UNIVERSITY HOSPITALS HEALTH SYSTEM BEDFORD MEDICAL CENTER (also known as the Community Hospital of Bedford and Bedford Municipal Hospital), is a subsidiary of the UNIV. HOSPITALS OF CLEVELAND Health System, located at 44 Blaine St., in BEDFORD. It was established in 1908 in the home of Mr. and Mrs. William H. Lesher on North St. This effort ended within 2 years. In 1925 another small hospital opened, in the Martin Silver house at the corner of Broadway and Grace St., but it later moved to the Senter house nearby.
The hospital was supported by the local Parent Teachers' Assn. (see CLEVELAND COUNCIL OF PTA'S), various city service clubs, and a hospital guild. In March 1926 a bond issue was proposed and passed authorizing the city council to procure land and build and equip a municipal hospital. Bedford Municipal Hospital opened in 1928 with 24 beds; it expanded in 1943, 1949, and 1951. In the early 1950s there were various offers from physicians' and citizens' groups, the KAISER PERMANENTE MEDICAL CARE PROGRAM, and other private institutions to purchase the hospital. Despite major fundraising campaigns in the 1960s, hospital expansion was eventually financed through passage of a bond issue in 1966. From 1968-73 the hospital was embroiled in a controversy over a city charter amendment that gave the city council of Bedford the right to appoint the hospital administrator.
A rapid succession of administrators in 5 years followed the resignation in 1968 of Eleanor Cline, administrator of Bedford hospital for 32 years. The hospital opened a new building in 1970. In Dec. 1993 the hospital formally became part of the Univ. Hospitals network. In 1995, with 110 beds, Community Hospital of Bedford offered medical, surgical, obstetric, and cardio-pulmonary care.
On 12 Aug. 2022, University Hospitals moved its inpatient, surgical, and emergency services out of UH Bedford medical center. The cited reason behind the closing was workforce challenges, and some doctor's offices remain open (as of 2023) in an adjacent building.
Last updated: 1/6/2023
"Hospitals" Collection, Archives, Dittrick Museum of Medical History. The Northeast Ohio Health Services Area and Its Hospital Needs (1976).
See also MEDICINE, HOSPITALS AND HEALTH PLANNING.