Retrospect: JCH was expanded

Work was progressing 65 years ago this week on a 47-bed addition to Jay County Hospital.

With a price tag of nearly $1 million, the 1952 addition was expected to be complete by early October, according to then hospital superintendent Lynn Landis. William Taylor was in charge of construction.

While the building was taking shape, a fundraising campaign was still underway to provide furnishings and equipment. More than $8,000 had been raised as of May of that year.

Among the improvements: Air conditioning for the operating rooms and a new entry for ambulances.

“Private baths are being installed for all wards on the third floor,” The Graphic reported. “Ambulances will enter from the south and as the vehicle turns the corner a photo-electric eye will open the door, permitting a rapid removal of the patient to the emergency operating room.”

Those ambulances, however, were not county-owned and were not staffed by medical professionals.

Until the 1970s, ambulance service locally was provided as a courtesy by area funeral homes. Jay Emergency Medical Service did not exist.

There were no EMTs, and there were no paramedics.

Still, for its time, the 1952 addition was a significant improvement to the hospital building on West Arch Street in Portland.

The 1952 addition and the older building have since been razed.

All that remains of the Arch Street hospital site is an extended care wing that was built in the 1970s. That building, in the 500 block between Arch and High streets on the west side of the city, was later the site of a nursing home. It is currently vacant.