Sandhills Regional Medical Center History
In the spring of 1915, William Daniel James, M.D. and his wife, Lillian Duer James, R.N., opened Hamlet Hospital with private funds. The hospital was first located in an eight-room house on Vance Street in Hamlet. Walter Hooks Architects Associates from Charlotte later designed a building, which grew to be a 140-bed general non-profit hospital. Building additions and renovations were completed in 1954, 1960, 1981 and 1987.
Hamlet Hospital remained in the same location from its beginning in 1915 until the opening of Sandhills Regional Medical Center on February 20, 2000. The Hamlet Hospital School of Nursing, one of the first three-year diploma schools of nursing in the Sandhills area of North Carolina, for many years served alone an area from Charlotte to Wilmington and from Raleigh to Columbia, S.C. During these early years, sick patients were brought in by Seaboard Railway trains.
Dr. James brought many honors to Hamlet Hospital with his pioneer work in the treatment of cancer and in having the first Snook X-Ray therapy machine in this section of the country.
During the Great Depression, the hospital operated on a financially sound basis under the guidance of Lillian Duer James, RN, Administrator, and Dr. William Daniel James, Chief Surgeon.
In 1931, Hamlet Hospital was reorganized under the Duke Foundation as a nonprofit hospital with the name Hamlet Hospital and Training School for Nurses. Money generated by the institution’s operations was returned to the hospital for improvements.
Dr. James died on January 15, 1947, and his son, Capt. William “Bill” Duer James was called back from France, where he was serving in the U.S. Army as Chief of Staff of a 1,400-bed orthopedic hospital, to carry on the work started by his father.
Hamlet Hospital continued to be a strong quality healthcare facility under the guidance of Dr. Bill James; his mother, Lillian Duer James; his sister, Janet James Lindsey (Petris); and Dr. Mark M. Lindsey.
In 1965, a three-story school of nursing education center was built on land across from the hospital. The land and building was donated to Hamlet Hospital by the James family.
Following the death of Lillian Duer James in 1970, the hospital was willed to the board of directors of the Hamlet Hospital and School of Nursing.
In 1977, the voters of Richmond County passed a $1.2 million bond issue resulting in changing Hamlet Hospital from a private nonprofit hospital to a not-for-profit healthcare facility owned by Richmond County with a leased back agreement for operation by the board of directors.
In March of 1980, the hospital’s board of directors employed SunHealth Inc. of Charlotte, a not-for-profit hospital management firm, for the day-to-day management of Hamlet Hospital.
A new Hamlet Hospital replacement unit was dedicated on Sunday, November 23, 1980. Moving day for staff and patients was Friday, March 19, 1981. All facilities were upgraded and all patient-related services were moved to the new 64-bed addition.
The Hamlet Hospital School of Nursing program was phased out in 1981 and the Lillian Duer James Nursing Building was given to Richmond County by the hospital for the expansion of the Richmond Technical College (now Richmond Community College) associate degree nursing program.
In 1983, Hamlet Hospital added a mental health unit.
Health Management Associates Inc. (HMA) of Naples, Fla., acquired Hamlet Hospital from the county on a 10-year lease agreement in 1987 and subsequently finalized purchasing the facility in 1995.
HMA began immediately improving the facility and its equipment. In the mid-1990’s, HMA realized the need to replace the aging physical Hamlet Hospital facility with a new state-of-the-art medical center.
On December 10, 1997, ground was broken for the new Sandhills Regional Medical Center. The final step in the official opening of the Sandhills Regional Medical Center took place Sunday, February 20, 2000.