OZH LAST PAGE


The Legacy Phone Booth


BY DWAIN HEBDA PHOTOGRAPHY BY JAMES MOORE


T


he Ozarks Healthcare Phone Booth is a familiar sight to long-timers, but newer patients and staff may not know its significance and history. Mildred Young spent 30 years working in and


managing the hospital laundry, and 21 years after that as a vol- unteer. She remembers the phone booth as a fixture near the waiting room. “I remember it up in the front of the hospital when the hos- pital was first built,” she said. “My youngest daughter was born there May 16, 1959, and the hospital opened in March of 1959, if I’m not mistaken.” Ruth Warren, who will retire in 2022 after 48 years of em- ployment, said the phone booth was a popular amenity for pa- tients’ families.


“It was located in the hallway off the admission office, near the front entrance by the waiting room,” she said. “It was be- fore cell phones, so families used that to call family and give them updates on patients or call and announce a birth.” Retaining the booth and putting it on display as a reminder of the hospital’s past is a nice touch, Warren said. “In those days, phone booths were fairly common, but you no


longer see phone booths anywhere,” she said. “This one is the actual wooden booth itself, from the original building. I think a lot of the elders in the community will remember it. It’s just unique to what you would have seen anyplace else.” “It does remind you of how far we’ve come, because (the hos- pital) has come a long way, and there have been a lot of up- grades and things,” Young said. “The hospital has really been a blessing to this community.”


It was before cell phones, so families used that to call family


and give them updates on patients or call and announce a birth.


- Ruth Warren - 40 | OZARKS HEALTHCARE | FALL/WINTER 2022


“ ”


Page 1  |  Page 2  |  Page 3  |  Page 4  |  Page 5  |  Page 6  |  Page 7  |  Page 8  |  Page 9  |  Page 10  |  Page 11  |  Page 12  |  Page 13  |  Page 14  |  Page 15  |  Page 16  |  Page 17  |  Page 18  |  Page 19  |  Page 20  |  Page 21  |  Page 22  |  Page 23  |  Page 24  |  Page 25  |  Page 26  |  Page 27  |  Page 28  |  Page 29  |  Page 30  |  Page 31  |  Page 32  |  Page 33  |  Page 34  |  Page 35  |  Page 36  |  Page 37  |  Page 38  |  Page 39  |  Page 40  |  Page 41  |  Page 42  |  Page 43  |  Page 44