KSB Hospital

Katherine Shaw Bethea Hospital is a hospital in Dixon, Illinois. KSB Hospital is an 80-bed acute care facility providing comprehensive ancillary services, including emergency medicine, obstetrics, inpatient psychiatry, a cardiovascular laboratory, outpatient surgery, inpatient surgery, and intensive care, among others.

In May 1895 Judge Solomon Hicks Bethea purchased land for $3,500 and gave it to the City of Dixon for the establishment of a hospital in the memory of his wife, Katherine Shaw Bethea, who in her short lifetime had been deeply interested in the establishment of a hospital for Dixon, and during her last illness frequently expressed the wish that such work might be accomplished in the near future.

On May 27, 1895, Mayor Charles H. Hughes informed the City Council of this gift. An ordinance was passed to establish and maintain a hospital for the use and benefit of the citizens of Dixon. This ordinance, dated November 1, 1895, also stated that the Mayor, with the approval of the City Council, appoint a board of nine women directors chosen from the citizens at large, which would be authorized to accept the donations of money and real or personal property in the name of the hospital.

The hospital began its activities January 5, 1897 with 17 beds. The funds for the first building, which cost $7,250, were raised by individuals, churches, and city organizations.

In 1909 Judge Bethea died, leaving his Palmyra farmlands to the hospital as an endowment.

Shortly after the hospital was opened, the KSB Hospital School for Nurses began educating young women who studied for a three-year term to become registered nurses.

In 1913 a third story and an addition was added creating a 40 bed capacity. This was financed by Miss Elizabeth Shaw, sister of Katherine Shaw Bethea, and one of the first hospital board members.

In 1925, the Nurses Home, providing housing for 25 nurses, was built at a cost of $38,000.

Another addition was built in 1926 at a cost of $47,000, enlarging the hospital to a 60 bed capacity and adding two solaria for the comfort and enjoyment of patients.

The generosity of Dr. Samuel Houston of Polo and the perseverance of the board members, under the able leadership of Mrs. W. H. Coppins, made possible the 1941 addition which cost $130,000. This provided 13 new private rooms, 4 semi‑private rooms, two additional five-bed wards, a nursery, an operating room, an x‑ray room, and kitchen and dining rooms. This addition brought KSB Hospital to an 89-bed capacity.

In November 1957, the board authorized a $1,250,000 hospital expansion program and launched a drive for $750,000 in public subscriptions to finance the major portion of the project. A half‑million dollars in capital funds was already in hand from Miss Bess P. Eells, Miss Helen Brinton, the Ford Foundation and other gifts and bequests which had been accumulated over a period of years.

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