Hospital Time Line
1910 Drs. G. W. Sammons and A. M. Smith purchase a four-bedroom house to open an eight-bed hospital. Their staff consists of two nurses who work 12-hour shifts.
1920 Demand for the hospital’s services exceeds its capacity. Concerned citizens form the San Juan County Association to buy the building and nine acres of land.
1922 An addition is built to the hospital that doubles capacity to 16 beds.
1930 San Juan Community Hospital struggles to exist as a community-owned enterprise from the Great Depression through WWII. Community members donate their time and resources. To keep its doors open, the hospital owns a farm and dairy to supply eggs, chickens, milk, and butter to patients.
1950 El Paso Natural Gas Company brings a pipeline to the San Juan Basin to deliver natural gas to California. As the oil field booms, San Juan County’s population jumps from 3,500 to over 12,000.
1952 On July 1, San Juan Community Hospital completes its new 44-bed hospital. The new facility is built at a total cost of about $500,000 from county bonds, federal funds, and privately-raised donations. The San Juan County Association deeds the land and building to San Juan County.
1952 On August 29, San Juan County Incorporated is created. This newly-formed hospital corporation leases the land and building back from San Juan County on a 99-year lease at $1 a year.
1952 Charles Martin is the new hospital administrator from Denver, Colorado. He creates the hospital Auxiliary as a solution to understaffing. The Auxiliary is a volunteer group that still plays a big role today.
1956 A second floor was added to the San Juan Community Hospital to increase capacity to 107 beds.
1960 San Juan Community Hospital receives its first accreditation by the Joint Commission on the Accreditation of Hospitals.
1963 San Juan Community Hospital opens its first ICU.
1964 Ten pediatric beds are added to the newly remodeled pediatric unit and emergency services are expanded.
1972 San Juan Community Hospital builds a 21-bed surgical ward and adds a physical therapy wing.
1973 Voters approved a $6.8 million bond issue for construction of a new five-story hospital to be built next to the existing hospital building.
1976 An additional $3 million was approved for construction.
1977 San Juan Community Hospital is renamed San Juan Regional Medical Center to better reflect the growing scope of healthcare in the Four Corners region.
1978 San Juan Regional Medical Center opens a new 143-bed hospital.
1981 On March 21, a full-body CT scanner becomes operational.
1984 San Juan Medical Foundation is established to finance a new cancer center.
1986 A new air ambulance service is created by leasing a fixed-wing aircraft from Four Corners Aviation.
1987 Over 200 people attend the dedication of the San Juan Regional Cancer Center.
1987 In August, the most advanced nuclear medicine imaging system in the region and the first of its kind in New Mexico is installed.
1988 San Juan Regional Medical Center’s MRI facility opens.
1990 San Juan Regional Medical Center opens its Immediate Care Center to provide non-emergency, extended-hours care.
1992 San Juan Regional Medical Center’s AirCare now offers helicopter services to the Four Corners.
1992 San Juan Regional Medical Center adopts Meditech Hospital Information System as a major step toward greater use of electronic data processing.
1995 San Juan Regional Medical Center opens a new outpatient service, Day Surgery Unit.
1995 In May, San Juan Regional Cancer Center purchases a Varian Linear Accelerator.
1995 In November, the Childbirth Center opens on the fifth floor.
1998 In May, San Juan Regional Medical Center opens a new cardiac catheterization laboratory to allow cardiologists to diagnose coronary artery disease in the facility rather than referring patients to out-of-town facilities.
1999 San Juan Regional Medical Center is designated a Level III Trauma Center, one of three trauma centers in New Mexico.
2000 On Valentine’s Day, the Connelly Hospitality House opens as a low-cost housing option for the families of patients who are undergoing treatment at the hospital and live 50 miles away.
2006 In April, the Outpatient Diagnostic Center opens.
2006 On August 15, the east tower expansion opens to add 72 private patient rooms and eight new operating suites
2008 In July, San Juan Regional Medical Center installs a 64-slice CT scanner.
2008 In December, San Juan Regional Caner Center’s new facility and Medical Office Building opens.
2010 San Juan Regional Medical Center celebrates its 100th anniversary.
2011 San Juan Regional Medical office Building opens the San Juan Health Partners Pediatrics, Neurosciences, Internal Medicine and Pulmonology, Cardiology.
2012 San Juan Regional Medical Center chosen as a Top 100 Hospital of Choice Honor and a Top 20 Most Beautiful Hospitals Award. San Juan Health Partners Cardiology becomes San Juan Regional Heart Center.
2013 San Juan Regional Heart Center physicians release their book, Cardiac and Vascular Health for the Four Corners during the 5th annual A Fair of the Heart and Goosebump Race.