Three American nurses, Blanche and Katherine Belknap and Marianna Dethloff, moved their small hospital from Galeton, Pennsylvania to Bath in 1904.  They found dedicated doctors to help, and on May 1, 1910, the first Bath Hospital opened with Dr. Douglas Smith and Dr. Henry J. Wynkoop as chief surgeons.  Its home was the former land office of the Pulteney Estate on Liberty Street, just west of the Presbyterian Church.

In 1912, a school of nursing was started and was continued until 1940.  There were then three nurses working at the hospital who graduated from the nursing school.

As Bath grew and prospered, the demands for hospital care increased.  In 1916, the hospital was moved to 115 East Steuben Street at the residence of the late Dr. Alexis H. Cruttenden.  The adjacent F.F. Rowe residence was bought and the two houses connected.

Then in 1935, the building was deeded to present voluntary, non-profit Membership Corporation, which then deeded it to the Village of Bath.  The village floated a $55,000 bond issue and with further aid of $45,000 from a federal grant plus individual donations, built a new three-story center section to the older building and changed the name to the Bath Memorial Hospital.  For the first time it became a municipal hospital.

In 1955, to provide the necessary hospital services for approximately 30,000 people in the area served by the hospital, the hospital corporation began raising funds to build a new structure, centrally located on a picturesque thirty-three acre site just north of Bath, overlooking Keuka Lake.

A survey to determine the needed facilities was made, a formal campaign for capital building funds conducted, federal participation obtained under the Hill-Burton program, and a large contribution was presented by the former Davenport Home for Female Orphan Children.

After nearly 100 years of outstanding public service, the Davenport Home was closed in 1958 when there was no longer any need for its facilities.  The trustees of the hospital and the Davenport Home voted to form a new corporation to operate the new hospital.  This corporation was brought into existence on November 3, 1958.

The result of this activity was a new, modern hospital of 66 beds.  The hospital opened in the summer of 1960 at a total project cost of $1,600,000.  The citizens of the area, the Davenport Home, and the Federal Government provided the funds for this new hospital in nearly equal amounts.

As the hospital plan grew and changed with the demands of the community, so did the quality of patient care. A Personnel Director was added in 1977 when the average number of employees had grown from about 90 in 1947 to about 200 in 1977.  These added employees represent the addition of many healthcare services.

• A Physical Therapy Department was added in 1972.
• A Respiratory Therapy Department was added in 1974.
• An Intensive Care Unit was added about 1966.  It was remodeled and enlarged to three stations in 1972.
• In 1977, the original construction started for the Keuka Medical Arts Building, and in 1980 we found it necessary to add on additional offices. The structure can now accommodate several physicians.
  • Ultrasound services were added to our Radiology Department in 1983.
  • The Fred & Harriett Taylor Health Center (skilled nursing facility) was opened in 1990, and continues today under a single corporate Board of Directors with 120 beds.
• The Emergency Department was modernized and expanded in 1998.
• In 2007, the Hospital officially de-certified 28 acute care beds to its current complement of 35 medical-surgical beds and 3 ICU level beds.
• The surgical suite was modernized in 2005,
• The Imaging Department was expanded and renovated in 2008.
• A new 5,300 square foot outpatient Rehabilitation Services facility was opened on the campus in 2008.

Additionally, Ira Davenport Memorial Hospital maintains the busy Article 28 Family Health Center in the Village of Bath providing dental and medical clinic services to the community.  There is also a part-time clinic in Avoca, New York.

Even as the healthcare industry has changed dramatically in recent years, the leadership of Ira Davenport Memorial Hospital and the Fred and Harriett Taylor Health Center remain committed to meeting the healthcare needs of the greater Bath and Hammondsport area with quality services.