West Hospital Drive

 Ever wonder why we have a block long West Hospital Drive in downtown Carbondale? It is the block long street that runs just north of FirstMid Bank, linking University and Illinois.

Here is a link to information about the hospital which stood on the FirstMid property until 1971. It opened as Holden Hospital, affiliated with the Methodist Church, in 1916 and remained an independent organization until 1965 when it merged with Doctor's Memorial Hospital, now simply Memorial Hospital. Most of the hospital complex was razed in 1971 after the building sold to FirstMid with the last structure pulled down in 1976, replaced by what is now the FirstMid parking lot.

SIUC students, from what I have heard, liked to use the hospital grounds for recreation as it was the only large green space in downtown. Now the West Hospital Drive sign is the only indication of how early Carbondale became the health care center for the region.