In 1913, when the Red River Lumber Company was building its company town, the Great Western Power was in the midst constructing its Big Meadows dam to create nearby Lake Almanor. Great Western Power did  have a resident physician, namely Dr. Fred J. Davis to provide medical care. Red River routinely sought his services. By the fall of 1913, Dr. Davis accepted employment with Red River and remained with the company until 1939 when he moved to Susanville and opened a private practice.

Red River, now with its own physician, now needed some type of medical facility. They made what today we might consider an Urgent Care facility by converting a three-room cottage as an emergency hospital. This was a temporary solution and from the offset it was insufficient to meet Westwood’s needs. However, Red River was waiting to see if legislation concerning the passage of the Workmen’s Compensation Act, would dictate what type of medical care it would be required to provide its employees. The Act passed and went into effect in 1914. Red River had two options, to self-insure the employees or pay into a state insurance fund. In January 1914, Red River held an election concerning an insurance tax. The employees agreed to pay a monthly fee of one-dollar a month for full medical coverage. Shortly thereafter work began on a twenty-bed hospital at 500 Elm Street.  In 1924, as Westwood continued grow, the Red River added a second story and two wings, bringing the capacity to one hundred beds.

In 1955, the Fruit Growers Supply Company, the successor to the Red River Lumber Company announced the closure of the lumber mill, the sole purpose of the town’s existence. There were a lot of unknown variables at the time. Fruit Growers sold the town to liquidators Wershow & Weisz. For a time after the mill closed, the hospital remained open, but the nagging question, how long?  Wershow and Weisz offered the hospital to the County of Lassen, but while they would provide some assistance, they would only be interested if the residents would form a hospital district. With a large percentage of the town’s population moving to greener pastures, that was not an option.

The hospital’s savings grace, came from longtime Westwood physician, Dr. Levin who kept the hospital doors open. However, the operations were drastically curtailed and mainly to provide for emergency aid until a patient could be transported to another hospital and in the meantime, Dr. Levin continued with his practice. In 1972, Levin retired and shortly thereafter the hospital closed.

Never miss a story, click here to support and subscribe.