First Birth at Community Hospital – January 6. 1959

On January 6, 1959, Phillip Allen Powers was the first baby born at Community Hospital.  His parents were Mr. and Mrs. Patrick Powers of Armada.  The hospital had only become operational the day before.  Local merchants showered little Phillip with gifts for being the first baby born at the hospital.

Almont’s first hospital was Burley Hospital which was operated from 1905 to 1924 by Dr. David Burley.  Dr. G. Clare Bishop opened Bishop Hospital in 1937.  By the early 1950s, Bishop Hospital was no longer adequate to meet the community’s needs and an effort was begun to fund a new Community Hospital.  This effort was initiated by both Dr. Burley and Dr. Bishop.

Discussions about creating Community Hospital began in 1951, intensive in 1952, and finally a meeting was held on January 13, 1953 at Almont High School to begin the process of fund raising.

Even though a professional fund raiser did not feel the communities surrounding Almont did not have enough resources to meet the funds needed to construct the hospital, the funds were raised.

Ground-breaking occurred on June 16, 1957 with Dr. Burley, Michigan’s oldest practicing physician (94 years old), turning the first shovel of dirt for the construction project.    Construction took just over 16 months and was completed by October 1958.  November and December were spent furnishing and staffing the hospital.  The official operational opening of Community Hospital occurred on January 5, 1959.

On January 6, 1959, Phillip Allen Powers was the first baby born at Community Hospital.  His parents were Mr. and Mrs. Patrick Powers of Armada.  Local merchants showered little Phillip with gifts for being the first baby born at the hospital.