Ballinger Memorial Hospital

Description

About Us
Ballinger Memorial Hospital was founded at the current location in Ballinger Texas on January 1 1963 The hospital has a service area of 635 squares miles and serves 8500 citizens BMH became a Critical Access Hospital with 25 beds on August 1 2000 The hospital became a taxing district on January 31 1990

Ballinger Memorial Hospital offers numerous outpatient services acute and swing bed care and is certified as a level IV trauma hospital Our outpatient services include physical therapy wound care cardiac rehab psych clinic ambulance service and a wellness center as well as routine outpatient lab radiology and ultrasound Ballinger Memorial Hospital began serving the community with a CT scanner in 2004 Ballinger Memorial Hospital is one of the larger employers for the area with 80 full and part time employees

The purpose of Ballinger Memorial Hospital is to serve as a hospital for the care of persons suffering from any illness or disabilities which require patient care The hospital carries on educational activates related to rendering care to the sick and injured Ballinger Memorial Hospital participates and promotes in activities to encourage wellness in the community

History

Ballinger History
BALLINGER TEXAS Ballinger is at the junction of US highways 67 and 83 and State Highway 158 thirtysix miles northeast of San Angelo in south central Runnels County The Colorado River and Elm Creek converge there and the Atchison Topeka and Santa Fe Railway runs through the town Ballinger was established when the Gulf Colorado and Santa Fe Railway built westward out of Brownwood in 1886 Runnels City the original county seat campaigned for selection as the new railroad terminal but could not compete with the superior water supply offered at the future site of Ballinger five miles to the south

Extensive advertising in the Dallas Fort Worth Austin San Antonio and Galveston newspapers brought 6000 people to the sale of town lots in Ballinger on June 29 1886 As early as June 7 railroadcompany ads in the Dallas Morning News promoted the sale offering halfprice excursion trains from Dallas The 17squaremile area was laid out in large lots with a courthouse square and public park set aside for future use Roughly half of the lots sold on the first day To ensure the success of their new terminal Santa Fe officials offered free property to anyone who would move a home from Runnels City to Ballinger and to any church that would erect a building

The town was originally called Gresham and then Hutchings in honor of Santa Fe stockholders Walter Gresham and John H Hutchings it was officially named in honor of William Pitt Ballinger a Galveston attorney and stockholder of the Gulf Colorado and Santa Fe Rapid growth and opportunity brought a boomtown atmosphere attracting a crowd of drifters fugitives gamblers and ruffians to the towns nine saloons and gambling halls Stagecoach robberies were not uncommon By 1888 however the railroad extended to San Angelo the overland stage business ended and new permanent settlers came to the land

A post office was established in Ballinger on June 1 1886 with William A Procter as postmaster The town was incorporated in 1892 and began using the commission form of city government In 1886 I C Huege moved his newspaper the Runnels County Record from Runnels City to Ballinger and changed its name to Ballinger Eagle Two more newspapers quickly appeared on the scene the Ballinger Ledger published by P E Truly and the Banner Leader published by C P Shepherd In 1911 the Ledger and the Banner Leader were consolidated as the Ballinger Daily Ledger which published a weekly edition the Banner Ledger Under the influence of the advertising of such groups as the Ballinger Business Mens Club and the Pecan Colorado and Concho Immigration Society the population grew from 1128 in 1900 to 3536 in 1910 The area had long been regarded as excellent stock land but the decade from 1900 to 1910 witnessed the ascendance of farming over stock raising in Ballinger and Runnels County By 1904 the town had four cotton gins an ice plant a steam laundry a steam bakery a city waterworks a telephone company three newspapers two large furniture stores three drugstores a grain and feed store two hardware stores four lumber yards two saddle stores several dry goods stores coal yards blacksmith shops a wagon yard cotton yards a public school building churches hotels and a restaurant

In 1909 Ballinger received a 12500 gift from Andrew Carnegie to build a library which opened in 1911 The open auditorium on the second level was converted during World War II to an ArmyNavy Club to entertain cadets from nearby Harmon Training Center a primary flight school for United States Army Air Force cadets In 1975 after many years of neglect the building was in ruins The Ballinger Bicentennial Committee organized a renovation effort and the library was placed on the National Register of Historic Places

The drought years of 191618 brought a major crisis for this largely agricultural area The population of Ballinger dropped from 3536 in 1910 to 2767 in 1920 Subsequently with improved weather conditions in the 1920s the town began to grow steadily reaching a peak of 5302 in 1950 A pattern of slow decline followed until the population reached 3975 in 1992

Ballinger is the main shipping and distribution center for Runnels County The major sources of employment are light manufacturing mining and retail trade The number of businesses in the town reached a high of 290 in 1940 dropped to 146 immediately after World War II and climbed back to a postwar high of 210 in 1950 In 1990 the town had ninety businesses The health care needs of the town are met by two general hospitals with a combined capacity of fiftyfive beds In addition Ballinger Memorial Hospital supports a vocational nursing school that provides both training and jobs Ballinger is home to numerous churches the largest of which are Southern Baptist Catholic and United Methodist The community also maintains paid fire and police departments and supports radio station KRUNAM KRUNFM Each spring the town is host to two special events the Rattlesnake Roundup March and the Texas State Festival of Ethnic Cultures Arts and Crafts Fair April In the fall Ballinger presents the Pinto Bean Cookoff October and the Miss Ballinger Pageant and Parade December