GRANTS - A week of special events has been unfolding at Cibola General Hospital in observance of its 50th anniversary. An employee and physician breakfast was held on Tuesday followed by a Hawaiian Cruise themed employee barbeque on Wednesday.

Marcie Malaj, left, of the hospital administration offices serves employee Joyce Hands some quality Hawaiian dining at the Cibola General Hospital on Wednesday. Tents were set up to protect the party from sun and bursts of rain. The hospital hosted special events for their employees this week in honor of the anniversary celebration.BEACON / TESHIMA

On Thursday, the hospital opened to the public with an ice cream social and tours of the facility.

This evening “A Night Out with Cibola General Hospital” will be held at the Best Western Inn with a buffet dinner and live music from Common Ground. At this event Hall of Fame awards will be bestowed in the names of Dr. Diane Banks, Dr. J.H. Fjord, Dr. Gilbert Gutierrez, Frank and Zoila Holmberg and Dr. Arnolfo Valdivia.

On Saturday the hospital will host a 50th birthday bash featuring a free lunch, jumpers, games, prizes and music. The party will be held from 11 a.m. to 3 p.m.

Medical care in Grants has progressed light years since the original concept for the facility was formulated in 1956 by the Valencia County Health and Wellness Coordinating Council, led by Nollie Watts of the Atomic Energy Commission.

The uranium mining boom in the 1950s had caused the population of Grants to explode from 2,000 to 10,000 people and there were no hospital facilities for the growing town. When Watts was transferred to Grand Junction, Colo., Frank  Holmberg took over as chairman of the hospital committee and committed to finding funding for the construction of a hospital.

At the time there was a small hospital-clinic in Grants and Anaconda Mining had provided a four-bed clinic near Bluewater, but these medical facilities were woefully inadequate for the growing population.

By 1957 the hospital committee had obtained $250,000 in Hill Burton funds from the state and soon a statewide contest was launched to name the new hospital. The judges decided that the name Cibola General Hospital submitted by Marvel and Red Prestridge and Mrs. L.J. Lloyd of Albuquerque was the best suggestion.

During the same period, the hospital site committee was considering parcels of land for the building site for the hospital, finally accepting the offer of five acres owned by R.B. Candelaria of Albuquerque.

A public fund drive was undertaken by Harold “Boe” Cook, chairman of the finance committee, to raise the $250,000 in local matching funds required by the Hill-Burton state funding. The financial goal was reached in the fall of 1957.

In 1959 the Beacon reported, “The fund raising campaign lasted a good many weeks and, although it went slowly, the necessary money was gradually gathered through donations, pledges and the income from many benefit parties, coffee parties and similar activities.”

Following the fund raising efforts, design work began with assistance from doctors, professional hospital administrators and architects.

Initially hired as a consultant, Anthony C. Cuty helped to complete the plans and select and purchase the equipment and then stayed on as the hospital administrator. A construction contract for $404,378 was signed with the Underwood-Testman Co. of Albuquerque. Construction started in July of 1958 and took about a year to complete.

The eventual cost of the new hospital for the new 31-bed hospital was $570,000 including construction, equipment, site survey, soil analysis, inspection and architects and consultant fees.

In the July 10, 1959, edition of the Beacon, James Barber wrote, ”Sunday will mark another milestone - an extremely important milestone - in the life of Grants and western Valencia County.

“That is the day the new Cibola General Hospital will be thrown open for public inspection and dedication ceremonies. Patients will be admitted to the new hospital immediately after the premises have been cleaned up.

“Grants has emerged from village status to city status almost overnight with the development of the uranium industry, but in some of the services for a community its size, it has lagged behind. One of the shortcomings was the lack of a hospital.

“That shortcoming has now been cured and Grants can proudly boast of another step in becoming a fully self sufficient community.”

Described at the time as a “complete” hospital, the facility boasted air conditioning, a large kitchen, dining facilities, surgical rooms, delivery room, radio and television wiring and oxygen access in each room.

Prior to the opening of the hospital, Grants residents had to go to either Gallup or Albuquerque if they required hospitalization. As the first public hospital in western Valencia County, Cibola General Hospital served a population of 25,000 to 30,000 people.

By the late 1990s it was apparent that the county, which had become Cibola County in the 1980s, needed an expanded, updated medical facility. In July of 2000, the current hospital on Roosevelt Avenue was opened and boasted 50,000 square feet and state of the art medical equipment.

In the past year Cibola General Hospital has spent nearly $1 million in capital equipment upgrades and will soon begin construction on a new medical office building, which will house several primary care and specialty physicians as well as visiting specialists.

As a Grants citizen who has been hospitalized in both the original and new facilities, I wish Cibola General Hospital a very happy birthday.