Washington County Memorial Hospital, Bartlesville Oklahoma

History of Washington County Memorial Hospital

The 1922 Washington County Memorial Hospital (WCMH) was funded by a city bond in 1920 as a tribute to the veterans who served in World War I. It was enlarged in 1941 and 1948 to serve the community and county's increasing demand for medical services. In 1952 WCMH medical services and the facility's assets were transferred to the private Jane Phillips Episcopal Medical Center. Jane Phillips Hospital leased the WCMH in 1969 for a period of 25 years at $25/year with a lease option to renew. Both hospitals retained their names, but WCMH ceased to be managed by the county and became managed by a private institution. The Washington County Memorial Hospital, however, served the county for thirty years as the county's only hospital from 1922 to 1952, providing services and medical assistance to the community and the surrounding area.

Bartlesville's first hospital was a private 15-bed, two-story brick building constructed in c. 1906. It was small and barely adequate for the community's need, let alone Washington County residents, and community agitation for a new hospital had already begun by 1916. In 1918, the Washington County Commissioners purchased the private hospital and changed its name to Washington County Hospital, but the commissioners, encouraged by World War I veterans, decided to build a new hospital. The commissioners requested proposals for a new location and both Bartlesville and Dewey representatives proposed sites. Bartlesville was chosen because the city offered a bonus of $50,000 to the county if the hospital were constructed in Bartlesville.

WW I veterans not only lobbied for the construction of a new hospital, but also helped influence the Oklahoma legislature to pass the needed authorizing legislation, the Hospital Enabling Act of December 16^th, 1919. Without the legislation's enactment, the county could not present a new hospital bond vote to the public. The term "county" at the time, meant that a new "county" hospital would be one used by those who could not pay for services. The new hospital needed paying residents to defray the costs, thus the county did not want a "county" hospital in the old sense; i.e., taking just charity cases. Veterans petitioned the county commissioners in late 1919 to present the public a bond issue for $150,000 for a new hospital. Once the Enabling Act ad passed, the county commissioners held the bond election which passed in 1920. The new hospital would continue to accept poor patients, but it now could accept paying ones as well. Veterans were to also to receive "no-fee" hospital treatment.

The word "memorial" was included in the new hospital's name to honor the World War I veterans. At one time a bronze plaque in the hospital noted that the "memorial" was given to the hospital name, "in the name of those comrades who gave their lives in the service of their county, the members of James H. Teel Post, Number 103 [sic], American Legion, gratefully acknowledge the erection of this hospital by the citizens of Washington County."

In December 1920, an architect was chosen, Walter Everman, along with the construction company, Shallenberger of Tulsa. A new hospital site was chosen, and the house on the property was moved to the rear of the lot and used as a nurses' home. The hospital was finished in March of 1922 and opened with seventy beds, with thirty private rooms and eight wards. Two wards were for black patients, two wards were for county patients and four wards were private. There was not enough money left after construction to furnish the rooms thus clubs, organizations and individuals furnished rooms. The original room doors were marked with plaques noting the donors. A local physician furnished the operating room equipment and the only equipment purchased at the time was an X-ray machine.

A nurse's training program was started in 1922, but it closed in 1934 after the patient load dropped. The patient load had to be above 25 for the school to be maintained. In 1933, the hospital was in the American College of Surgeons list of approved hospitals, and in 1936, the hospital was redecorated and the rooms refurbished. Donors again provided much of the new equipment and furniture.

By 1941, the hospital was again facing inadequate facilities for the demand of medical services. It was often overcrowded, and patients were housed on the sun porches and in rooms originally designed as office space. In 1941, a county-wide bond was passed for $120,000 to enlarge the hospital. The architect for the addition was Arthur Gorman, and his plans added a third floor in both of the A bays, and remodeled the rest of the third floor. The addition created 25 additional beds, including a maternity space. Final redecoration and the additions were completed during 1942-3, and older hospital equipment was replaced.

