Sid Peterson Memorial Hospital (SPMH) has a long and proud history of serving the people of the Texas Hill Country. This tradition of service can be traced directly to the founders, whose vision was influenced by their remarkable father. Sid Peterson was a successful businessman who knew the virtue of hard work and honesty. He had three sons, who, like their father, had heart conditions. As a result, the family knew first-hand the immense difficulty of having to travel 60 miles to San Antonio or even 250 miles to Houston to get anything more than the most rudimentary medical attention. When Sid Peterson died in a San Antonio hospital in 1939, two of his sons, Hal and Charlie, vowed that their friends and neighbors in Kerrville and the surrounding areas would have a modern, fully equipped hospital of their own.
Construction began in 1947, and on July 3, 1949, the Sid Peterson Memorial Hospital opened its doors, a fitting legacy for a man who had a deep and abiding affection for his fellow man. Even at the time of its dedication, Sid Peterson Memorial Hospital was a unique facility. Unlike many hospitals in Texas at the time, the hospital was built solely through the Foundation?s private funds and donations. No tax was ever imposed on the residents of the Hill Country to support the construction or operation of the hospital.
In order to attain patient and family satisfaction and to provide quality health care to the communities it serves, Sid Peterson Memorial Hospital provides a wide range of health care services. Among these services are: Cardiopulmonary services offering diagnostic and treatment including continuous mechanical ventilation for patients with acute or chronic lung and cardiac diseases. Rehabilitative Services, for both inpatient and outpatient rehabilitation care, including a broad spectrum of care for both patients within the hospital and the community. The Emergency Department is staffed by specially trained emergency medicine physicians and nurses who are on duty 24 hours to provide immediate treatment for acutely ill or injured patients. It also counts with the aid of Critical Air Medicine, a national medical air transport service.