Gadsden Regional Medical Center
Gadsden Regional Medical Center, which will celebrate 50 years in its current location this fall, has 346 beds. With 1, 344 employees, it is among the top employers in Etowah County.
GRMC can trace its roots to Ralls Sanitarium, founded in 1906. The sanitarium was a 25-bed hospital in West Gadsden. In 1944, the Etowah Baptist Association purchased the facility, and the name of the hospital was changed to Baptist Memorial Hospital.
In 1963, a new facility with 199 beds was dedicated at the present site on property donated by Goodyear Tire & Rubber Co. Over the next 15 years, the hospital continued to expand, with four additional floors, increasing the number of beds to 346.
In 2008, Centennial Tower was completed. The 60, 000-square-foot patient tower houses the hospital’s two critical care units and heart catheterization labs. And in 2012, GRMC became the first hospital in Alabama to receive the Gold Seal of Approval for knee and hip replacement surgeries.
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GRMC is owned by Community Health Systems. Specialties include adult and geriatric behavioral health, cardiology, 24-hour emergency department, imaging, labor and delivery, laboratory, occupational medicine, rehab center, sleep disorders center, inpatient and outpatient surgery, neurology, oncology, orthopedics, plastic surgery, urology and a women and children’s center.
In 2012, it saw 13, 001 inpatients and handled 41, 320 emergency room visits. It also operates an on-site occupational health clinic and off-site rehab and lab centers.
Riverview Regional Medical Center
Located in Gadsden, Riverview Regional is a 281-bed acute care, fully-accredited hospital. It offers a full range of services and programs, including diagnostic and interventional cardiology, minimally-invasive surgery, including laparoscopic and robotic, 24-hour emergency care and treatment for all ages. It also offers services in heart and vascular, sleep lab, heartburn treatment, wound care and imaging.
Originally named Holy Name of Jesus Hospital, Riverview was founded in 1926 by the Sisters of the Missionary Servants of the Most Blessed Trinity. Today, Health Management Associates Inc. owns Riverview.
Last summer, Riverview was the first hospital in northeast Alabama to perform single-site robotic surgery to remove a patient’s gallbladder. The hospital has two surgeons trained to perform the procedure.
Also last summer, Riverview was honored with an “A” Hospital Safety Score by The Leapfrog Group, an independent national nonprofit run by employers and other large purchasers of health benefits.
Recent improvements include a $13.4 million investment for the facility and services. Over the past five years, the hospital has remodeled its lobby and cafeteria, and the second and seventh floors, as well as remodeling the third floor outpatient/surgery/critical care areas. Other remodeling is ongoing on all floors.
And in 2012, Riverview prepared 57, 134 Manna meals to be delivered to the homebound, elderly and disabled in the community.
St Vincent’s St. Clair Hospital
St. Vincent’s Health System opened its St. Vincent’s St. Clair Hospital in 2011, to replace a decades-old facility. All patient rooms in the 40-bed hospital are private, and the facility offers intensive care, inpatient and outpatient surgery, emergency services and diagnostic technology.
Specialized services include a GI lab, cardiac rehabilitation, respiratory care, orthopedic services, neurological service, physical therapy, occupational therapy, speech therapy, occupational medicine, sports medicine and pain management.
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The hospital recently added the Advanced Wound Center, which includes hyperbaric oxygen therapy and a sleep diagnostics center.
The new hospital is one of five facilities that comprise St. Vincent’s Health System and is a member of Ascension Health, the nation’s largest not-for-profit Catholic healthcare system.
Mountain View Hospital
Mountain View in Gadsden, atop Lookout Mountain, is a private, 68-bed psychiatric hospital known for excellence in providing comprehensive psychiatric and chemical dependency services for children through senior adults. It serves patients from throughout Alabama and neighboring states.
It is the only psychiatric facility in North Alabama dedicated to offering a complete continuum of short-term care for children through senior adults and long-term care for children and adolescents. It is the only regional referral center in the area.
Mountain View has a licensed private school on campus and a residential treatment center. It offers inpatient and outpatient services.
HealthSouth Rehabilitation Hospital of Gadsden
This 44-bed hospital offers comprehensive inpatient and outpatient rehab services in Etowah County and throughout northeast Alabama. The hospital provides rehabilitative care to patients who are recovering from stroke and other neurological disorders, brain injuries, spinal cord injuries, amputations and general rehabilitation diagnoses, such as orthopedic, cardiac and pulmonary conditions. The hospital opened in 2001.
For more information on health care in Etowah and St. Clair counties, visit gadsdenregional.com and riverviewregional.com.
Text by Lori Chandler Pruitt
