Ozarks Healthcare history

The first-ever successful human liver transplant operation took place at the Denver VA Medical Center in May 1963 under Doctor Thomas Starzl.

In 1967, Springfield General built and occupied a hospital at 2828 N. National on the Northside of town adjacent to Hwy 44.

By 1971, 51 beds had been added and Gravette Medical Center Hospital was at full capacity.

A second expansion was completed in 1974 that fulfilled the need for cafeteria space, office space, and a waiting area.

In March 1975 a new 4-story brick hospital building opened, housing 99 beds.

In 1977, two VA doctors, Doctor Rosalyn Yalow (Bronx VAMC) and Doctor Andrew Schally (New Orleans VAMC) received the Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine for their work in developing radioimmunoassay of peptide hormones.

A third expansion project was completed in 1978.

Recognizing that the hospital was serving much more than the West Plains area, in 1985 the board of trustees changed the hospital’s name to Ozarks Medical Center positioning the organization to become a regional medical referral center.

The change took full effect on March 15, 1989, when the Veterans Administration was renamed as the Department of Veterans Affairs.

VA’s Department of Medicine and Surgery was re-designated as the Veterans Health Services and Research Administration, as part of the elevation, and on May 7, 1991, was renamed as the Veterans Health Administration (VHA).

The external appearance of the hospital changed drastically in 1993 when a 47,000-square-foot expansion/renovation project was completed, providing new space for the medical/surgical floor, ICU, medical records, admissions, emergency department, mammography suite, gift shop and waiting room.

In 1997, OMC was awarded a state contract to provide mental health services for a seven-county region and OMC Behavioral Healthcare opened in the former West Vue Nursing Home.

The Shaw Medical Building opened in October of 1998 as home to the OMC Cancer Treatment Center, Rehabilitation Services and Imaging.

In 2000, OCH re-opened it as a renovated 45-bed acute care hospital facility, with only 35 full-time employees.

The next big expansion for OMC was in 2001 when the OMC Surgical Services facility opened.

In 2005, the 100-bed hospital located in Gravette closed.

In early 2007, our organization was approached by community leaders from a remote town in Northwest Arkansas about the possibility of reopening a closed hospital that was once the major employer and medical safety net for many in rural Benton County.

In 2008, OCH re-opened it as a renovated 25-bed critical access hospital with 30 employees.