In 1945, a new nurse home was constructed west of the hospital, and in September 1948, citizens passed another $600,000 bond for an addition to the north side of the building, and other hospital improvements. The bond included money to complete the new nurse's home just west of the hospital and parking for doctors when the old nurses' home was demolished. Thomas F. Holifield was the new addition architect, and the addition that brought the hospital bed capacity to 120, including two nurseries.

In 1952, the new Jane Phillips Hospital opened. It was Bartlesville's second hospital, whose construction was prompted by Jane Phillips, wife of Frank Phillips, founder of Phillips Petroleum Company. Before she died in 1948, she had wished to build a maternity hospital in Bartlesville, but when convinced that more extensive facilities were needed, she began plans for a general hospital. This hospital added another 95 beds to the city/county hospital facilities.

The Washington County Memorial Hospital was modernized again in 1966 through a $150,000 bond issue. The list of improvements made at the time was extensive, including the lowering of the ceilings with "suspended acoustical material," improved lighting, electrical, heating and air conditioning, new offices, new bathrooms in the surgery suite, oxygen and nitrous oxide piping into surgery and the obstetric suites, a prayer/meditation room, a remodeled lobby, and changes in the X-ray department.

In 1969, the merger of the Washington County Memorial Hospital with the Jane Phillips Hospital was put to a public vote and approved. The merger was an effort to eliminate duplication of administrative services and an attempt to stabilize costs. While the two hospitals had attempted to share laundry and printing costs before the merger, Washington County Memorial Hospital was leased to the Jane Phillips Hospital, a private institution. Jane Phillips Hospital used the Memorial Hospital in the early 1980s for geriatric care, and Eldercare used the hospital as an elderly residence between 1994 and 2005.

Washington County Memorial Hospital Property Description

The Washington County Memorial Hospital is in downtown Bartlesville, Oklahoma, northwest and across Frank Phillips Boulevard from the original county courthouse located at 312 Southeast Delaware Avenue. The Classical Revival style hospital is between Southeast Delaware and South Cherokee on the east and west, East Second on the north, with the main hospital entrance on Frank Phillips Boulevard. The hospital with a nurses' home (no longer extant) once occupied an entire block. The hospital today is in a mixed-use commercial area with mostly one-story buildings with their associated parking lots. To the rear of the hospital, there are two small parking areas above street grade to the northwest and northeast. The hospital once had a front "U" drive, which has been replaced with a metal picket fence surrounding a courtyard with shrubbery. Significant features of the hospital include the stone foundation at ground level and brick walls above; engaged stone pilasters, and the one-story ground-level entry. Floors are reinforced concrete construction, and the building has brick curtain walls. The building is four floors in the 1922 portion and five in the 1948 portion.

The Washington County Memorial Hospital is a flat-roofed, four-story, T-shaped building with a Bedford limestone ground floor and three brick floors. The building has a large brick elevator/mechanical penthouse near the center rear of the building. The building is T-shaped because of the 1948 rear addition which is five stories (ground plus four). The building today has approximately 48,242 square feet. The building is a c. 1922 Classical Revival building with c. 1941 additions which extended floor three to the east and west, and a c. 1948 addition to the building rear. The building and additions have parapet walls finished with stone coping.

The south elevation has an A-B-A bay pattern. All windows on floors one to three are single or paired, and 1/1 metal with a lower hopper. The stone ground floor is separated from the three brick floors above by a stone cornice. The west A bay ground floor's six windows are single pane replacements. The east bay ground floor retains more original wood windows, four of which are 4/1 ribbon and two are smaller 2/1. On each of the remaining three brick floors, the A bays have five windows, one window is smaller than the rest in the left A bay, and two are smaller windows in the east A bay. In the east A bay, two windows on the third floor have been in-filled with brick but the infill is keyed, thus are barely visible. Floor one and two of the east and west A bay windows have a running stone sill beneath the windows, and third floor windows have individual stone sills. Floor one in the A bays has a continuous stone window header; floor two has a larger more decorative stone belt course which serves as the window header. The A bays' third floor windows are finished at the base of the parapet wall with a stone frieze and cornice.

