Cuba Memorial Hospital

Description

Cuba Memorial Hospital traces its origins to The Soldiers and Sailors Memorial Hospital that opened its doors in Cuba on February 1 1923 The building of a hospital in Cuba was the idea of Robert H Bartlett who was instrumental in securing the funding for its construction In his initial report Bartlett states that Mr and Mrs HW Evans were appointed as the hospitals superintendent and matron

In addition to the popular subscriptions by local community members the Cuba Memorial Building Corporation was formed and bonds were issued to raise the 30000 needed to build the facility The initial directors were RH Bartlett Robert Findlay Peter J Keenan Ralph M Wheeler Rachel Williams Mabel Whipple Ida P Ackerly Dr JC Young Sidney A Hixon Frank H Setchel and Harry E Keller

During the first 12 months of operations the hospital admitted a total of 182 patients and recorded 41 births and 25 deaths The high incidence of deaths was due in part to several severely burned patients who were admitted after the fire at the County House in Angelica and died soon after In addition 26 major and 37 minor operations were performed during the first year The highest census of patients at one time was 14

In 1925 the Corporation of Cuba Memorial Hospital Inc was formed and it remains today as the ruling body The original capacity of the hospital was 18 beds and 8 cribs In 1942 the kitchen nurses dining room and restroom were removed to the basement in order to put the entire maternity service on the first floor and segregate it from the other services

In 1997 Cuba Memorial Hospital was designated a Critical Access Hospital Today Cuba Memorial Hospital is equipped to provide radiology laboratory emergency rehabilitation and dental services as well as admitting the acutely ill to the 20 bed inpatient unit Long term care patients are admitted to a 61 bed skilled nursing facility