History

Adventist Health Columbia Gorge has been serving the community of The Dalles as a healthcare provider since 1901. The history of the hospital is one of vision, continuous growth, and the power of community. 

Founded by local residents for local residents

1901: Hospital was established in the Rinehart family home by pioneers Dr. Belle Cooper Rinehart and Dr. Mary Powell Johnson. 

1903: Rinehart family home is expanded to enlarge the hospital that becomes known as The Dalles Hospital. 

1959: The Dalles Hospital moves into the new facility built on 19th Street and funded by donations from local residents, businesses, physicians, and hospital staff. 

1979: Twenty years after being built, the 19th Street facility is expanded by 20,000 square feet to accommodate more patients, more beds, and other improvements. 

1982: Hospital begins offering on-site childcare. 

1983: Name is changed to Mid-Columbia Medical Center (MCMC) to more accurately reflect its emergence as a regional resource for comprehensive healthcare. 

1983: The Mid-Columbia Health Foundation is established to provide financial support to MCMC and help ensure local residents have access to quality healthcare close to home. 

1992: MCMC becomes the first hospital in the nation to implement the Planetree philosophy of patient care throughout the hospital, which emphasizes the need to address a person’s intellectual, environmental, emotional, and spiritual concerns in addition to their physical needs. 

2001: MCMC opens Celilo Cancer Center, the only comprehensive cancer center in the Gorge. 

2009: Water’s Edge is opened on Lone Pine Boulevard, featuring a medical fitness center and nontraditional therapies. 

2016: MCMC expands into Hood River to increase the availability of health care services in the Gorge. 

2018: MCMC named a Top Workplace by The Oregonian, based entirely on employee feedback. 

2019: MCMC adds 3D mammography, the latest technology in breast cancer detection, to its imaging services. 

2020: In the middle of the COVID-19 pandemic, MCMC opens the region’s only Immediate Care Center, a walk-in clinic for urgently needed care. 

2021: MCMC partners with Adventist Health Northwest Heart Center to bring nationally recognized cardiovascular services to The Dalles.

2023: MCMC becomes Adventist Health Columbia Gorge, part of the Adventist Health network of care.