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“We’ve just gained a command post in our battle to better the lives of thousands of Scott Countians,” read the 1959 Christmas Eve editorial Scott County Journal. The command post was the brand new Scott County Hospital. The health care wars being fought fifty years ago were against Tuberculosis and a lack of childhood immunizations.

Today, thanks in part to the presence of the Scott County Hospital, those problems have been all but eliminated. Tuberculosis is still a concern nation-wide, there are only a few cases each year in Scott County. Today’s parents now follow childhood immunizations schedules outlined by their Family Practice Physicians or Pediatrician.

The hospital began as the dream of the Scottsburg Business and Professional Women’s Club. They enlisted the aid of the local Lion’s Club to secure Federal assistance, start a fund drive, and to help pass a local referendum for a $200,000 bond issue.

The County Commissioners appointed a Board of Trustees to comply with the 1917 act of the Indiana Legislature under which the hospital was established. Members of the original Board were Raymond Swope, Conrad Ridlen, N.K. White and Harold Thomas. They hired the architects and builders and supervised the construction of the new hospital. Following are some important dates in the history of the hospital:

Scott Memorial officially opened in December of 1959 with 34 beds, 12 bassinets, a complete operating room, delivery facilities and laboratory departments. A 28-bed addition was added just in time for the hospital’s tenth anniversary.

A pediatric ward, Respiratory Department, a two-bed Critical Care Unit and Physical Therapy department were added during a growth period between 1974 and 1976. In July, 1979, Medical III was added, giving the hospital 14 private rooms. Later that year Critical Care was expanded to four beds. Growth continued through the years with the addition of a CT Scanner, Mammography equipment and a new surgical wing.

May 1, 1991 was an important day for the hospital. That is when the Board of Trustees approved an affiliation with Jewish Hospital HealthCare Services, giving Scott Memorial many enhanced services such as an air ambulance service. Soon, the Emergency Department began 24-hour physician staffed service, and Frazier Rehab Services, another JHHS Partner, began the management of the hospital’s Rehab Services.

In 1994, the McClain Lifestyles Center for Cardiac Rehabilitation was opened and dedicated in honor of Marvin L. McClain, who practiced medicine in Scottsburg for thirty years. That same year, an eight-unit Chronic Dialysis Center was added, and Obstetrics was given a major renovation to enhance the care for mothers and their babies.

Scott Memorial Hospital celebrated the 45th and 50th anniversaries by opening new addition and renovation projects that were both bigger than the original 1959 hospital.

A $7.4 million addition/renovation project completed in 2004 included the addition of a new in-house MRI unit. Other changes made by the project were spectacular. The Emergency Department nearly tripled in size and included nine individual exam bays. These were all private rooms except for a two-bed, heart & major trauma room and two observation rooms.

The addition allowed better inter-departmental traffic flow and security. A “diagnostic core” of clinical departments kept patient traffic patterns away from public areas.

The hospital renovation transformed the Obstetrics Department into a Women’s Health Center with a centralized design that is better able to handle multiple delivery situations.

The design incorporated other women’s services such as mammography and ultrasound and included three labor/delivery/recovery/postpartum rooms (LDRP). The design included a new-baby holding nursery next to the nurses’ station for enhanced security. There is also a gynecology surgical recovery area and a comfortable and conveniently located waiting area.

The front lobbies have separate entrances and waiting areas for outpatient and emergency patients to ease crowding and increase patient privacy. The new ambulance entrance on the south side of the hospital allows patients to be delivered directly into the Emergency Room. The Ambulance bay also includes a de-contamination entrance for use in industrial or biohazard accidents, and there is direct access to the Air Ambulance helipad.

The renovation completed for the 50th Birthday Celebration focused on a new Surgical Services Wing. Total space for this project was 24,466 square foot. There is 4,500 square foot of existing space that was renovated plus more than 20,000 square foot of new space.

By comparison, the original hospital construction in 1959 was 20,000 square foot. The addition completed in 2004 added 13,000 square foot of new space, with 17,000 square feet of renovated space.

Total cost of the surgery project was $6.5 million, with a $750,000 budget for state-of-the-art equipment for two state-of-the-art operating rooms set up for both general surgery and orthopedics. There are also five post-anesthia care units with ten private pre/post op rooms. There is also a connector to the Women’s Center that offers faster transport and privacy when OB/GYN patients need surgery.

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