Stamford Memorial Hospital

Stamford Memorial Hospital was established in 1910 as Stamford Sanitarium, by local doctors tending to folks from the growing railroad industry. Stamford was a boomtown in those years as the railroad brought construction workers and commerce to the community. The 12-bed wooden frame building was built by Dr. Sam Webb of Albany and Dr. M.E. Lott of Navasota. Until 1924, the year the Hendrick Hospital was built, the Stamford Sanitarium was the only hospital in the area. The hospital had 17 doctors and housed patients for doctors from Avoca, Lueders, Sagerton, and Old Glory. In 1922 when the hospital was remodeled, the original frame structure was torn down and the improved hospital sported brick. Additionally, a 15-bed wing was built in 1929. In 1962 a non-profit board of Stamford Memorial Hospital was formed having been selected by local doctors to take over operations. The board of directors consisted of J.F. West, F.E. Upshaw, A.C. Humphrey, Sam Baize, A.J. Mills, A.M.G. Swenson, and W.T. Stovall. In 1965 the leadership of the then not-for-profit hospital brought the organization into the local governmental structure by forming the Stamford Hospital District which came into being officially on May 5, 1965. This allowed the hospital broad based support from the citizens of the region in order to undergird the need to provide medical care to all citizens regardless of the ability to pay. The current facility was finished in 1969 and continues to operate under the name of Stamford Memorial Hospital.