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April 16, 1920: Camden-Clark Memorial Hospital Dedicated

In 1920, the hospital moved to the Camden mansion on Garfield Avenue.
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Camden-Clark Memorial Hospital was dedicated in Parkersburg on April 16, 1920. Its roots date back to the old City Hospital, a 40-bed facility that opened in 1898 on present 13th Street. It also operated a nursing school.

In 1920, the hospital moved to the Camden mansion on Garfield Avenue. That had been the home of former U.S. Senator and industrialist Johnson Camden and his wife, Anne. After her death in 1918, the family honored her by giving the mansion to the city. With a donation and bequest from Dr. Andrew Clark, the city added a wing and adapted the mansion into Camden-Clark Memorial Hospital.

In the 1970s, the hospital was expanded with a new kitchen, mechanical wing, surgery suite, and a North Wing Tower, featuring a radiology department, coronary care unit, emergency department, laboratory, and pharmacy. Later additions included a medical office building, outpatient physical therapy building, and catheterization lab.

In 2011, Camden-Clark merged with St. Joseph’s Hospital to become Camden Clark Medical Center, an affiliate of the West Virginia United Health Center. Today, the 370-bed hospital employs about 2,500 and serves the Mid-Ohio Valley region.