Salem Health Hospital

Salem Hospital is a non-profit, regional medical center located in Salem, Oregon, United States. Founded in 1896, the hospital has 454 beds. A Level II trauma center, the community hospital is the largest private employer in Salem and the only hospital in the city. Salem Hospital is one of five Magnet designated hospitals in Oregon. History In 1896, Salem General Hospital was incorporated at the Glen Oak Orphanage. Situated on of land donated to the orphanage by the Oregon Children's Aid Society, the hospital opened a school of nursing with the first class graduating in 1899. The original building for Salem General burned in 1920, with a new building completed the following year. Salem General expanded in 1926 and 1953. In 1916, Frank B. Wedel and his wife started the Deaconess Home and Hospital in a former hotel on Winter Street. Started with four nurses, the hospital grew and was expanded in 1920, becoming Deaconess Hospital. The hospital was expanded again in 1924 to 1925, with administration staying in the Wedel family home until it was converted into a community hospital and renamed as Salem Memorial Hospital. In 1969, Salem Memorial Hospital and Salem General Hospital merged to create Salem Hospital. Salem Hospital purchased Valley Community Hospital (now known as West Valley Hospital) in neighboring Dallas in 1999. In 2001, the hospital finalized plans to expand and replace the 1950s building. As part of this program, a new emergency room was completed in December 2003. In 1999, the hospital was downgraded from a Level II to a Level III trauma center by the State of Oregon. Beginning in 2001, the hospital was allowed to treat some Level II patients that would normally be transferred to another hospital under the state's four tier trauma care rating system.