| Clark General Hospital opens for business
According to an early 1920s newspaper account, the need for another hospital was demonstrated when a survey showed that Clark County was deficient in its ratio of hospital beds to population.
 On September 14, 1927, 29 citizens met in a room above Reder's Drug Store to plan another hospital: Clark General Hospital, which opened for business on September 8, 1929.
The hospital was on Main Street, just north of 33rd Street. The land was purchased for $8,500 and the brick structure cost $73,000. The institution opened with 30 beds, but by December, demand was enough to rush installation of the 20 remaining beds.
The board wrestled with the problem of room prices and decided on:
Private room with bath
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$6.00/day |
$40.00/week |
Private room without bath
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$5.00/day |
$35.00/week |
Small wardroom
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$4.00/day |
$27.00/week |
The hospital billed $1,231 in its first month but was able to collect only $850. The administrator's salary was $75 a month.
Following the hospital's first year of operation, the Vancouver Evening Columbian reported interesting facts: 814 patients, 186 accident cases treated, and 104 babies born. The number of patients each month ranged from 14 to 28.
 Expansion continued, and a major remodeling of Clark General in 1944 enlarged its capacity to 150 beds, providing new surgeries, x-ray, laboratory, laundry, dietary department, and heating plant.
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