The B bay has a ground level one-story, full bay flat-roofed, partially glass-enclosed portico (c. 1988) with six rusticated stone columns supporting a flat-roof stone cornice. The columns project through the cornice and the center of the portico cornice has a three-part keystone. The columns create five bays, three of which have been enclosed on all sides with low brick walls and an ensemble of four metal windows between the columns. These windows are on both sides of the center bay where there are paired metal entry doors. The west and east elevations have large sliding doors with single windows on each side, and the doors open into the bays that are not enclosed. The flooring in the portico is tile. A knee-high fence surrounds the enclosed portico portions with "JP" in the metal pickets.

The B bay on floors one through three is the most decorative. The bay is divided into five parts by the six stone pilasters, which support a stone cornice between floors two and three. The pilaster capitals are finished with stylistic egg and dart and partial wheel patterns. The centers of the pilasters are slightly recessed. The center bay on floors two and three has paired metal 1/1 windows with hoppers. These center windows have a stone surround that ties them together as a decorative unit. The surround has a stone architrave around the second-floor windows, and a stone spandrel with boxes in bas relief is between the second and first-floor windows. The other windows on these two floors have stone sills and stone architraves with key stones. The third floor's windows rest on the second floor cornice and are finished by a dentil course and cornice at the base of the parapet wall.

The south elevation had a recessed but outset portion at the building east end. There are windows on floors one through three, which are 1/1 with hopper in this outset. The building before the exterior fire stairs were added on the east and west ends appeared as basically symmetrical, because the recessed outset was less visible from the front elevation.

The west elevation of the c. 1922 hospital had an open external fire escape but the elevation today has brick-enclosed fire stairs from the roof to the ground. The stairs exit at a metal slab door on floor one with steps to the ground. The c. 1922 west elevation is partially visible and the A bay decorative treatment of stone and brick is repeated here. There are windows on floors ground and one which are wood 1/1 double-hung, and there is a 1/1 metal window on the third floor with a lower hopper.

The addition adds a "T" portion to the rear of the c. 1922 building and is five floors (ground through four), although the addition is not a rectangle, rather a portion of the building north is wider (B portion) than the section which connects to the hospital (A portion). The mechanical/elevator penthouse has a sixth floor and serves both the 1922 and addition elevators. The A portion windows with the exception of one single pane replacement, are all three-part metal with a slider (upper pane) and hopper (lower pane). There are five windows on floors one to five with the exception of the fifth, which has two extra windows in the elevator penthouse. The ground floor has four windows and a pair of metal entry doors protected by a flat metal awning.

In the B portion, the ground floor has two three-pane metal windows, and two areas where windows have been brick in-filled. There is a single metal slab door with a small metal flat awning above. The windows, five openings per floor, are the same as those on the A portion with the exception of floor two, where the windows are single pane replacements. The windows in both the A and B portions have stone sills.

The original c. 1922 north elevation west A bay is visible as is a small portion of the B bay. The A bay ground floor is stone with brick floors above. The ground floor windows are original ribbon wood windows, either 4/1 or 2/1, and there is one covered window opening. Floors one and two have five single windows and the fourth has four windows; all 1/1 metal with a hopper. The B bay has one pilaster and there is one 1/1 metal window per floor and the decorative stone on this elevation mirrors the front elevation.

The north elevation of the addition has five floors and a basement, which is visible. There is a basement entry door, which is glazed metal with a small flat-roofed metal awning. Above the awning is a horizontal glass block window. To each side of the entry door are paired triple windows with a slider and hopper. The ground floor has no windows. The first through fourth floors have paired in groups of two. Floors one and four have triple pane windows with sliders and hopper, and floors two and three have 1/1 with hopper. Centered on floors two and three are a glass block window and a 1/1 with hopper. On the left side of this elevation is a brick stairwell with glass block windows at each floor and landing. This stairwell provides roof access.

Except for the ground floor, the north elevation is the same as the A bay north elevation of west end of the 1922 hospital. The B bay mirror's the south elevation's stone details, but instead of one window in this bay, there are two 1/1 with hopper on floors one through three. The north elevation has a one-story flat-roofed portion, which is likely original (extant on the 1927 Sanborn). This one-story portion's parapet wall is finished with stone coping, and there are three three-pane metal slider and hopper windows, one is partially filled with an air conditioner. There is one glazed metal entry door.

