Less than 25,000 people called Sussex County home; there were hardly any physicians.

Newton, the county seat, was considered the commercial and professional hub of Sussex County, and jeweler Thomas Murray worked each day in a store on its most popular street.

When Mr. Murray passed away, he left a gift of $35,000 to be used to establish a hospital in Newton. At the time, Newton was home to the Merriam Shoe Factory. When workers there suffered injuries no nearby medical attention was available.

Mr. Murray’s gift was followed by a $100,000 bequest from Clarence Linn. With those two donations, the plans to bring a hospital to Newton were set in motion.

Some of the county’s brightest minds and most prominent businessmen formed a committee and began to put the pieces in place. In addition to the generous bequests, the Condit Family donated the land on which the hospital sits.

"When the site for the hospital was being selected, my mother and father offered the land behind our house,” George Condit Jr. said during an interview in 1982. “It really was an absolutely perfect location. Not only was it set away from the congestion and noise of town traffic, but there was sufficient land around it so that expansion could take place."

"Another reason for selecting this particular site was the location of the reservoir and the breezes that cooled the hilltop,” he added. “As he drove by, my father would say, ‘You know, this is a lovely spot.’ And it really is. When you stand on top of the hospital, and I have, you have a panoramic view of the Delaware Water Gap."

Dedicated hospital administrators have proudly carried on with Mr. Murray’s original intent and Mr. Condit’s land to grow, add services and maximize the potential of Newton Memorial Hospital.

Today, Sussex County has more than 150,000 residents and is one of the fastest growing counties in New Jersey. The hospital serves residents from Sussex and Warren Counties in New Jersey, Pike County, Pennsylvania and southern Orange County, New York.

As the hospital looks toward the future, any progress will always owe tribute to the generosity of Mr. Murray, Mr. Linn and the Condit Family as well as the civic-minded professionals who made Newton Memorial Hospital a reality.

The rest, as they say, is history.

Sussex County workers reeling from the Great Depression were eager for work in 1930 and 1931. In that context, much excitement surrounded the construction of Newton Memorial Hospital.

"After the hospital opened, everybody doubled in brass. We helped each other out in ways unheard of today," Ellen White Courtright, one of the hospital’s first nurses, said in 1982. "For example, I was Operating Room Supervisor and I would relieve the Maternity Supervisor in the afternoons. Everyone shared one large bathroom; jumped at the sound of an emergency bell; and took taxis to the movie theater during breaks."

Nurses prepared sterilization equipment, sewed surgical sheets, rolled bandages and made their own casting materials and plaster bandages.

The hospital’s three-story building, which today is the administration building, has a row of dormer windows beneath a slate roof. The top floor housed the nursing staff in the early years.

The Newton American Legion Post #86 donated a custom-built 1928 Willys-Knight car that became the hospital’s first ambulance. It was housed behind the Sussex County Courthouse.

The first medical staff numbered 19 physicians, six of whom maintained private practices in Newton, and the hospital had 44 beds. In just a few years, the hard work of this small dedicated group had paid off.

"By 1934, Newton had become the county’s medical center, because the hospital drew a lot of doctors to the area," former nurse Helen Blahut Parks said. "Even though Franklin had a hospital, which was operated by the New Jersey Zinc Company, people in the Franklin area began to go to Newton for medical care because most of the doctors were there."

The following year, two of the counties most influential women Lola Hull and Anna Dunn formed the NMH Auxiliary. They quickly raised more than $1,200 in the first year and used the money to purchase a variety of items, including a portable X-ray unit, supplies for painting three rooms and a fracture bed. For many years after the NMH Auxiliary would similarly be there to answer the call when the hospital needed financial assistance for growth opportunities.

Sussex County workers reeling from the Great Depression were eager for work in 1930 and 1931. In that context, much excitement surrounded the construction of Newton Memorial Hospital.

"After the hospital opened, everybody doubled in brass. We helped each other out in ways unheard of today," Ellen White Courtright, one of the hospital’s first nurses, said in 1982. "For example, I was Operating Room Supervisor and I would relieve the Maternity Supervisor in the afternoons. Everyone shared one large bathroom; jumped at the sound of an emergency bell; and took taxis to the movie theater during breaks."

Nurses prepared sterilization equipment, sewed surgical sheets, rolled bandages and made their own casting materials and plaster bandages.

The hospital’s three-story building, which today is the administration building, has a row of dormer windows beneath a slate roof. The top floor housed the nursing staff in the early years.

