During a meeting earlier in the week of the Hopkins County Memorial Hospital District, a plan was set in motion to protect and preserve the archives held at the hospital for many years. Karen Strickland, past long-term employee, addressed the board with her concerns of the fate of all of the treasure trove of information that she had help collect over the years.
Scrapbooks of newspaper articles, as well as other documents pertaining to the history of the hospital through the years were discussed. Also, there is an abundance of medical equipment and tools donated to the hospital over the years that have been displayed at different times. Most recently, during a 60th anniversary initiative, special care was taken to collect and preserve many more items pertinent to the history of the hospital and the hospital district.
With CHRISTUS as the new partner of the hospital and with Strickland’s retirement a few years ago, the fate of the archives have been in a state of flux being shifted around and some moved into storage. The District board voted unanimously to draw up an agreement between the Hospital District and CHRISTUS to loan any of the archives to CHRISTUS that would be displayed at the hospital location. The board also put a plan in motion to catalog and preserve the remaining archives for the future. Paul Harvey, CEO of CHRISTUS-Sulphur Springs, agreed to help find a place in the hospital that some of the items could be displayed in the future.
