This month, we revisit our Association’s first 25 years (1926–1951)—a time when hospitals across South Dakota faced some of the greatest economic challenges in our nation’s history.
On October 8–9, 1951, the South Dakota Hospital Association held its Annual Convention at the Alonzo Ward Hotel in Aberdeen, South Dakota. As part of the Association’s Silver Jubilee celebration, Geo Kienholz of St. Mary’s Hospital in Pierre authored a commemorative booklet titled A History of the South Dakota Hospital Association.
For the first time, SDHA members came together to preserve the Association’s history in a single document, capturing the triumphs, challenges, and defining moments of its first quarter-century.
The booklet tells the story of SDHA’s humble beginnings in 1926, when hospital leaders gathered for an informal meeting in Huron. The Association was founded on a simple belief: hospitals could accomplish more by working together than by working alone. Early leaders met annually to discuss ways to improve patient care, strengthen hospital operations, and advance health care across South Dakota.
The publication also chronicles the struggles rural hospitals faced following the stock market crash of 1929, through the Great Depression and Dust Bowl years, when many patients simply could not afford medical care. Even during those difficult times, humor served as a coping mechanism. Kienholz included one memorable story in the booklet:
“The challenges were so severe that one story preserved in SDAHO’s history recalled a hotel clerk jokingly asking guests, ‘Do you wish a room to sleep in or to jump out of?'”
While the comment is sobering by today’s standards, it illustrates just how difficult the economic climate had become for hospitals and the communities they served.
The Silver Jubilee history also documents how advocacy became an important part of the Association’s mission. In 1933, SDHA’s Legislative Committee successfully advocated for a portion of South Dakota’s newly established beer tax revenues to be returned to counties to help cover the hospitalization of indigent patients. By August 1, 1951, more than $3 million had been directed back to counties to support hospital care for those in need—an extraordinary accomplishment for its time.
The Association also helped establish the Inter-Allied Council, bringing together health care organizations to coordinate medical and hospital services during the difficult years of the 1930s. That spirit of collaboration laid the foundation for the partnerships that continue to strengthen health care across South Dakota today.
Building for the Future
By the 1940s, South Dakota hospitals were once again looking ahead. The Association supported initiatives that would shape health care for decades to come, including:
- Promoting hospital licensing standards.
- Supporting the development of Blue Cross coverage in South Dakota.
- Participating in regional hospital associations to share ideas and best practices.
- Encouraging hospital expansion to meet the growing health care needs of communities across the state.
Kienholz concluded the history by noting that, by the late 1940s and early 1950s, many new hospitals had been built while existing hospitals expanded to meet the growing demand for health care. Despite rising costs, federal matching funds helped communities increase access to hospital care where additional beds were needed.
He closed the booklet with an invitation that still resonates today:
“Finally—I am sure every member of the South Dakota Hospital Association who reads this sketchy history of the past 25 years will think of certain items of interest which should have been included herein. Might I suggest…that he or she appoint himself or herself as a committee of one to supply that information to me by letter. I, in turn, will assemble all such suggestions and edit them as a supplement to this history…”
More than 75 years later, that invitation continues through From the SDAHO Vault, as we preserve and share stories that have shaped health care in South Dakota.
To view the complete 25-Year History of the South Dakota Hospital Association, click here.
(*Source: “The First 25 Years of the South Dakota Hospital Association,” published as part of SDAHO’s Silver Anniversary history – 1951)
Next month in From the SDAHO Vault: We’ll continue our journey through SDAHO history with another look back at the people, milestones, and moments that shaped health care in South Dakota.
Check out these “From the SDAHO Vault” articles.
- January – A Century Strong: From the SDAHO Vault – the beginning
- February – A Century Strong: From the SDAHO Vault – time got tough
- March – A Century Strong: From the SDAHO Vault – SDHA takes on advocacy
- April – A Century Strong: From the SDAHO Vault the dirty ’30s and the birth of the inter-allied council
- May – A Century Strong: From the SDAHO Vault — raising standards, growing stronger
- June – A Century Strong: From the SDAHO Vault – Sister Flavia: South Dakota’s Florence Nightingale
