| St. Joseph's & Vancouver Memorial Hospitals - The 1960s
In the 1960s, strict new federal and state standards caused both St. Joseph's and Vancouver Memorial to evaluate their futures.
 
The community held a fund drive in 1962 for major remodeling at Vancouver Memorial. Ground-breaking for the $3.2 million project took place in May of 1965. It was the most comprehensive addition to the hospital since 1945. This added a new laboratory, central service, additional laundry and linen room space, extended x-ray area, and facilities to house Memorial Radiologic Institute.
St. Joseph's Hospital also required major remodeling, but the hospital was turned down for federal matching funds. Increasingly complicated government regulations and an aging building took their toll, and in the mid-1960s, the Sisters of Providence announced they would discontinue operation of St. Joseph's Hospital.
People from the community joined forces to either save the building, or build a new one. During 1966, St. Joseph Community Hospital Association incorporated to take ownership of the hospital's assets.
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