Thomas Memorial Hospital

History

History
Opened December 9 1946 Thomas Memorial Hospital is a 260bed not for profit healthcare resource located in South Charleston West Virginia We offer supportive compassionate care advanced technology and services and something truly special the dedication of our employees physicians and volunteers who are the true heart and spirit of our hospital

Since our opening we are proud to have offered our region many firsts in the local medical community

The first hospital in West Virginia to offer a
nursery for premature babies

The first to allow and welcome fathers into the
delivery room

The first to utilize the linear accelerator for
pinpoint accuracy during radiation therapy

The first to have Positron Emission Tomography with
a CT scan to effectively pinpoint cancer heart and
neurological disease

The first to offer the worlds leading open field
MRI system

The first to offer digital mammography with
computer aided diagnosis

Thomas Memorial Hospital was named in memory of a South Charleston resident and West Virginias first congressional Medal of Honor recipient Marine Corps Sergeant Herbert J Thomas Jr who died in World War II by covering a grenade with his own body that had bounced off a tree and thus saving his fellow soldiers

Thomas offers a wide range of innovative services including the Thomas Cancer Center our Sweet Dreams Maternity Services Sleep Disorders Center Pediatric Care CareCenter 24 Thomas Imaging Center Home Health Physical Therapy and more

Herbert J Thomas Jr
Herbert Joseph Thomas Jr was born February 8 1918 in Columbus Ohio He and his family moved to South Charleston West Virginia when he was seven years old He grew up in South Charleston attended South Charleston High School and then attended Virginia Polytech University where he became well known for his abilities on the football field

Two months before his graduation Thomas left school to enlist in the Army Air Corps but later transferred to the Marines because many of his friends were also Marines He was promoted to the rank of Sergeant

On November 7 1943 he advanced his squad through the jungle terrain of Bougainville in the Solomon Islands of the South Pacific The squad had destroyed two machine gun crews when Sergeant Thomas discovered a third He ordered an attack on the third gun right after he had thrown a grenade however the grenade hit some vines and bounced back towards Thomas and his men Without time to throw the live grenade back towards the Japanese Sergeant Thomas made the ultimate sacrifice by hurling himself onto the grenade saving the lives of all his men

Sergeant Thomas was posthumously awarded the Congressional Medal of Honor Navy Cross Purple Heart Presidential Unit Citation and the AsiaticPacific Campaign Medal He was the first West Virginian awarded the Congressional Medal of Honor in World War II On March 26 1945 a US destroyer was christened the USS Herbert J Thomas in his honor

His hometown also honored his memory by name a brand new hospital after him Thomas Memorial Hospital opened on December 9 1946 Initially buried in the Army Navy and Marine Corps Cemetery on Bougainville Sergeant Thomas remains were later reinterred in Sunset Memorial Park Cemetery South Charleston West Virginia