This photograph of the hospital was originally published Dec. 9, 1950.
Wilkes-Barre Record
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Several residential homes were razed and radio transmission towers moved to make way for what was named the Veterans’ Hospital in Wilkes-Barre in 1946.
Construction began with Congressional Medal of Honor recipient Sgt. Geno J. Merli of Peckville when he shoved the traditional ceremonial shovel into the ground for the 11-story, 475 bed hospital at 3:10 p.m. on April 1, 1948.
The ceremony attracted thousands of people as the Frank Martz Coach Company and Wilkes-Barre Transit Corp. provided bus service to the event.
“Sgt. Geno J. Merli, of Peckville, who as a machine gunner with the 18th Infantry won the Congressional Medal of Honor, lifted the first shovel of earth. Shortly afterward, the spectators had the privilege of seeing a huge black and yellow steam shovel of Mt. Vernon Company, with R.A. Davis in the driver’s seat, lift the first give shovel of dirt from the actual spot where construction will begin. The hospital is expected to be completed in two years,” the Wilkes-Barre Record reported April 2, 1948.
As World War II was coming to an end in 1945, there was an urgent need for a veterans hospital in Northeastern Pennsylvania.
The Veterans Administration in Washington, D.C. had the task of inspecting many locations in the region, settling on 40 acres along East End Boulevard near the highways to New York City and Scranton. Army Inspector Major J. W. Metz of the U.S. Army Construction Department was responsible for selecting the site.
This was a time before Interstate 81 was constructed and the only highways were state Routes 315 and 115.
“Major Metz said the site covers 30 to 40 acres. The location is less than 10 minutes by automobile from Central City Wilkes-Barre, is on paved highways accessible to Scranton by Route 315, and the Effort Mountain and also on the route of the Ashley by-pass. In addition, railroad lines of the Lehigh Valley, Erie, Jersey Central and Delaware and Hudson are all nearby,” the Record reported May 15, 1945.
Other locations inspected by Major Metz for the planned veterans’ hospital were in Edwardsville, Kingston, Courtdale, Forty Fort and Swoyersville.
Once the site was selected, the Wyoming Valley Chamber of Commerce established the Veterans’ Hospital Finance Committee to raise funds to purchase and raze residential homes and relocate radio transmission towers.
“Wilkes-Barre’s new Veterans Administration Hospital along East End Boulevard will be formally dedicated Sunday afternoon at 2,” the Record reported Dec. 9, 1950.
When opened, the $12 million hospital was considered one of the finest hospitals in the country.
“The 11-story, multi-winged building that stands atop the southern rim of the Wyoming Valley like a medical beacon can be described, in fact, as a perfect example of the vast transition in construction techniques that has taken place in the last quarter of a century,” reported the Record.
The newspaper reported at least 40 various trades groups, from welders, pipe fitters, plumbers, electricians, masonry contractors, electricians and carpenters took part in the hospital’s construction.
More than 5,000 people were on-hand when the Veterans’ Hospital officially opened.