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History

Growing Stronger Together

Huntsville Hospital Health System traces its beginning to 1895 with the founding of Huntsville Infirmary

Today, the system’s flagship facility is Huntsville Hospital, the second-largest hospital in Alabama, caring for more than a million patients each year. HH Health is one of the country’s largest not-for-profit health systems 一 we are also ranked among the nation’s best employers by Forbes magazine. And, the place we call home, Huntsville, topped U.S. News & World Report’s list of America’s Best Places to Live for 2022-23.

Explosive Growth

The explosive growth of our region has spilled over into neighboring counties, producing a wave of cooperative efforts in advancing health care services across the Tennessee Valley region. HH Health now stretches across north Alabama and into southern Tennessee, serving over one million residents. The system consists of community-owned, not-for-profit hospitals, which reinvest all revenues into local health care services.

Timeline

1895

A group of civic-minded women founded Huntsville Hospital as an infirmary with seven beds and two nurses in a small, wood-frame house on Mill Street.

1904

The infirmary moves to a new location. The house had previously been owned by Mollie Teal who left the home to the city. 112 patients were treated in the infirmary during the year.

1916

The city appeals to the State Health Department for help after typhoid fever devastates the community. Dr. Carl Grote, Sr., later to become known as the patriarch of Huntsville Hospital, answers the call.

1918

An outbreak of Spanish Flu ravishes Huntsville. Almost 400 people died of the disease in less than four months. Dedication to their jobs became deadly when only four doctors in Madison County escaped the disease.

1925

A campaign is begun by Dr. Carl Grote, Sr., to raise funds for a new hospital. In an outpouring of public sentiment, most of the money was raised by private donations. Property was donated by Harry Rhett, Sr.

1926

A modern hospital, the first of its kind in the Tennessee Valley, is built. The name is officially changed from the Huntsville Infirmary to Huntsville Hospital.

1926

The first baby, Buddy Miller, was delivered at Huntsville Hospital on June 11, 1926.

1932

The Depression strikes home when the hospital is faced with the prospect of having to close its doors.

1943

President Roosevelt approved $45,850 in federal funds to expand the hospital to 76 beds. The project also included the first emergency room and an X-ray department.

1955-57

Expansion added new patient wings to the north and south ends of the 1926 building. An oxygen supply system was installed and the entire facility was made more fireproof.

1961

Huntsville Hospital was deeded over to the City of Huntsville in order to sell construction bonds to finance badly needed expansion.

1963

Construction provided four floors of nursing units to the south tower, bringing bed capacity to 320.

1964

Hospital Auxiliary volunteers, known as “Pink Ladies,” began their service.

1967

The state’s first, on-site employee child care center opens at Huntsville Hospital.

1973

Huntsville Hospital is selected as the teaching facility for UAH’s School of Primary Medical Care.

1973

North Alabama’s only Neonatal Nursery opens at Huntsville Hospital.

1979

Construction of north tower brings bed capacity to 578.

1981

The region’s first open heart surgery is performed at Huntsville Hospital by Dr. Stancel Riley.

1985

MedFlight service is established at the hospital.

1994

Huntsville Hospital acquires Medical Center Hospital in Huntsville. The new campus is referred to as Huntsville Hospital East.

1995

Huntsville Hospital celebrates its 100th anniversary.

1999

The East campus becomes Huntsville Hospital for Women & Children, becoming only the third dedicated children’s hospital in Alabama.

2004

An overhead tram system connects the main campus in Huntsville to the Women & Children’s Hospital.

2006

Huntsville Hospital completes an 84-bed patient room tower (Madison Street Tower) and expands the Emergency Department.

2007

Athens-Limestone Hospital signs an agreement to work closely with Huntsville Hospital.

2009

Huntsville Hospital acquires the Heart Center, P.C.

2012

Huntsville Hospital completes construction of Madison Hospital, opening with 60 beds.

2012

Lawrence Medical Center enters a management agreement with Huntsville Hospital Health System.

2012

Decatur Morgan Hospital joins Huntsville Hospital Health System and consolidates the previous entities of Decatur General Hospital and Parkway Medical Center

2014

Helen Keller Hospital and Red Bay Hospital join the Huntsville Hospital Health System.

2016

Huntsville Hospital Hospice Family Care opened an inpatient hospice facility in South Huntsville.
Spine & Neuro Center facility photo

2016

Huntsville Hospital acquires the Spine & Neuro Center, Alabama’s largest neurosurgery practice.

2018

Marshall Medical Centers (North and South) join the Huntsville Hospital Health System.

2021

Construction is completed on the Orthopedic & Spine Tower on the Huntsville Hospital campus. The tower has 24 operating rooms and 72 inpatient rooms.

2021

Highlands Medical Center joins the Huntsville Hospital Health System.

2022

Lincoln Health System joins the Health System becoming the Health System’s first facility located in Tennessee.
The Orthopaedic Center building photo

2023

The Orthopaedic Center (TOC) joins Huntsville Hospital Health System.

Huntsville Emergency Medical Services Inc. (HEMSI) ambulance parked in front of Huntsville Hospital

2024

Huntsville Emergency Medical Services Inc. (HEMSI) joins Huntsville Hospital Health System.

DeKalb Regional Medical Center in Fort Payne, Alabama

2024

DeKalb Regional Medical Center joins Huntsville Hospital Health System.