William F. Jarman, the principal founder of the Sarah A. Jarman Memorial Hospital, was born in Kentucky in 1843.  His life long dream, the Sarah A. Jarman Memorial Hospital, accepted its first patient on April 1, 1919. Considered to be state-of-the-art in all safety and artistic characteristics at the time, the Hospital had seen over 1,100 patients by 1921.  The Hospital’s track record in the first two years – only 23 deaths – was truly an accomplishment in its time.

In its early days, the Hospital worked with the city of Tuscola and township of Newman to purchase an x-ray machine, and at the same time obtain laboratory equipment from nearby Tuscola residents. With these acquisitions, Sarah A. Jarman Memorial Hospital had the finest equipment around.

To furnish offices, solariums, the dining room and kitchen, as well as patient rooms, the Hospital sought help from churches, local societies and individuals. By all accounts, Sarah A. Jarman Memorial Hospital was a community collaboration, drawing support from all parts of Douglas County.

By the mid 1970s, however, the Hospital’s physical and financial conditions were in disrepair.  Due to the facility’s age, it was not economically feasible to repair the old the Hospital, but instead leadership looked to consolidate services elsewhere in the county.

On June 1, 1990, Sarah A. Jarman Memorial Hospital permanently closed. Although the Hospital treated about 20% of the county, it had been subsidized by as much as $400,000 a year from the county’s general budget, and $350,000 per year in retirement benefits, employee expenses and insurance.

The Douglas County Museum now houses many of the artifacts from Sarah A. Jarman Memorial Hospital, including a metal rocking chair and cradle stand used in the nursery, as well as scrapbooks kept by the hospital staff.

The location now houses a senior living center.

Photographs from Tuscola.org.