The original Norman County Hospital (above) was opened in a large house in 1926
Two bond issues made the construction of the new Ada Municipal Hospital (below) possible in February 1942
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The Norman County Memorial Hospital Association was organized in 1926 by a group of local businessmen who had long felt the need for a hospital in the community. Donations were sought to finance the hospital project and 2,000 shares were sold for $25 each. The Ada Home Guard donated the $600 left in its treasury when it disbanded, as a memorial to Ada soldiers.
A large house at 601 West Main Street was rented and a housewarming held on December 1, 1926 for the new Norman County Hospital. The facility had 10 hospital beds. Four local physicians, W.B. Holmes, M. Hanson, J.R. Shelland, and N. Bowman were appointed as house physicians. Miss Minnie Matson was engaged as head nurse and superintendent. Her salary was $90 per month and the night nurse, Mabel Rage received $60 per month. The only other employees were a housekeeper, Mrs. Hanna Jorgenson, and a janitor, Tom Taraldson.
In 1930 the hospital treated 196 patients and took in $7,057. In 1940 it has 302 patients and took in $8,176. Hard times made it difficult to keep the hospital open so plays and other forms of entertainment were held to benefit the facility. By the end of the 1930s, it was becoming apparent that the hospital was inadequate to meet the needs of the growing community. The last official act of the Norman County Hospital Association was to give the city a bill of sale of all of its assets for the consideration of $1.
The new Ada Municipal Hospital was constructed in 1941 with funding from two bond issues. More than 3,000 people attended the grand opening on February 1, 1942, one week before the hospital opened for business. The new hospital featured 30 beds, two operating rooms, an x-ray lab, and a standby generator.
In 1962 a survey concluded that remodeling the old building for a nursing home and constructing a new hospital would be a prudent move. A local benefactor, John Wimmer, donated $70,000 to the project. Another 45% of the cost was covered by the Hills-Burton Fund. A bond issue furnished the remainder of the funds.
The new hospital opened on September 9, 1964. It had 31 beds and was connected to the old facility, which had been converted to a 26-bed convalescent and nursing care unit. In 1966 John Wimmer donated an additional $70,000 to increase the capacity of the nursing home by 28 beds. The John Wimmer home was dedicated to the service of the ill, the aged, and the infirm. In the spring of 1968, Wimmer gave another gift of $80,000 to the City to be used for the construction of a medical clinic in the Municipal Hospital area.
The Norman County Commissioners, the Ada City Council, and the Ada Municipal Hospital Board reached an agreement in 1991 for the hospital to take over the operation of the Norman County Ambulance Service with a county subsidy to help fund the service. At the same time, a name change was approved and the Ada Municipal Hospital became Bridges Medical Center.
On April 6, 1997, unprecedented flooding in the region destroyed the hospital, clinic, and nursing home and caused the evacuation of all patients and residents. FEMA determined that the old buildings could not be repaired so plans began for a new facility.
While design and construction plans were prepared, the Bridges Clinic was back in business in a matter of days, first in a mobile home, and then at the American Legion Post in Ada. In December of 1997, a temporary facility was opened with an 8-bed hospital, clinic, emergency room, outpatient procedure room, lab, x-ray, and physical therapy departments.
After more than a year of planning, ground was broken for the new $15 million Bridges Medical Center on Wednesday, June 24, 1998. Construction began in July and brought national attention from the architectural and health care fields. The new Bridges won a prestigious award for design of a long-term care facility. Features such as the large commons areas, outdoor courtyard, unique room design, and skylights led Long Term Care Magazine to herald the residential wings as the state of the art. One year and 10 months later, the new Bridges Medical Center began accepting patients on May 15, 2000, a fresh start for the new millennium.
The community was still recovering from the effects of the flood of 1997 and two additional record setting floods over the next few years didn’t help the local economy. Bridges was owned and operated by the City of Ada and weathered some difficult times.
In 2004 the Benedictine Health System took over management of the facility. On March 1, 2005 a contract was signed leasing the building to BHS and turning over complete control of management and operations. At that time the name was changed from Bridges Medical Services to Bridges Medical Center. Standing on this strong foundation, services were expanded and new ones introduced as part of a commitment to the people of the surrounding region.
In 2004 Essentia Health was formed out of a partnership with St. Mary’s/Duluth Clinic (now called SMDC Health System) and BHS. The decision was made to allow BHS to separate long-term care operations from acute-care medical facilities. BHS focuses on long-term care while Essentia Health took over acute care. Essentia Health grew to include SMDC Health System, Innovis Health, and Essentia Community Hospitals and Clinics (ECHC). ECHC was created to better organize community hospitals in order to assure that rural communities have access to the resources of the larger Essentia Health System. On July 1, 2008, Bridges Medical Center and Bridges Care Community became separate entities managed by ECHC and BHS respectively.
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