The Newton American Legion Post #86 donated a custom-built 1928 Willys-Knight car that became the hospital’s first ambulance. It was housed behind the Sussex County Courthouse.

The first medical staff numbered 19 physicians, six of whom maintained private practices in Newton, and the hospital had 44 beds. In just a few years, the hard work of this small dedicated group had paid off.

"By 1934, Newton had become the county’s medical center, because the hospital drew a lot of doctors to the area," former nurse Helen Blahut Parks said. "Even though Franklin had a hospital, which was operated by the New Jersey Zinc Company, people in the Franklin area began to go to Newton for medical care because most of the doctors were there."

The following year, two of the counties most influential women Lola Hull and Anna Dunn formed the NMH Auxiliary. They quickly raised more than $1,200 in the first year and used the money to purchase a variety of items, including a portable X-ray unit, supplies for painting three rooms and a fracture bed. For many years after the NMH Auxiliary would similarly be there to answer the call when the hospital needed financial assistance for growth opportunities.

Blase Cole Wing and Pavilion

Dr. Blase Cole and Dr. Dorsett Spurgeon were among the first physicians at Newton Memorial Hospital.

Dr. Cole rose to prominence first as a dedicated physician, then as a state senator and appellate court judge. He was killed in a September 1936 automobile accident in Passaic County. His funeral was the largest one ever held in Newton, up to that time, with newspaper reports estimating attendance at more than 1,200 people. Dr. Cole’s many contributions to Newton Memorial and his tragic death inspired the naming of a new hospital wing in his honor.

By the mid-1940s, the county’s medical needs had begun to outpace the hospital's capabilities. The community once again rallied behind a fundraising effort and the Blase Cole Wing broke ground in 1949.

The 60-bed wing was designed to meet the hospital’s needs for the next 20 years. Completed in 1952, it more than doubled the hospital’s capacity. (Today, the wing houses Administration, Human Resources, Information Technology and Employee Health.)

By 1964, Newton Memorial was a 119-bed hospital. Medical and surgical occupancy averaged well over 90 percent. Further expansion was necessary.

The hospital kicked off "The Million Dollar Drive" in 1964. Within two years, the hospital raised pledges totaling more than $1 million. The NMH Auxiliary pledged and quickly raised $100,000 toward the expansion and donated another $120,000 the following year to construct the kitchen unit of that building. The Pavilion, which was dedicated in 1968, today houses many of the hospital’s core services.

A second floor was added to the Pavilion in 1976 as well as the two-story Hussey wing for medical, maternity and surgical patients.

"It was a question of renovating the old building and living with it for years to come or building a new addition that would be the nucleus for future expansion," said Lewis P. Dolan, a past chairman of the Financial Development Committee. "It seemed prudent to build rather than renovate, to plan for the future rather than simply add to the past."

CCU / ICU

In the midst of these expansion projects, Dr. Lucian Fletcher championed pioneering causes that made Newton Memorial Hospital a leader among smaller hospitals throughout the state.

In 1961, under Dr. Fletcher’s leadership, Newton Memorial became one of the first hospitals in New Jersey to open an Intensive Care Unit. Intensive Care moved to the Pavilion upon its completion in 1968 and a Coronary Care Unit was added. At the time, such units were not common in New Jersey.

The facility literally saved lives. In 1989, the first patient resuscitated by Dr. Fletcher in that unit 20 years earlier was invited to the unveiling of the hospital’s new 10-bed ICU/CCU unit. That facility paved the way for the Charles L. Tice Heart Center for Diagnostic Services which opened in October 2006.

The Center for Mental Health

The views about people suffering from mental illness shifted during the 1960s with the realization that they could be more fully restored to productive life.

Newton Memorial Hospital was a leader in this movement providing mental health services as early as 1963, when 89 patients were admitted for psychiatric disorders.

In 1978 the hospital opened a Counseling Center on the top floor of the original building with support from the Sussex County Board of Chosen Freeholders. By 1980, the hospital opened an additional wing, The Center for Mental Health. Within two years, the Center’s number of patients expanded as more than 200 inpatients and 1,800 outpatients obtained services at the hospital.

Today, the Center for Mental Health continues to provide comprehensive mental health services. The cohesive relationship with county government remains strong. In fact, Sussex County Freeholder Glen Vetrano nominated the hospital for the New Jersey Association of Counties 2007 Business Associate of the Year Award for providing the community with mental health services, which the hospital proudly accepted in May.

Meeting the Needs of a Growing Region

Newton Memorial made a substantial investment in its Maternity Unit in 1997, with a major renovation of one of the original services the hospital has provided since 1932. The hospital’s state-of-the-art Single-Room Maternity Unit opened that year.

