. She was given the responsibilities of planning the joint project of the new cancer center. After the merger she was given the responsibility of developing, acquiring the land, architects, contractors, community involvement, government requirements. In Jan. 2008 she had a recurrence of cancer which took her life July 8, 2008. The people of Springfield and Clark county owe her a debt of gratitude for her effort to better health care and developing the downtown of Springfield.
My late sister was a VP there. She was in charge of building the new hospital when she died. She worked there for 30 plus years. Thanks for sharing and bringing back memories of her being there.
Your subjects are very interesting and your photos quite bad.
You mean – the iPhone photos? It\’s what I was able to work with at that time, given the constraints imposed. Thank you.
Sad to see, yet full of good memories there as a nurse and student!
any idea who created the concrete ornamentation? Could it have been the Earley Studio of Washington, DC?
Not sure. I hope it is salvaged when it is demolished.
I love that you paid attention to the wonderful exterior architectural designs.
Amazing, Sherman!