During the 1920s, Roanoke’s population topped 50,000, and a flu epidemic had underscored the need for improved medical services.

But other than endowments, public contributions for 1920 totaled just $20, plus towels from the Roanoke Needlework Guild.

Sixty percent of the hospital’s work was charity or semi-charity, at a cost of more than $6,000 annually. In 1920, 6,354 days of treatment was provided to 563 patients at a cost of $3.97 per day.

The Roanoke Hospital opened its doors on June 30, 1900, located on the "prettiest spot that could have been selected."

It was intended to benefit all citizens of Roanoke, regardless of their ability to pay. 

Here is the continuing story of the hospital, picking up from its opening in 1900 and following the first 20 years.

Even before it was built, Carilion Roanoke Community Hospital (CRCH) represented people caring for people. The community relied on the hospital to be successful and provide the best health care possible to all those who needed it. Yet, the hospital relied on the people for support to make Community Hospital a reality in 1967. 

Jefferson Hospital

In 1939, at the urging of the Society for the Crippled of Southwestern Virginia, plans were begun for building and equipping a children’s ward at Roanoke Hospital.

Construction did not begin until 1944, just before the most dangerous health scare of the century struck fear into everyone’s heart—polio.

The 1960s marked the beginning of explosive growth for Roanoke Memorial Hospital (RMH). The hospital improved medical procedures with modern equipment previously only available at large teaching hospitals, yet the daily cost for patient care was kept lower than most area hospitals.

The hospital chaplain program was instituted in 1962 and a chapel in the hospital was completed in 1963.

The hospital was expanded in 1963 to create more space for the emergency room, radiology and Cobalt-60 units.

Last month we told you about our new Diversity and Inclusion Employee Model and invited you to vote on four of seven Business Resource Groups (BRG) that you would like to see rolled out over the next year.

Thank you for sharing your voice! Your votes have been tallied, and these are the four BRGs you selected:

Deirdre Rea is the director of CONNECT, our confidential, 24-hour emergency evaluation and referral service for community members seeking psychiatric and behavioral health advice or treatment.

In the early 1900s, the Norfolk and Western Railway was expanding from Norfolk to the west through the New River Valley (NRV).

The railroad opened its own hospital in a two-story frame building in Radford in 1906 with the purpose of getting injured workers back on the job as quickly as possible.

In 1924, a new hospital was built on Tyler Avenue but was unsuccessful and closed within a few years, then Radford was without a hospital for nearly 15 years.

Carilion is not an overnight success story. Our roots run deep in the region, touching generations of families in the Roanoke and New River Valleys and beyond.

If the system is best represented as a tree, then Roanoke Hospital Association (RHA) is the trunk of that tree.

RHA was founded in the late 1800s to help raise funds for building Roanoke’s first hospital. As a result of RHA’s efforts, Roanoke Hospital—which is today CRMH—was chartered in 1899 and opened in 1900.