The following year, Newton Memorial Hospital completed the Sparta Health & Wellness Center. This gave residents of the eastern part of Sussex County greater access to physicians, laboratory and X-ray services as well as educational classes and seminars.

In 2001, the hospital recognized its increasing role in providing healthcare services to the residents of Pike County, Pennsylvania and opened the Milford Health & Wellness Center. Pike County is currently one of the fastest growing counties in the eastern United States.

Not only did Newton Memorial give Pike County residents access to emergency services through Milford Urgent Care, but it also helped create a stronger bond with our community in eastern Pennsylvania.

A year later, Sparta Health & Wellness was expanded to add Sussex County’s first cancer treatment center. This brought the latest radiation therapy technology and other oncology services closer to the homes of our patients.

In 2004, Newton Memorial partnered with Renal Ventures Management and opened the county’s first Renal Dialysis Center. Similar to the Cancer Center, the Renal Dialysis Center enables patients to stay in their community for treatments required as often as daily, weekly or three times a week for life.

In the midst of these growth initiatives, Newton Memorial completed a $10 million campus-expansion project to upgrade three Operating Room suites and add a fourth OR, a recovery room, a same-day surgery section and a minor procedures area.

Included in this project was a beautiful atrium lobby, a waiting area and gift and hospitality shops.

Excellence in Emergency Care

Few milestones better capture Newton Memorial’s commitment to growing with the community than the construction of a two-phase, $14.8 million, 22,410-square foot hospital addition which included an impressive new Emergency Department.

The former ED was built to handle 15,000 patients per year. By 2004, the ED was seeing 32,000. Using Census figures and population projections for the next 20 years, hospital leadership decided on a 30-bed facility equipped to handle 45,000 patients per year.

The ED opening in February 2005 was met with much fanfare throughout the community. The most tangible changes were improved treatment areas, quicker access to care and radiology services 24 hours a day as well as the bright and roomy atrium waiting room.

In terms of dollars, the Emergency Department remains the largest expansion in hospital history, and is the most dynamic ED in the region.

It also served as a continuation of what has made Newton Memorial such an inspiring and exciting story since 1928. The Newton Memorial Hospital Foundation set out to raise $6 million for the project, but the community surpassed that number by donating $7.4 million.

The fundraising drive included an astounding $1 million dollar donation by the NMH Auxiliary, which was used to purchase a CT scan. The CT scan allowed the ED to take multiple X-rays of the body and use a computer to construct cross-sectional views.

The Sleep & Heart Centers

In 2005, Newton Memorial opened the Sleep Diagnostic & Treatment Center after the demand outpaced the services available. Prior to the opening of the Sleep Center, the hospital had a two-months-long waiting list for sleep studies.

The new off-campus facility increased capacity by 50 percent in a bed-and-breakfast environment, where people are treated more like hotel guests than patients. Historically, sleep disorders are one of the most underreported causes of health problems and tragedies.

The Charles L. Tice Heart Center for Diagnostic Services, a 7,000-square-foot hospital addition, opened to much excitement in October 2006. Within six months, the Heart Center treated 100 patients which confirmed that the region needed cardiac diagnostic services.

Heart disease patients have praised the Heart Center for saving them long trips outside the county to receive care.

Once again it was primarily through the generosity of the community that Newton Memorial was able to open a Heart Center.

In May 2007, the NMH Foundation completed a $3 million fundraising drive, which included a $1.1 million pledge from Charles L. Tice.

On the Horizon

Newton Memorial Hospital has been at the forefront of technological advances and service expansion over the last seven-and-a-half decades, always with a focus on improving the lives and health of the people it serves.

That commitment continues today.

The hospital is exploring substantial on-campus expansion opportunities that will make Newton Memorial a regional healthcare provider for the 21st century. Plans are underway to develop another Health & Wellness Center in northern Sussex County to continue to bring services closer to the homes of our patients.

As history has shown, Newton Memorial is most successful when the community responds either through donations or volunteering. Newton Memorial is where it is today because of the commitment and hard work of the NMH Auxiliary, Foundation and donors as well as the hospital’s medical staff, Administrators, Board of Directors, employees and volunteers that have built a solid foundation on which to grow.

And it all serves as a tribute to Mr. Murray, whose last wishes changed the lives of generations of Sussex County residents.

Our past is rich and our future is bright; and in between those two points lies the tale of a community hospital started by civic-minded people who dared to do something great for the community they loved.