---

Description

---

About Hamilton
Hamilton Medical Center offers many things to its patients and community Here are just a few recent activities that prove there is a Hamilton Advantage

Cutting edge diagnostic and treatment capabilities position Hamilton Medical
Center as a regional and national health care leader

Renovated Emergency Care Services Department including enlarging Hamilton
Medical Centers ER space from 12600 to 27700 square feet and increasing
the number of treatment rooms from 29 to 35

Free community health screenings like the DARE to CARE vascular
screening program introduced at Hamilton by vascular surgeon Ian Hamilton
MD

New physicians like specialists in vascular surgery gynecology urology
psychiatry internal and family medicine

Digital mammography at Hamilton Diagnostics Center provides advanced
technology for diagnosing breast cancer with the GE Senographe workstation
the latest breast cancer diagnosis equipment

Full accreditation from the Accreditation Review Committee making Hamilton
Medical Center the seventh accredited Chest Pain Center in Georgia and the
243rd in the nation

Angioplasty now available at Hamilton Medical Center as part of Hamiltons
participation in Georgias CPORT program HMC was selected as one of 10
Georgia hospitals to participate in this national program that has allowed
hospitals without an openheart surgery program to perform angioplasty for
its patients

HMC is the first in the region with Interstim Therapy a procedure for
patients who have an overactive bladder or urinary urge incontinence and have
not benefited from medications

More than 20 years promoting healthy lifestyles and fighting disease through
preventative measures at Bradley Wellness Center

New computerized tomography CT system joins HMCs arsenal of diagnostic and
imaging equipment It remains among the most advanced CT scanners in the
world

Mission statement
We provide leadership partnerships and seamless resource coordination to meet health care needs that advance the quality and dignity of life

---

History

---

History
Hamilton Memorial Hospital opened to public acclaim on May 12 1921National Hospital Day The 75000 facility was built in response to both the 1918 flu epidemic and the need for health care services to workers at Crown Cotton Mills

After a decade of relatively boom times the 1929 stock market crash and the Great Depression hit the country hard Dalton and its fledgling hospital were no exception By April 1934 Hamilton Memorial faced a fiscal crisis and it soon closed for 10 months

Thanks to the local Civitan Club and its Civitan Hospital Board and financial support from the city the county and generous citizens the Civitan Hospital board agreed in 1935 to reopen the hospital

With the onslaught of World War II many physicians left to serve their country and Dalton and the hospital struggled with few doctors At wars end returning servicemen along with a thriving economy and population quickly began to strain Hamilton Memorials limited facilities Crowded conditions would soon plague patients and staff

On July 1 1951 the Dalton City Council adopted a resolution creating a Hospital Authority and received funds from the Federal HillBurton Act With local funds of some 450000 including funds from a dozen area physicians and a HillBurton grant amounting to 900000 the new 73bed Hamilton Memorial Hospital was dedicated August 5th 1956

The hospital would continue to grow and expand over the next two decades to meet the needs of a city and region rapidly expanding in tandem with the areas textile and carpet industries But with the downturn of federal dollars to support hospital expansion Hamiltons leaders foresaw a need for bolstered private support Noted hospital trustee Jackson P Turner led the way in the 1975 creation of the Whitfield Healthcare Foundation an independent affiliate seeking private gifts for Hamilton

Throughout the 1970s Hamilton Medical Center continued to grow adding technologies and facilities to keep pace with medical advances and the needs of a thriving city and region

In 1982 the hospital was renamed Hamilton Medical Center to reflect its expanded role as a regional health care provider Hamilton Health Care System was also established to serve as a parent company to the rapidly expanding services being introduced to serve the region

In October 1986 Hamilton realized another major milestone with the opening of the Bradley Wellness Center a 54000 sq ft comprehensive fitness health education and rehabilitation facility half a block from the Medical Center

In 1992 Hamiltons Royal Oaks became the regions first continuing care retirement community It offers private apartment homes with a range of social and lifestyle amenities and assistedliving suites known as The Gardens

Throughout the 1990s Hamilton expanded its mission to seniors through the development of Whitfield Place and Whitfield Commons offering housing to lowincome seniors Also to assure careful coordination of skilled nursing care Hamilton acquired the regions skilled nursing facilities including the development of Regency Park in 1999 at the Royal Oaks campus

As the 21st century dawned Hamilton had expanded not only its scope of services but its reach in the region through placement of a physician specialty clinic in Calhoun and through the lease of Murray Medical Center in Chatsworth

Rapid expansion and renewal continues as Hamilton plans for future medical advancements unimaginable in the century before Enhancements have included the expansion and replacement of surgical care services maternal and infant care and emergency care services

Hamilton has also instituted a nationallyrecognized freestanding ambulatory surgery center and a researchfocused regional cancer institute Significant advancements have also been achieved through development of cardiac vascular and neurosurgery programs and through acquisition of world class technologies like advanced computerized tomography high definition MRI and digital mammography