Shelby Baptist Medical Center
Shelby Baptist Medical Center (originally Shelby Memorial Hospital) is the only full service hospital in Shelby County. It is located at 1000 1st Street North in Alabaster. Opening originally as a 35-bed hospital, subsequent expansions have raised its capacity to 192 beds.
The hospital was constructed by Shelby County with funding from the Hill-Burton Act sponsored by Alabama Senator Lister Hill. Construction for the two story hospital building began in 1958. The footprint of the original building, designed by Charles McCauley & Associates, measured 313 by 36 feet with a 51 by 40 foot wing on the rear. It was constructed by the Brice Building Company and dedicated on Sunday September 27, 1959 with Senator Hill and Congressman Armistead Selden in attendance.
The new hospital was overseen by the Shelby County Hospital Board, chaired by D. B. Smith. The hospital's staff administrator was Dean Upson. The first patient at Shelby Memorial was L. C. Hatcher, a Buck Creek Cotton Mills employee residing in Calera. The first baby delivered there was Shelby Jean Furline on September 29. Her mother was presented with a check for $25 to mark to occasion.
A $100 million expansion slated to commence in 2007 and take two years to complete will add 167,000 square feet to the complex. Currently having only 50 semiprivate rooms, the expansion will result in additional private rooms for patients. The expansion will include a South Tower, a new energy plant, a parking garage and additional new equipment.
References
- Seales, Bobby Joe (n. d.) "The Beginning of Alabaster". History of Shelby County website
- "Shelby Baptist sets expansion". (September 23, 2006) Birmingham News.
External links
- Shelby Baptist Medical Center official website