In 1946, Dr. Merritt C. Horning envisioned building a “total health center” in Paradise, California. Dr. Horning shared this vision with three of his colleagues: Dr. Dean Hoiland, Dr. C.C. Landis and Dr. Glenn Blackwelder. These men, along with other community leaders, purchased from Paradise Irrigation District for the price of back taxes – $3,500. Within the next few years, additional acreage was acquired throughout several purchases, eventually totaling. Labor and building materials were largely acquired through donations and volunteers. Construction was scheduled to begin in April 1948, however, at the time funding was not available to build surgical and obstetrical units. When applying to the State of California for an operating license, the hospital board learned that the hospital did not qualify for a license unless it had a surgical unit. Dr. Horning contacted a friend, the state director of public health, and soon a new hospital classification was created to accommodate the project. Within days, Feather River received a license to operate as an acute medical facility containing 18 beds and officially opened in 1950. Feather River has experienced three “firsts” in their geographical region. It was the only hospital in the area to train nurse assistants; they pioneered the teen volunteer program of candystripers and handystripers, and the facility was the first public building in Butte County to prohibit smoking. In 1952, a surgery unit was added and by the end of the decade, a new wing also had been completed. More space was soon needed, so in 1964 a new food service department and a physician's office building was added. Four years later, in 1968, the construction of a new 150-bed hospital was completed. This facility is located uphill from the original building which now houses the hospital's Health Center. The hospital founders and trustees desired to ensure the facility's long-term mission as an Adventist health care center and so in 1960 they entrusted the hospital to the Northern California Conference of Seventh-day Adventists. On January 8, 1973, Feather River joined Adventist Health and became Adventist Health/Feather River Hospital. Feather River Hospital first closed in 2008, because of the Humboldt Fire. In 2017, the name was changed to Adventist Health Feather River. On November 8, 2018, Adventist Health Feather River was partially destroyed by the Camp Fire. This fast moving wildfire propelled by high winds leveled a large portion of Paradise. This fire was the most destructive in California history.
Surrounding hospitals stepped up to take care of the patients that would normally be going to Adventist Health Feather River the largest business in Paradise, which will not reopen until 2020, forcing 1,300 employees to be laid off and work at other hospitals and clinics in the area. And some employees have left the state to find work. The buildings that survived the fire were the hospital, the cancer center, the emergency department, the maternity ward, the outpatient surgery center and one clinic. The buildings that were destroyed were offices, clinics, cardiology building, radiology building and maintenance building.
Recovery
In October 2019, people gathered togethered at Adventist Health Feather River after Senate Bill 156 was approved by the state legislature. This allows the emergency room to operate without a hospital-the first in the history of the state of California.
