Thomas D. Dee Memorial Hospital, 1910
The Thomas D. Dee Memorial Hospital was built by the Dee family after the death of their father in 1905. The family had also lost a son, Reese, after a failed appendectomy performed on the kitchen table. The family recognized that there was significant need for a hospital in Ogden, and led by their mother, Annie T. Dee, the family members were committed to improving healthcare in the community.
In 1909 the Dee family purchased land at 24th and Harrison and began construction of the hospital. Leslie S. Hodgson was the architect. Construction costs totaled $100,000 and furnishing the building added another $15,000. After construction was completed, the hospital was dedicated on December 29, 1909, with 1,000 people in attendance.
Original board members of the hospital included Annie Dee and her daughter Maude Porter. Former mayor Fred Kiesel also served on the board, as well as other community leaders and doctors. After opening, Mrs. Dee, who felt hospital births were safer than home births, didn’t charge new mothers who had their babies in the hospital. Charity patients were also accepted, and all revenues went back into the hospital.
The hospital board also opened a school of nursing in 1910 that ran until 1955. The school trained hundreds of nurses who provided care to patients in the hospital during their training. The original Dee Hospital closed in 1969 when a new hospital was built further south, across from Weber State University.
Children of Thomas and Annie Dee
Cornerstone Ceremony