Then and Now: Springfield health care

Springfield’s health care industry has its roots in O’Reilly General Hospital, one of 44 treatment centers for World War II soldiers between 1941 and 1946. The hospital stretched from Glenstone Avenue to Fremont Avenue, where Evangel University’s campus now stands.

Click here for historic photos of O’Reilly General Hospital.

The vast hospital facilities could house as many as 6,000 patients in its 86 barracks, and roughly 44,000 soldiers were treated there during the war.

Most soldiers who had been critically wounded were sent to Springfield, said Paul Logsdon, Evangel public relations director. Plastic, orthopedic, maxillofacial and general surgeries were performed by doctors who had trained at the Mayo Clinic.

“I’ve been told most of what is known today about plastic surgery was developed here during World War II,” Logsdon said. “A doctor here in a week would get more variety of cases than they might see in 10 years of private practice outside of wartime.”

That exposure to medical advancements drew hundreds of doctors to the area, many of whom opted to stay after the war ended – helping Springfield develop into the health care hub it is today, Logsdon said.

The Army hospital temporarily closed in 1946 but reopened as a Veterans Affairs Hospital in 1952.

In 1954, the federal government declared the land surplus and gave parts of it to local organizations. About 85 acres were given to the Assemblies of God to start what was originally called Evangel College.

Two small clusters of the hospital’s original barracks remain standing on the school’s campus and are used for administrative purposes.