Jason McSherry, the Community Relations and Marketing Manager for Memorial Hospital, addressed the York-East Rotary Club on Tuesday, May 2, 2017.  He discussed the history of Memorial Hospital beginning with its founding by Dr. Meisenhelder in 1913 as the West Side Sanitarium.  In 1945 the name was changed to West Side Osteopathic Hospital.  A need for expansion led to the construction of the current hospital on Belmont Avenue with the name changing at that time to Memorial Osteopathic Hospital.  Further developments at that site continued in 1972 with the addition of six professional buildings.  Out-patient surgical facilities were added in 1989.  Soon afterwards, the hospital was renamed to Memorial Hospital.  More recently, Memorial Hospital became an affiliate of Community Health Systems in 2012 giving it access to the resources of several regional hospitals.

Anticipating the need for growth, and facing a situation at its current location which prevented expansion, the hospital purchased the old Hawk Lake golf course in West Manchester township in 2007 as the site for a future replacement facility.  Construction on the Hawk Lake site began in 2016 with plans to build a 102 bed facility with all private rooms.  In early 2017, it was announced that a definitive agreement had been reached for PinnacleHealth to acquire Memorial Hospital, along with three other nearby hospitals affiliated with Community Health Systems, which included a continued commitment to construct a new, replacement hospital at the site of the former Hawk Lake golf course.  Mr. McSherry expects the arrangements, which are subject to customary regulatory approvals and closing conditions, to be completed during the summer of 2017.