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Madison Furthers Physician Collaboration

The first three hospital/practices in Rexburg were owned and run by physicians. Harvard graduate Dr. Joseph Walker had a building that served the general public until 1925. Opening shortly after Dr. Walker’s practice, Dr. Sutherland ran the Sutherland Hospital on the top floor of the Rexburg State Bank. In 1924, Dr. Harlo Rigby, and his wife Elsie built a hospital that averaged 400 cases annually for 29 years.

Madison Memorial Hospital first opened its doors in 1951 as a 29-bed facility with just 23 employees. During its first 24 hours of operations, the hospital had 1 birth, 1 death, and 5 surgeries. Since that day it has continued to grow and evolve with the changing needs of the community.

 Madison Memorial Hospital was recognized as one of the top 100 small hospitals in the nation in 1994. Just two years later the hospital started another construction period, divided into two phases. They expanded the emergency and physical therapy departments, added new business offices and a maternity center, and put in a new parking area and canopied the entrance. All of which were fully completed by 1999.

In 2001, Ricks College became BYU-Idaho, which helped Madison County became one of the fastest growing areas in Idaho. A growing community requires healthcare to expand with it, so in 2005 Madison Memorial started a major construction project allowing them to continue to meet and exceed the medical needs of residents in the five counties they served.

In July of 2008, Madison Memorial completed a $55 million dollar expansion that tacked on 76,000 square feet of new space and remodeled 85,000 square feet of space. The addition included new and improved facilities in the areas of Emergency Medicine, Radiology, Laboratory, Surgical Suites, and much more. Several new services including cardiac rehab, pain management, short-stay therapy, oncology, and advanced surgical procedures were also added.

“The Administrative Team and Board of Trustees recognize that it is critical to successful hospital and health system performance to develop collaborative working relationships with all of our local physicians. In our changing healthcare environment, with all its challenges, we must explore new ways of working together on shared common goals that promote the provision of exceptional patient care,” recently stated Madison Memorial Hospital CEO Dr. Rachel Gonzales.

In the past year, Madison Memorial has built affiliation with the University of Utah and Eastern Idaho Regional Medical Center. Our most recent collaboration was the purchase of a medical clinic agreed upon yesterday, 11-18-14, by the Madison County Commissioners, Madison Hospital Board, and Seasons Medical Center. We are excited to collaborate with physicians more, and align resources to provide exceptional care to our community.

Read more from Seasons Medical  

Prepared by Lucas.