Jim Kershner’s This day in history » On the Web: spokesman.com/topics/local-history

From our archives, 60 years ago

A crowd of 5,000 people gathered to dedicate the new Spokane Veterans Administration Hospital in 1950 – although it wasn’t quite ready to receive patients yet.

Only two doctors were on staff and 12 more were on the way. More equipment and nurses were also on the way. The hospital manager said the eight-story, 200-bed hospital should be open for patients within a month.

But that didn’t dampen enthusiasm at the dedication. Thousands of people toured the new hospital.

It was on the site of the former Baxter Army Hospital, which had been erected hastily in 1942 to treat World War II casualties. Baxter consisted of a complex of about 150 wooden buildings, each roof marked with a large red cross. At its peak, it had 1,500 beds.

Baxter closed in 1945 and the wooden buildings were either moved to other sites at area high schools and colleges or demolished.

The Veterans Administration eventually decided to use the old site for this “modernistic” new hospital. It has since evolved into the Spokane Veterans Affairs Medical Center.

Also on this date

(From the Associated Press)

1981: Sandra Day O’Connor was sworn in as the first female justice on the U.S. Supreme Court.