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HISTORY OF PLEASANT VIEW, SHIAWASSEE COUNTY MEDICAL CARE FACILITY

Shiawassee County Medical Care Facility, first addressed caring for its poor when Sanford Green,

Isaac Castle and Hiram Stowell were appointed by the board of commissioners to

take charge of them in 1839. Less than 10 years later in 1847, the county purchased

80 acres of land on Lyons Road to be used as the county poor farm. Initially, the farm

consisted of a single log cabin, but in 1858-59, several frame buildings were

erected. The poor farm was an actual working farm where the residents raised

animals and grew food to support themselves.

A more modern brick building was constructed sometime in the late 1800s to early

1900s. This effort was led by Charles Holman. The building was 44’ x 104’ and

was heated by steam. All of the rooms had large water and steam pipes running

across the ceilings. Special troughs had to be built under the pipes to prevent

condensation from dripping on patients, who at the time were referred to as inmates.

It was determined in the late 1940s that the existing county hospital, as it was now

called, was no longer meeting the needs of its patients. The rooms were very small,

some measuring only 5’9” wide and 9’8” long, which made caring for patients

extremely difficult for nurses. The hospital superintendent at the time, made sure

the patients received the best care regardless. A bond issue was passed in 1951 to

raise $425,000 for a new facility to be built on Norton Street on six acres donated by

the City of Corunna.

On June 30, 2016, ground was broken for what would be the largest project in the county

in more than 30 years. Pleasant View, a 103,000-square-foot, 10-acre state of the art facility

was celebrated with a ribbon cutting and public open house on January 4, 2018.