Mark Reed - History

The first Elma hospital, built in 1898 by Dr. H. Blair, consisted of four rooms located on the corner of West Anderson and 4^th St.  There was a surgery, where all supplies were also stored, a two-bed men’s ward, a two-bed women’s ward and the doctors’ office. There was no electricity and no modern plumbing, just a cold water tap at the back door.   In 1913 Dr. Blair retired and Dr. C. W. Jones took over the hospital.  By that time there was electricity and modern plumbing installed.  In the meantime another hospital had been erected by Dr. E.T. French.  It was located at 6^th and Main Streets, (where the current transit station stands). When Dr. Jones went off to serve during World War I Dr. French oversaw both practices. Mark E. Reed Hospital was opened in McCleary and in 1955 and, with this modern facility available to the people of Elma, the Elma Hospital was closed.  Chehalis Valley Clinic was opened in its place.

The nine bed McCleary General Hospital was completed in 1913 and, for the first time, the town had a physician.  Dr. Burton E. Fleming, and his wife, Louise, a registered nurse, moved from Aberdeen to staff the facility.  McCleary Timber Company employees paid for medical service through monthly payroll deductions. Babies were delivered and surgeries performed.  The building still stands today as a home on Beck Street.

In 1948, William R. Reed, president of Simpson Timber Company, donated $100,000 to start a hospital fund in memory of Mark E. Reed, his father and previous president. Residents of East County also helped to raise additional start-up funds for the hospital project and formed a Board of Trustees in November 1949. On November 4, 1956, Mark E. Reed Memorial Hospital was dedicated.

It was not until 1982 that the District voters formed Mark Reed Hospital, or Grays Harbor County Public Hospital District No. 1. Three years later, in the spring of 1985, a new addition was completed resulting in the facility you see today. This was the beginning of what is now, with community help and involvement, a valuable community hospital.
The organization's name was changed to Mark Reed Health Care District in the fall of 2007, to encompass the Critical Access Hospital, Mark Reed Healthcare Clinic and as of March 1^st 2011 Elma Family Medicine. 

In a District Board Meeting of April 2010 Ellsworth Curran shared the following:

Mr. Curran spoke of the time Elma “saved” Mark Reed Hospital. The hospital was a public corporation at the time … and was having all kinds of problems; it was just about ready to fold.  The board president, who’d invited him (Mr. Curran) to join, told him there would soon be three vacancies and would appreciate it if Curran could find some capable replacements. 

“So I did; all people in executive positions who were used to solving problems on a daily basis.”

The only viable option seemed to be forming a hospital district.  It required a public vote and it

“came across with a bang.”  “… after that, we were a district hospital, and our commitment and duty is to all the people within that district.”  “After all the struggle of getting the hospital district formed we were still not out of the woods.  …The hospital would need to survive at least two more years before the rocky financial road would begin to smooth. …more help was needed.    The Elma State Bank Board … approved a line of credit and the hospital used that for a long time --- and that’s what saved the hospital.  There were a lot of people in Elma and a lot of businesses that contributed money to get us going.  So … this is a district hospital”.

With the hospital in stable financial condition and the help of a USDA loan we are now able to start the next step by building a replacement facility in Elma. 

This new facility not only meets the needs of today’s population but our children’s as well. 

And so begins the future… 

By: Joy Iversen
Mark Reed Hospital Historian