Draft:Charlton Memorial Hospital

Charlton Memorial Hospital is a community hospital located in Fall River, Massachusetts. The hospital formed over the years through mergers of four separate Fall River hospitals, with roots in the Fall River Hospital which was founded in 1885.

Today, the hospital reports to the Commonwealth of Massachusetts in a consolidated fashion as Southcoast Hospitals Group, which includes hospitals in Fall River, New Bedford, and Wareham.

History
Charlton Memorial Hospital's earliest predecessor, Fall River Hospital, was incorporated in 1885. In 1888, the hospital accepted its first patient and opened a nursing school. Twelve years later, in 1900, Fall River Hospital merged with the Fall River Emergency Hospital, creating a new hospital named Union Nospital. In 1908, a new building was constructed at the corner of Prospect and Hanover Streets, where Charleton's campus remains.

Separately, in 1905 Truesdale Hospital was founded by Philemon Edwards Truesdale, a Canadian immigrant and Harvard Medical School-trained doctor who would later become a founder of the American College of Surgeons.

In 1979, Union Hospital and Truesdale Hospital merged, forming Union-Truesdale Hospital. The next year, it was renamed Charlton Memorial Hospital in acknowledgement of the significant contributions of the Charlton family, starting with Earle P. Charlton whose son Perry was saved by emergency surgery performed by Truesdale and his staff shortly after Truesdale Hospital opened. Over multiple generations, the Charlton family donated collective millions in support of the hospitals' development and expansion.