Celebrating 35 Years of Services:
A Brief History of Doctors Hospital
When a group of doctors, dentists and business executives joined forces in 1974 to build a new hospital, they had two missions: to give patients a choice and doctors a voice.
Taking Root
The founders, led by local dentist and businessman H.R. “Pat” Yeary Jr., DDS, saw that Laredo was growing fast and would soon overwhelm Mercy Hospital, the only hospital in town. They envisioned a new facility where healthcare professionals, including doctors, dentists and nurses, would provide comprehensive, quality care and help guide business and administrative decisions to be in the best interests of patients.When the 68-bed hospital, then called Laredo Health Center, opened in May 1974, The Laredo Times hailed it as “a partner in Laredo’s progress” and a “Hospital of the Future.”
The paper praised the modern equipment, lobby and reception areas and spacious parking area. “The [hospital] will represent an investment of more than $4.5 million in the local economy, [and] more than 160 jobs will have been created,” the Times stated.
Starting off Slowly
Not everyone welcomed the idea. “The medical community in Laredo was very tight knit,” says Carlos Oliveira, the hospital’s first administrator.The location on East Mann Road was another factor working against the hospital. “We were considered to be on the outskirts of town,” says Dolores Boswell, one of the original nursing staff. “There were no other buildings for miles around.”
Gaining Acceptance
Despite these shaky beginnings, the hospital began to grow as it attracted doctors from outside Laredo, including general surgeon Jose Molina, MD, who came from San Antonio.
“The hospital was small, but it also was very service-oriented, and there was much less bureaucracy, which made it easier to innovate and change things,” Dr. Molina says. General surgeon Miguel Najera, MD, says, “Patients liked the more personalized environment, and the doctors liked the fact that by supporting the hospital, we were giving patients a choice in their healthcare.”
As the hospital gained acceptance among doctors and patients, a thriving business community grew up around it. The hospital gradually added space and services, including an emergency room, an intensive care unit and an outpatient clinic in the late 1970s. A Women’s Wing was built in 1983, followed by a cancer center in 1987. The hospital went through several owners and administration changes until the current owners, Universal Health Services, Inc., bought it in 1999.
Beginning Anew
In 2001, the hospital took a giant leap of faith by moving to its current location on McPherson Road. “In a way we were reliving history by relocating to a then sparsely populated area,” Ms. Boswell says. This time, however, it had the firm support of the medical community as well as the city of Laredo, which even created new bus routes to the hospital to improve accessibility for patients and employees.
Hospital leaders had chosen the 58-acre site to allow for expansion, which happened in due course with the addition of the Cancer Treatment Center in 2001 and the new Women’s Center, which included the region’s most advanced neonatal intensive care unit, in 2006.
In the coming years, Doctors Hospital of Laredo will continue to grow and respond to the needs of this vibrant, ever-changing community. The more than 700 people of Doctors Hospital — who include doctors and staff who helped create the hospital 35 years ago — thank you for your support and look forward to serving you soon.
