Thayer Center for Health Celebrates 75 Years

The Thayer Center for Health Celebrates 75 Years!

On the morning of Nov. 15, 1951, the opening of the Thayer Center for Health at its new location on North St. in Waterville signaled the dawning of a new day for health care in Central Maine.

The idea was a novel one at the time: to establish a location with a collection of medical professionals to offer a more comprehensive style of care - one that would allow primary care practices to be situated with specialty services in the same building.

That idea stands true to this day at Thayer. In fact, Thayer is still Maine's largest outpatient center including same-day surgery and a 24/7 emergency department!

Important Dates

Interesting Facts

Photos from the Archives

(A photo of FC Thayer, for whom Thayer Hospital Associates, and later the Thayer Center for Health, was named)

Important Dates in the History of the Thayer Center for Health:

• Feb. 22, 1931 - A non-profit named Thayer Hospital Associates is founded by six area physicians in the former home of Dr. Frederick Thayer on Main St. in Waterville.
• June 7, 1950 - An official groundbreaking ceremony is held at the selected site on North St. in Waterville.
• Sept. 3, 1950 - A cornerstone is placed at the entrance. You can still see the cornerstone at the entrance to the Thayer Emergency Department.
• Nov. 11, 1951 - A dedication ceremony was held at 2 p.m. with community tours held for the following three days.
• Nov. 15, 1951 - Official opening day and patient move day from the old Thayer location.
• 1964 - The Dean Rehabilitation Center opens.
• 1966 - The Dean Conference & Education Center opens.
• June 1, 1975 - Thayer Hospital and Elizabeth Ann Seton Hospital Merge.
• July 1, 1997 - MaineGeneral Health is born from the merger of Kennebec Valley Health and Mid-Maine health systems.
• Oct. 25, 2014 - Renovations are completed allowing for more space and services.
• 2026 and beyond - Thayer continues to evolve as community needs change. You'll find services including primary care, specialty services, same-day surgery, robot-assisted surgery, lab services and much more.

(A drawing in the nursing section of Thayer's first annual report in 1952)

Interesting Facts from Thayer's History!

• As money was being raised to build Thayer, a movie titled "Why Wait for a Million" was produced encouraging the community to begin construction before the total amount needed of $1 million was raised.
• The hospital opened with 112 full-time and 10 part-time employees. Among the full-time employees, there were:
  • 67 medical staff members
  • 45 support staff members
    
    
  • Today, many of our medical staff members work in multiple locations, but as of November 1, 2026, Thayer boasted 721 total staff members who work there in some capacity - with the largest segments being nurses at 208 and imaging professionals with 133.
• Nurses in the hospital were originally identified by their role or school by the type of cap they wore. Today, you will see nurses wearing different colored scrubs to easily identify their department.
• The new location allowed for physical therapy services and a dedicated blood bank. In its first year the blood bank received 392 pints of blood and performed 233 transfusions.
• Statistics from the first year in operation:
  • Total number of patient days = 18,496
  • Lab exams = 25,360
  • X-rays = 5,153
  • Surgeries = 1651
  • ER patients = 815
    
    

  • To put Thayer's growth in context, this past year we performed 4,365 surgeries at Thayer, and saw an average of 2,200 visits each month, totaling 26,400 visits!

• In the 1920s William T. Bovie, PhD, a native of Fairfield, Maine, is credited with creating the electrocautery for surgery which is commonly known as the Bovie. He moved back to Fairfield in 1939 where he taught at Colby College and collaborated with the physicians at Thayer Hospital. His house in Fairfield is on the National Register and is known as the Connor-Bovie House!

• Dr. Hiester Richard Hornberger Jr., writing under the pseudonym Richard Hooker, penned the novel "MASH" that inspired the television series and worked as a surgeon at Thayer until his retirement in 1988.

Photos from the Thayer Archives

The original Thayer Hospital Associates location on Main St. in Waterville

A set of tools and a ribbon from the President of the Maine Medical Association, dated 1937

The founders of Thayer Hospital Association - John P. Goodrich, MD, Frederick T. Hill, MD, Howard F. Hill, MD, Arthur H McQuillan, MD, John O. Piper, MD, and James E. Poulin, MD

Color concept art of Thayer Hospital & Mansfield Clinic created by James H. Ritchie & Associates - Architects & Engineers

The cornerstone of Thayer, set when construction began in 1950. You can still see this on the right side of Thayer's Emergency Department

Construction in progress in 1951

One of the original group photos featuring the medical staff of Thayer, taken in 1952

Nurses demonstrating patient transportation during a tour shortly after Thayer opened

An aerial photo taken after the opening

A meeting of the Maine Hospital Association in the 1950s. Thayer representatives included Dr. FT Hill, Pearl Fisher, RN and Raymond Sloan

An ad promoting a radio broadcast on WTVL that recounted the history of Thayer

Dr. Charles Towne, Polly Turbyne, RN and Dr. Kenneth Sewall performing a surgery at Thayer in the 1970s

The OR outfit worn by original MASH author, Richard Hooker

Concept drawing of the Dean Rehabilitation and Auditorium

Thayer's Dean Auditorium as it originally looked shortly after opening in the 1970s

The entrance to Thayer's Emergency Department as it stands today

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