Walla Walla General Hospital was a 72-bed acute-care hospital located at the base of the Blue Mountains and served approximately 70,000 residents of Southeastern Washington and Northeastern Oregon.HistoryIn 1899, Isaac and Maggie Dunlap returned to the Walla Walla Valley after completing studies at the Battle Creek Sanitarium located in Michigan. They opened treatment rooms in the basement of the administration building at Walla Walla College. During the first year, some 3,000 patients were treated. In 1903, they built a structure that doubled as their home and a sanitarium and in 1906, they purchased the old College Place public schoolhouse. This structure was moved to the Walla Walla College campus, hoisted up and a new first floor was built underneath it. It was dedicated on June 3, 1907.The first female physician, Dr. Runck, joined staff in 1910 and within the next few years extensive improvements were made to the “department devoted to women’s medicated baths.” The building was expanded three times in 12 years and by the early 1920s the sanitarium had grown to a three-story building.In 1925, a group of local physicians opened a rival hospital. Built at the cost of $200,000, it contained the latest in medical equipment and facilities. However, the Great Depression caused the rival hospital to go bankrupt and it was auctioned in a sheriff’s sale in 1931, and was purchased by the Walla Walla Sanitarium for $75,000.The 1940s saw a boom in census after the lean years of the Great Depression. In the hospital’s 1943 annual report, the manager stated that bed capacity was 53, with an average of 49.6 patients per day. In 1950, the community was challenged to raise one-third of the proposed $385,000 needed for expansion. A new west wing was added in 1956, and in the 1960s, the hospital was remodeled and technologically updated.
"Providence St. Mary Medical Center in Walla Walla, Washington, is a regional leader in quality, safety and customer service, whether you are coming in for a simple test, are considering surgery or are welcoming a new baby into your family.We have some of the region’s top physicians, technology, staff and expertise. St. Mary is one of only seven hospitals in the state of Washington that has earned a five star rating for quality from the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services. It also has earned top ratings for patient safety from Healthgrades."
