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Ponca City didn't have a hospital when a terrible flu epidemic
swept across northern Oklahoma in 1918, so the Chamber of Commerce and Ponca
City Municipal Authority built an 18-bed facility with the help of E.W. Marland, a Ponca City oil
magnate and philanthropist. Marland purchased all the equipment and two
ambulances at a cost of $30,000 and promised to build a new, larger hospital
within a year. The doors were opened and patients were accepted on December 3,
1919.
Only a month later there was discussion of adding more patient
rooms to meet demands. Marland generously donated $22,000, which allowed the
hospital to double capacity to 40 beds. The project was completed by the spring
of 1920.
Thirteen months after it was established, the hospital was so
heavily in debt that its founders decided to withdraw from the business.
The Sisters of
St. Joseph of Wichita agreed to take over
the financially-troubled facility and took possession on January 17, 1921. The
first administrator was Sister M. Lawrence.
By January, 1925, preliminary plans were underway to build a
new, permanent hospital. The Chamber of Commerce, Marland and the Marland Oil
Company raised nearly $250,000 for the project. The site for the new facility
was selected on the north edge of Ponca City on land owned by Marland and plans
were drawn for "the most ideal that can be built". On November 11, 1926 a new
50-bed hospital was dedicated.
After World War II, a third expansion became necessary. This time the City of
Ponca City financed the $244,000 project with two bond issues voted by the
citizens. On December 6, 1962, a new wing of Ponca City Hospital was dedicated,
adding 48 beds and other areas.
Ground was broken on a $10 million dollar expansion project on June 25, 1973.
The new addition was completed in February, 1975 bringing the bed capacity from
156 to 193.
On May 7, 1975, the hospital name was changed to St. Joseph Regional Medical
Center to reflect its growing role as a major regional medical resource and to
recognize the sponsorship of the Sisters of St. Joseph. The name change
coincided with dedication of a 200-room $8.8 million expansion.
Two years later the original 1926 facility was demolished. On Christmas Day,
2001 the facility became Via Christi Oklahoma Regional Medical Center - Ponca
City to more clearly reflect its relationship with the Via Christi Health
System.
In August 2005 the decision to sell the Ponca City hospital was made by the
health system. A dozen organizations inquired about the facility, but VCHS was
looking for a buyer that models the commitment to the community, employees and
physicians that it has demonstrated for the past 10 years and the Sisters of St.
Joseph of Wichita for the past 85 years. It was announced in November 2005 that
Community Health Systems, Inc. had been
selected as the buyer.
The name was then changed to
Ponca City Medical Center
on May 1, 2006.
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NOTE:
This site is provided by the Ponca City Publishing