Kahn Memorial Hospital

In April 1909, doctors James F. Rosborough, Rogers Cocke and Frank Littlejohn joined forces to meet the increasing need for a medical facility in Marshall. Established in the home and former sanitarium of Dr. John H. Pope, the new facility was to be called Memorial Hospital. The estate of Rosborough's former patient, E. Kahn, gave the bulk of the monies and the 12-bed facility was renamed for him. Nursing training began in 1911; Kahn Memorial Hospital became a public institution in 1912, though stockholders expected never to receive a financial return on their investments. By 1926 the hospital was ready for expansion. Through major community and county support, a new structure was erected on the same site and Valleloma, John Pope's former home and sanitarium and the hospital's first building, became a nursing school and residence. The hospital incorporated in 1931 and was granted a state charter as a nonprofit private enterprise in 1936. Another expansion was necessary by the 1940s, making Kahn Memorial Hospital a 66-bed facility. Valleloma was razed and a nursing school was erected in its place.

In 1954 the board hired a business manager for the first time and he reorganized Kahn Memorial's failing financial situation. Given the option of becoming a city- or county-owned facility, the board declined and reached out to its citizens once again. The community rallied and the hospital began to succeed once more. Kahn Memorial Hospital hired its first female physician in 1957 and made two African American doctors full members of the staff in 1964. Renamed Marshall Memorial Hospital and later Marshall Regional Medical Center, the facility continues to serve the area's medical needs at the dawn of the 21st century.

(2000)