Thursday, March 31, 2016

Crestwood Medical Center in Huntsville

Back in February my mother, artist Carolyn Shores Wright, had a brief stay at Crestwood Medical Center in Huntsville. My brother and I made several trips to the free coffee stand outside the cafeteria while she was there, and we passed this plaque each time. 

Dr. Bernie Moore is honored here, perhaps because he served as Chairman of the Board of Trustees for two decades. He was actually one of three physicians who founded the hospital. The other two were Drs. Ellis Sparks and James Earl Robertson. According to the Wikipedia stub on Crestwood, businessman Archie Hill was also involved. The facility opened as a nursing home in 1964, and became a hospital the following year. 

That Wikipedia piece says the hospital was named after the "district" of Huntsville in which it's located; I have yet to find any more information on the claim. My mother has lived in Huntsville since the early 1950's, and she's told me she doesn't remember Crestwood as a neighborhood or area of the city.

Oddly, the hospital's web site linked above has no historical background that I could find. You never know when a little history will pop up somewhere, though.




6 comments:

  1. It was actually the name of the Street it was first on. Crestwood Hospital. I'm almost 57 yrs old and my dad was a doctor there in the 60's after it opened.
    I remember he used to take me there and drop me off at either the nurses station or the doctors lounge where other kids were sometimes. So I don't know if it was a neighborhood but they named the street Crestwood. My dad was not one of the one's you mentioned. ej

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  2. Im looking for a pic of Crestwood when it was on mcallister street.. Any one have any? Thank you.

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  3. Was it a hospital or nursing home when it was on McAllister? What dates was that? Thanks...

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    1. Started as a nursing home, but it was a hospital in the 1970s. The current one was open in the mid-80s but not sure of exact date it opened. Old one again a nursing home.

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    2. The building is still at the end of McAllister. It's now a rehab/nursing home currently called Windsor House.

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