Campbell Memorial Hospital
Weatherford, Parker County, Texas
Marker Inscription
In the early twentieth century, medical care in Parker County was restricted to practices of individual doctors. That changed in 1924, when Dr. E.D. Fyke purchased the twenty-eight room G.M. Bowie family home in the 600 block of North Main Street and converted it into the Bowie Memorial Hospital. Dr. Fyke ran this hospital until 1945. That same year, the county purchased the building, renaming it Parker County Hospital. Remodeling and major additions followed and in 1958, the hospital changed names again. Dr. William Campbell, for whom the hospital is named, practiced medicine in Parker County for sixty-eight years and by his calculations, delivered more than five thousand babies during his extensive career as a doctor. In 1968, the hospital board of directors selected a thirty-five acre tract of land bordering Eureka Street and Santa Fe Drive as a site for a new ninety-seven bed hospital. On November 9, 1972, Campbell Memorial Hospital opened its modern, well-equipped facility with a campus large enough to expand to meet the changing demands of healthcare. Growth continued as an ambulatory department formed in 1988, and the emergency department expanded in 1995. In 2006, the hospital board leased the facility to what is now Medical City Weatherford. The Campbell Health System, now the Parker County Hospital District; continues in all of its public health phases and duties. This building continues to be a valuable resource for providing healthcare to the residents of Parker County and serves as a testament to the advancements in medical care in the area. (2017)
Erected by Texas Historical Commission
The Story
In the early twentieth century, medical care in Parker County meant scattered individual doctors — until 1924, when Dr. E.D. Fyke converted the 28-room Bowie family home into a hospital he ran until 1945. The county then took over the building, and after remodeling and additions it was renamed in 1958 for Dr. William Campbell, who practiced in the county for sixty-eight years and delivered, by his own count, more than five thousand babies. A modern 97-bed Campbell Memorial Hospital opened on a new campus in 1972, growing over the following decades into today's Medical City Weatherford.
Why it matters
The hospital's evolution from a converted family home into a modern medical center traces the twentieth-century rise of organized community healthcare in small-town America.
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Related people
- · Dr. E.D. Fyke
- · Dr. William Campbell
Themes & tags
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