The B portion of the east elevation has a brick wall with a vertical glass block window that spans ground through four floors. The ground floor has a metal entry door and a flat-roofed metal awning above. The A portion has two triple pane slider and hopper metal windows in floors one through four, a triple pane window in the penthouse, and a triple pane window in the ground floor. Sills are stone.

The east elevation of the one-story portion of the building has a pair of glazed metal panel doors and one triple-pane window with hopper. One ground-floor window opening is covered.

The four-story portion of the 1922 hospital has an added enclosed brick fire stair with a metal slab exit door and concrete steps to the ground. The original hospital east elevation is partially visible with single 1/1 windows with a lower hopper on floors one and two, and an original 4/1 wood window at ground level. Windows have stone sills and headers. This elevation has the cornerstone for the hospital with the masonic emblem, indicating the Freemasons dedicated the building.

The basic footprint of each floor in the 1922 and 1948 buildings remains intact. A central hall with terrazzo floor runs east/west and near the center of the halls on floors ground through three in the 1922 building. At the center core is an elevator, nurses' stations (except on 34), and stairs to each floor and roof. Patient rooms are north and south of the hall and fire stairs are at the east and west end of the building. The size of patient rooms varies some; most have tiled bathrooms, some have showers; most rooms without private baths have at least a sink. Some rooms, which were once likely large wards have been divided into separate spaces, or sometimes rooms have been combined. The 1948 addition connects to the rear of the 1922 building and a hall runs N/S.

This addition has its own elevator, essential for service to the basement where services such as central supply, pharmacy and laundry were located. This portion of the hospital has a laundry chute from each floor to the basement. The stairs that are at the northeast corner of the 1948 addition connect each floor, the basement, and the roof. The ground floor of the 1922 portion differs from the upper floors with an open lobby, chapel area, and the location of offices for administrative services. No patient rooms are located on this floor and the 1948 portion housed the emergency entrance, emergency room, a cafeteria, and a kitchen.

There are two basements, one for the 1922 mechanical and one which is in the 1948 portion. The 1948 basement has light wells in two areas below ground level. The basements are not connected. A small sub-basement is accessed only by ladder.

The first known alteration to the hospital was in 1941 when the third floor was extended on both A sides of the B bay. Historical photos show that only the B bay had ground plus three floors and the addition added a third floor to the A bays. The second major alteration was the 1948 addition to the rear, including a larger elevator penthouse. The windows, with some 1922 ground floor exceptions, are replacements, c. 1948. Fire stairs were added after 1946 on the east and west elevations. The west fire stair has had further alterations at an unknown time on the ground level. The front of the building was landscaped in c. 1988, and the portico and fencing added when Jane Phillips Hospital used the building, thus the "JH" among the pickets.

Alterations subsequent to the additions included a 1963 bond for modernization, which was completed in 1966. It included new surgery equipment, X-ray, dark room, lab updates, relocating the pharmacy, new system for medical records, remodeling the kitchen, etc. The ground floor was renovated, and in 1969, the fourth floor was remodeled. Again in 1974 remodeling took place in the surgical suites, radiology suite, central service, and the second-floor patient rooms, ground floor snack bar, and lounge. In 1981, the hospital was converted to geriatric care, and in 1982, the first and second floor plans were revised, and the first and second floor dining and patient rooms were altered. In 1994, Eldercare occupied part of the building until 2005. The interior of all floors and patient rooms have significant changes when bathrooms have been added in some rooms or re-tiled, closets added for elderly residents, carpet installed over the original terrazzo flooring, carpeted walls, and added hand rails installed to assist the elderly. Like most hospitals to remain certified, continual upgrades were made over the decades in just about every portion of the hospital such as X-ray, pharmacy, kitchen, laboratories, baby care, bathrooms, mechanical, communications, and offices.

The areas off the central halls have also been rearranged to accommodate dining rooms, social activities, exercise rooms, day rooms, solariums, and family rooms which vary location by floor.