For over a hundred years, Coshocton County Memorial Hospital has been a touchstone of the county, literally from birth to death. Today, let’ s talk about the second part of the history of what used to be called The City Hospital.

Perhaps the decade of greatest and most lasting change to the City Memorial Hospital was the decade when it became no longer the City Hospital. In 1950 maternal health care increasingly became a concern to parents of the Baby Boom, and public medicine fought back against diseases like polio.

All this came up as a hospital already 72 % occupied came face to face with one of Coshocton’ s most famous disasters: the Newcomerstown troop train crash. Ultimately, a $ 1.6 million bond($ 19 million today) passed overwhelmingly to meet a $ 400,000 federal grant, $ 30,300 Ford Foundation Grant and $ 25,000 local gifts.

In 1955 the Pink Ladies were founded to raise funds. That same year the March of Dimes coordinated with the hospital, city health department and county health department to distribute the polio vaccine, starting with first grade and second grade children across the county.

In 1956 the ground at 1460 Orange St. was broken, just south of the oldest part of the City Hospital on Walnut Street. In 1957 it opened its doors. Gleaming, fireproof, ultra-modern, it was described as handsome and made the hospital once again the pride of the city. The new hospital

could accommodate 103 patients, a nursery, maternity rooms, a boiler plant, laundry, X-ray department, kitchen, multiple elevators, pharmacy, laboratory, an emergency room and an“ explosion-proof operating room.” And yet the pride of the city was no longer the City Hospital. Soon after the new hospital opened, Coshocton City Council transferred the title to the Coshocton County Commissioners.

In 1958 it acquired a new Isolette Infant Incubator— a Neonatal Intensive Care incubator, the first of its kind in this region. In 1960 Coshocton began to run realistic drills for nurse and doctor firefighting teams at the local hospital. They also began plans to convert the oldest hospital building into a modern nursing home. Hospital drills expanded to car and bus crashes in 1964, with enthusiastic participation from local students playing the“ victims,” complete with makeup bruises and fake cuts.

1966 revealed the main building had cracks in the foundation. For the first time in Coshocton’ s medical history, the bond the hospital needed failed in May 1967. Luckily for everyone, the bond issue passed in November 1967. The hospital worked to repair the cracking bricks and participated in a pilot program, using televisions and radio

for distance learning.

They even applied for a federal grant, starting the Tri-County School of Practical Nursing in June 1967. Graduation conferred a Licensed Practical Nurse degree.

1974 saw the first“ computer” installed at the hospital, cutting processing blood labs from 24 hours to 10 minutes. The building currently housing the Coshocton County Regional Medical Center’ s Urgent Care and Muskingum Valley Dental Care was proposed in 1978.

The early 1980s saw the introduction of several types of classes for the public including Lamaze and parenting by Cynthia Abood. The mid-1990s expanded CCMH classes into CPR. In 1998 the 311 Medical Building opened across the street from the hospital.

In 1999 the end of an era came with the disbanding of the Coshocton City Hospital Nurses’ Alumni Association, due in part to aging. At that time, only 13 of the 120 women who had once graduated from the college were present. First among the graduates was Mary Burrell Roahrig of North Canton, Class of 1927.

As the hospital changed over the years, from idea, to city, to county, to nonprofit, through two nursing schools and over 90 years, it never lost sight of its goal. Henry Beach’ s only provision in donating the land was to serve all, regardless of race, religion, creed, gender, ethnicity or ability to pay— or, with Ernest Bachert’ s addition, physical

Submitted

For over a hundred years, Coshocton County Memorial Hospital has been a touchstone of the county, literally from birth to death.

ability or age.

Information for this article is selected from a longer program given at

the Coshocton County District Library in March 2025. For more programs like this, visit Coshocton

County District Library in person or online at www. coshoctonlibrary. org or call 740-622-0956.

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