WASHINGTON COUNTY HISTORICAL SOCIETY (Washington County, Utah)
WASHINGTON COUNTY HOSPITAL
McGREGOR HOSPITAL
St. George, Utah
LOCATION
35 South 100 EastSt. George, Utah
Telephone 265 in the 1941 telephone book (McGregor Hospital)
Not listed in the 1954, 1958, 1961, or 1972 phone books.
37° 6' 27.34" North Latitude, 113° 34' 50.86" West Longitude
37.1076° North Latitude, 113.58.08° West Longitude
2,735 feet (833 meters) MSL
DESCRIPTION
In 1931, McGregor found and old elevator in Salt Lake City and installed it. It used a water system as counterweights to make it go up and down. When the Southern Hospitality Living Center was there, it was used as a
dumb waiter to bring meals up from the kitchen in the basement.
In addition, in the basement of the facility was an old coal room that you had to go through a couple of other
rooms to get to. By 1986, the coal furnace had been replaced by a modern electric heating system. But you
could still smell the coal in that old room. You could see the original foundation in the basement, which was
mostly lava rock.
The Southern Hospitality Living Center did a little remodeling on the second floor and uncovered a double row of
light fixtures that they finally figured out were the call lights for the nursing station of the old hospital. They used
the old operating room as a conference room. It still had a lot of the original tile and plumbing fittings.
See the article in the references below for more details.
HISTORY
The building may have originally been built in 1871 by Asa Caulkins as a family home.Later it became a rooming house and then the Morris Hotel.
In 1913, Dr. Donald A. McGregor moved from Beaver to St. George. He joined with his brother-in-law, Dr. Frank
Woodbury to raise $10,000 from the community (Addie Price?) and they purchased the old Morris Hotel and
turned it into a hospital. The Washington County Hospital opened on July 8, 1913 with 7 patient beds.
In 1917 (1924?), the hospital's name was changed to the McGregor Hospital in Dr. McGregor's honor. It was
operated by the McGregor family (brothers Dr. Alpine W. McGregor and Dr. Lorenzo W. McGregor) until August
of 1952 when it was replaced by the new Dixie Pioneer Memorial Hospital.
For more about the early history, see the McGregor biography in the references below.
Note: There was a McGregor Hospital in Beaver before the one in St. George and a McGregor Clinic after that
coexisted with the Dixie Pioneer Memorial Hospital.
After being vacant for a while, McGregor Hospital building was occupied by the Miracle Manor Nursing &
Convalescent Home (telephone 673-673-3682 in the 1972 telephone book and later by the Friendship Living
Center followed by the Southern Hospitality Living Center.
In 1993, the Southern Hospitality Living Center moved their license to the Red Cliffs Regional Care Center
behind the Red Cliffs mall. The owner of the McGregor building and property had the building demolished
and sold the property.
PHOTOS
 WCHS-01876 McGregor Hospital in Early Days |
 WCHS-00791 Front of the McGregor Hospital |
 WCHS-01879 Back of the McGregor Hospital |
 WCHS-01880 McGregor Hospital Nurses Station |
Other WCHS photos:
WCHS-01877 Photo of a painting of the McGregor Hospital
WCHS-01878 Photo of the McGregor Hospital building in the 1980s
REFERENCES
Excerpt from a McGregor biography talking about the hospital.Article about the Washington County Hospital (about 1937)
IHC Dixie Regional Medical Center History