| Clark General becomes Vancouver Memorial Hospital - 1945
At an annual meeting on January 27, 1945, after a discussion regarding the confusion of hospital names. There was a Clark County Hospital which served the mentally-ill.
With World War II still raging in Europe and the Pacific, C. Sanford Thayer suggested "Vancouver Memorial Hospital" to honor war veterans. A special committee was appointed to consider the name change and conducted an opinion survey. The committee made a favorable report, according to its chairman, Foster Hidden. The new name was approved by the board on May 15, 1945. State of Washington documents record the name change as official on July 27, 1945.
Hospital activity continued to increase, and in 1956, the board authorized a two-story construction at the south side of the hospital to provide extended dining and meeting room space on the ground floor with a medical library and additional medical records department area on the second floor. The medical library was established in memory of R.D. Wiswall, MD.
In 1957 ground floor remodeling of the 1929 building provided a new physical therapy department. Also, with the assistance of funds from the Ford Foundation, standby electric generators were installed to supply the entire electrical needs of the hospital.
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