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Our History
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John Muir Health was formed in 1997 when John Muir Medical Center in Walnut Creek merged with John Muir Medical Center, Concord Campus in Concord. Creation of John Muir Health ensures that comprehensive, high-quality health care services remain in the community. Here are the individual histories of these two great medical centers.
History of John Muir Medical Center, Walnut Creek Campus
In
the late 1950s in Walnut Creek, fifty physicians with exceptional foresight
conceived of the idea to build a preeminent community hospital in Contra Costa
County, a place where the highest quality healthcare would be available to area
residents.
After several years of meetings and fund raising, the physicians and community members had sufficient funds to build the hospital. John Muir's board of directors purchased a site for the hospital overlooking the beautiful Ygnacio Valley. With its orchards, rolling hills and spectacular view of John Muir Medical Center, Concord Campus, it was just minutes from downtown Walnut Creek. After the site was purchased in 1959, thirty-nine civic-minded women established an auxiliary to help raise additional funds for the hospital. This began a tradition of service to the hospital that continues to this day.
After six years of planning and two years of construction at a cost of $4.5 million, John Muir Medical Center, Walnut Creek Campus opened its doors on June 16, 1965. Just over 150 full- and part-time employees staffed the original 150-bed hospital, providing care for approximately seventy-five patients per day.
Today, John Muir Medical Center, Walnut Creek Campus is a 321-bed full-service acute care facility that specializes in a wide range of clinical services including cardiovascular services, neuroscience, orthopedics, oncology, and obstetrics. In addition, John Muir Medical Center, Walnut Creek Campus is the only trauma center for Contra Costa County. John Muir Medical Center, Walnut Creek Campus is committed to fulfill the vision established by its founding fathers by providing patients and the community with high quality medical care.
[back to top]History of John Muir Medical Center, Concord Campus
In 1930, in the midst of the Depression, Edna Gallagher Haywood opened Concord
Hospital, predecessor of John Muir Medical Center, Concord Campus. Mrs. Haywood was a bright-eyed,
altruistic, twenty-three-year-old registered nurse, Canadian immigrant, and
mother of a two-year-old. She arrived in Concord in 1930 to assist the area's
lone physician, Henry W. Stirewalt, M.D. When Dr. Stirewalt suggested the need
for a hospital, Mrs. Haywood responded by convincing her father-in-law that he
should mortgage his ranch to loan her the money to buy one. She purchased a
small wood frame house on East Avenue that was being used by convalescents.
"For three days there was no business. I wondered if nobody was sick or if they were all trotting to Oakland," recalled Mrs. Haywood years later. "But then people started coming from all over and we just grew and grew . . . I was business manager, dietitian, director of nurses, and head surgical nurse. I also took care of the laundry. At night, when all the patients were asleep, I would iron all the sheets for the next day."
In six years, the original hospital was outgrown so a two-story stucco building was added. It had a surgery area, ten private rooms, a birthing room, and Concord's first elevator. In 1941, the hospital was admitted to the register of the American Medical Association and, in 1946, the hospital was granted a license by the State of California to operate thirty-eight beds.
Today, John Muir Medical Center, Concord Campus is a 250-bed, full-service, acute care facility that specializes in cardiac care and cancer care. Despite the growth and expansion of services over time, the underlying commitment of the foundress remains of utmost importance: to provide patients and the community with high quality medical care.