Medical services at the Homestake Mining Company, one of the pioneers in the United States in the field of industrial health services, first began in 1877, when the company contracted with Dr. D. K. Dickinson to furnish medical and surgical services. Employees originally paid into a hospital fund, but in 1910 all charges were dropped and employees and their immediate families became eligible for free care.
In 1879 the company established its first company hospital in a four-room hewed log cabin on Main Street between Wall and Gold. This log cabin was used until 1886, when it was replaced by a two-story frame structure which had been built at the location seen here. This second hospital was then replaced in 1923 by a modern brick building. The old frame structure was never actually destroyed; the new one was built around it, and the old building served as part of the core.
The company's brick hospital was eventually razed in 1985, having been replaced by the Black Hills Medical Center, which had been built by Homestake in Deadwood. The site of the old hospital in Lead was cleared and landscaped for use as a new city park.
Comments 0 comments