Swisher County Hospital
Tulia, Swisher County, Texas
Marker Inscription
The earliest medical care for Swisher County residents was provided by local doctors or in Amarillo hospitals (49 miles north). As the area population increased during the 1920s, it became necessary to build a general health care facility here. Approved by the voters in a 1926 bond election, this hospital was completed two years later. The original section was comprised of two floors and a basement area, providing beds for 12 patients. Enlarged by a major addition in 1946, the structure served as the county hospital until 1969 when a new facility was built. (1981)
Erected by Texas Historical Commission
The Story
Before this hospital opened, Swisher County residents relied on local doctors or made the long trip to Amarillo for serious care. As the population grew in the 1920s, voters approved a 1926 bond to build a proper facility, completed two years later with twelve beds across two floors and a basement. A major 1946 addition kept it in service as the county hospital until a new building replaced it in 1969.
Why it matters
It marks the moment a remote Panhandle county secured modern medical care for itself, a milestone in rural public health.
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