Where Life's First Cry Was Heard, Hope Was Restored, and Final Goodbyes Were Gently Spoken

The movement to build a county hospital in Rhea County began shortly after World War II, around 1947, following the passage of the federal Hill-Burton Act. The legislation made state and federal assistance available for hospital construction and opened the way for rural communities such as Rhea County to pursue modern medical facilities. Public support in Rhea County was overwhelming. In the 1950 general county election, voters approved the proposal to build a hospital by a margin of approximately fifteen to one, with every precinct in the county voting in favor. That decisive vote demonstrated how strongly local citizens recognized the need for improved medical care close to home.

At the first meeting of the county court elected in 1954, a hospital planning committee was appointed, with C. P. Sawyers serving as chairman. Other members included Leonard Pack, George Barnard, M. E. Robines, and Jewel Smith. The following year, the Tennessee Legislature made additional funds available so the project could move forward under the Hill-Burton program. The committee worked closely with representatives of the County Council of Community Clubs and the Dayton Chamber of Commerce, meeting with state officials and determining that only one hospital for the county was economically feasible. Local representatives made repeated trips to the State Board of Health in Nashville to finalize plans and secure the necessary approvals.

As planning continued, several possible locations along U.S. Highway 27 were considered. Sites in the central part of the county were rejected because of inadequate water and sanitation. The eventual selection of the Morgan farm site was greatly aided by the City of Dayton, which agreed to extend water and sewer service to the property at no cost to the county, saving taxpayers an estimated $75,000. After the county court authorized $150,000 in hospital bonds, an additional $450,000 in matching state and federal funds was secured.

In June 1955, the site was approved and purchased from the Morgan family. Present at the sale were Archie McKinley Morgan Sr., Lloyd Austin Morgan, and Roy Edward Morgan, representing the family. Also attending were Jim Abel, Walter Cheers, George Barnard, and C. P. Sawyers. An architect was then hired, plans were completed and submitted through the proper agencies, bids were accepted, and ground was broken on September 4, 1956.

resized_img428 — Old Morgan Farm on the hill side prior to construction of the hospital. (Glass Family Collection)

When construction was completed, the new Rhea County Hospital was turned over to a nonpartisan board of trustees appointed by the county court to supervise its operation. The bond issue was scheduled to be retired over a ten-year period under the existing tax assessment. The hospital officially opened in February 1958 as a modern medical and surgical facility serving the people of Rhea County. The building contained 24,000 square feet of floor space and accommodation for 39 patients in private and semi-private rooms, with room for future expansion if needed.

These two photos are of the construction of the new Rhea County Hospital. Ground broke in the fall of 1956. These images were taken by local Dayton Photographer Bob Ivory.

At the time of its opening, the hospital represented a major advance in local health care. It featured an emergency treatment room with easy ambulance access, a minor operating room for procedures such as tonsillectomies, a separate oral surgery room, and a major operating room equipped for major surgical procedures. The operating suite was built on a conductive floor to eliminate static electricity and reduce the danger of explosion from anesthetic gases. Separate maternity facilities included two adjacent labor rooms. The hospital also offered modern X-ray and laboratory services, a medical library and conference room for physicians and officials, a hospitality shop for visitors, and a stainless-steel kitchen designed to prepare both regular and special diets for patients and staff.

Visiting hours were scheduled during three periods each day, with overnight visitors permitted only with the approval of the attending physician and hospital officials. The active medical staff at opening included Dr. Max Lindsay, Dr. A. C. Broyles, Dr. Conrad L. Graebel, Dr. James L. Mathis, Dr. J. J. Rodgers, and Dr. W. A. Thomison. Later historical accounts also recognized additional individuals who played important roles in planning the hospital, including Wilson Cash, Walter Cheers, Harry F. Fourman, Spencer Jones, and Jewel Smith, while continuing to identify C. Paxton Sawyers and George Barnard among the project's principal leaders.

Although the emergency room was considered modern when the hospital opened, by 1973 it had become clear that expanded facilities were needed. The original emergency room could accommodate only one patient at a time and had no waiting room for families or other patients. That same year marked the beginning of a broader period of expansion for the hospital. State records show that Rhea County Hospital filed a certificate-of-need project to add 30 hospital beds and undertake substantial expansion and relocation work at a cost of $1,646,300. To help finance the project, the hospital also received a $100,000 grant from the Appalachian Regional Commission.

In 1975, eighteen acute-care beds were converted to nursing home beds. By 1978, construction plans included a much larger emergency department. When the new emergency room opened in early 1979, it contained 1,134 square feet, could routinely accommodate five patients at a time, and featured a 560-square-foot waiting area, replacing the original 225-square-foot emergency room. During 1979, the hospital also added mobile nuclear medicine and chronic hemodialysis services, while a 60-bed nursing home addition was approved as part of the continuing expansion of medical care in the county.

The original Rhea County Hospital continued serving the county at its Morgan farm location for nearly fifty years. The facility, including its later additions, remained in operation until August 2007, when services were transferred to the new Rhea County Medical Center on Highway 27 north of the original site.

Following the opening of the new hospital, Life Care began using the former nursing home facility associated with the original hospital. That building remained in operation under Life Care for several years until the organization relocated to its new facility in 2012. After Life Care moved, the former hospital and nursing home complex stood vacant until plans moved forward for the construction of the new justice center.

This marked the final chapter in the site's long history as Rhea County's medical campus, transforming it from a place of healing into one serving an entirely different public purpose. Yet the property remains a place of memory, where countless lives began, where many found healing and comfort, and where others spent their final days. It stands as a lasting reminder of the patients who passed through its doors, the families who waited with hope and concern, and the physicians, nurses, and caregivers whose compassion touched generations of Rhea County residents.