Bridges Medical Services

Description

Welcome to Bridge Medical Services
Bridge Medical Services supplies a wide range of equipment to Community Trusts Hospitals Doctors Surgeries and the General Public

The company is based at Balloo Industrial Estate Bangor Co Down Northern Ireland with a product showroom which is open to the public

Bridge Medical Services in the only private company in Northern Ireland to operate a community loan store for local Health and Social Care Trusts

History

The Norman County Memorial Hospital Association was organized in 1926 by a group of local businessmen who had long felt the need for a hospital in the community Donations were sought to finance the hospital project and 2000 shares were sold for 25 each The Ada Home Guard donated the 600 left in its treasury when it disbanded as a memorial to Ada soldiers

A large house at 601 West Main Street was rented and a housewarming held on December 1 1926 for the new Norman County Hospital The facility had 10 hospital beds Four local physicians WB Holmes M Hanson JR Shelland and N Bowman were appointed as house physicians Miss Minnie Matson was engaged as head nurse and superintendent Her salary was 90 per month and the night nurse Mabel Rage received 60 per month The only other employees were a housekeeper Mrs Hanna Jorgenson and a janitor Tom Taraldson

In 1930 the hospital treated 196 patients and took in 7057 In 1940 it has 302 patients and took in 8176 Hard times made it difficult to keep the hospital open so plays and other forms of entertainment were held to benefit the facility By the end of the 1930s it was becoming apparent that the hospital was inadequate to meet the needs of the growing community The last official act of the Norman County Hospital Association was to give the city a bill of sale of all of its assets for the consideration of 1

The new Ada Municipal Hospital was constructed in 1941 with funding from two bond issues More than 3000 people attended the grand opening on February 1 1942 one week before the hospital opened for business The new hospital featured 30 beds two operating rooms an xray lab and a standby generator

In 1962 a survey concluded that remodeling the old building for a nursing home and constructing a new hospital would be a prudent move A local benefactor John Wimmer donated 70000 to the project Another 45 of the cost was covered by the HillsBurton Fund A bond issue furnished the remainder of the funds

The new hospital opened on September 9 1964 It had 31 beds and was connected to the old facility which had been converted to a 26bed convalescent and nursing care unit In 1966 John Wimmer donated an additional 70000 to increase the capacity of the nursing home by 28 beds The John Wimmer home was dedicated to the service of the ill the aged and the infirm In the spring of 1968 Wimmer gave another gift of 80000 to the City to be used for the construction of a medical clinic in the Municipal Hospital area

The Norman County Commissioners the Ada City Council and the Ada Municipal Hospital Board reached an agreement in 1991 for the hospital to take over the operation of the Norman County Ambulance Service with a county subsidy to help fund the service At the same time a name change was approved and the Ada Municipal Hospital became Bridges Medical Center

On April 6 1997 unprecedented flooding in the region destroyed the hospital clinic and nursing home and caused the evacuation of all patients and residents FEMA determined that the old buildings could not be repaired so plans began for a new facility

While design and construction plans were prepared the Bridges Clinic was back in business in a matter of days first in a mobile home and then at the American Legion Post in Ada In December of 1997 a temporary facility was opened with an 8bed hospital clinic emergency room outpatient procedure room lab xray and physical therapy departments

After more than a year of planning ground was broken for the new 15 million Bridges Medical Center on Wednesday June 24 1998 Construction began in July and brought national attention from the architectural and health care fields The new Bridges won a prestigious award for design of a longterm care facility Features such as the large commons areas outdoor courtyard unique room design and skylights led Long Term Care Magazine to herald the residential wings as the state of the art One year and 10 months later the new Bridges Medical Center began accepting patients on May 15 2000 a fresh start for the new millennium

The community was still recovering from the effects of the flood of 1997 and two additional record setting floods over the next few years didnt help the local economy Bridges was owned and operated by the City of Ada and weathered some difficult times

In 2004 the Benedictine Health System took over management of the facility On March 1 2005 a contract was signed leasing the building to BHS and turning over complete control of management and operations At that time the name was changed from Bridges Medical Services to Bridges Medical Center Standing on this strong foundation services were expanded and new ones introduced as part of a commitment to the people of the surrounding region

In 2004 Essentia Health was formed out of a partnership with St MarysDuluth Clinic now called SMDC Health System and BHS The decision was made to allow BHS to separate longterm care operations from acutecare medical facilities BHS focuses on longterm care while Essentia Health took over acute care

Essentia Health grew to include SMDC Health System Innovis Health and Essentia Community Hospitals and Clinics ECHC of which Bridges is a part ECHC was created to better organize community hospitals in order to assure that rural communities have access to the resources of the larger Essentia Health System