November 28, 1961—White County citizens went to the polls to vote on the construction of a county-owned hospital and the proposed $900,000 bond issue.  The people voted to build the hospital, but they defeated the two mil tax that was needed to construct the facility.  The county hospital could not be built.

September 10, 1963—Voters approved the construction of the county hospital and the bond issue.  

August 1, 1965—A ground-breaking ceremony began construction at the Race Street location, and John Paul Capps gave the keynote address.

January 16, 1967—White County Memorial Hospital admitted its first patients.

May 1969—The WCMH board petitioned for a special election to approve a $653,500 bond issue that would be used to put the third floor on the hospital.    In a familiar situation, the voters approved the construction but defeated the tax to finance it.  Another election was held in September, and the county decided by a sizeable majority to approve the tax.

March 1972—WCMH’s third floor became operational, adding 80 beds and a four-bed intensive care unit.

1983—WCMH expanded the emergency room and added a critical care unit.

1989—White County Memorial Hospital became the first hospital in Arkansas to offer labor, delivery, and recovery in one convenient setting.

1995—White County Memorial Hospital became White County Medical Center, a 501(c)3 corporation. 

1998—WCMC completed the north wing addition, which included four stories extending from the present facilities that could be accessed from Moore Street.  This $16 million expansion provided additional private rooms, an enlargement of the emergency department, and more educational facilities. 

1999—WCMC purchased River Oaks Village. 

2004—The south tower of WCMC opened.  This $38 million dollar project is the largest project in the hospital’s history.  A total of 200,000 square feet was added to the facilities, and several areas of the hospital received new facilities, including the New Life Center, critical care units, surgery and recovery, outpatient services, physical therapy, dietary services, laboratory, and materials management. 

September 14, 2005—WCMC announced the acquisition of Central Arkansas Hospital from Triad Hospitals Inc. of Plano, TX.  This facility is now known as White County Medical Center South. By combining hospital care in Searcy, the hospital merger allowed WCMC to add new services that a divided market could not support, including an inpatient hospice unit, an adult psychiatric unit, and a long-term acute care hospital. 

July 2006—WCMC purchased a $1.7 million 64-slice CT imaging system.  The 64-slice CT offers the most sophisticated cardiac imaging system in the world. Today, White County Medical Center offers two state-of-the-art facilities with a combined total of 438 licensed beds. 

40th Anniversary Book For a more complete history of White County Medical Center, please reference the coffee table book that was published in honor of the hospital’s 40th anniversary.  It is available for $20 in WCMC’s marketing department.  For more information, call (501) 380-1050.