Westfield Memorial Hospital

ur Mission

The Westfield Memorial Hospital, Inc., is a private, voluntary, not-for-profit primary care hospital operated mainly for the benefit of the citizens of Northern Chautauqua County, New York. The hospital strives to provide primary inpatient, ambulatory, outpatient, emergency, and outreach services which address the changing needs of the community and which are of optimal quality consistent with available resources and regional standards of care.

In its efforts to expand, emphasis will be placed on primary care, expanding the outpatient services, physician recruitment and increasing community awareness and support for all Westfield Memorial Hospital programs and services.

ur History

The Westfield Memorial Hospital was founded in 1942 with funds raised by a group of local Rotarians. It was during the time of World War II and most physicians were called to serve in the military. The hospital founders felt they could improve the effectiveness of the remaining physicians by providing them a hospital.

The original Westfield Memorial Hospital was a brick Italianate structure facing East Main Street and was guarded by two black cast iron Newfoundland dogs (named Canton and Sailor, by the way). The building was constructed in 1853 by Dr. John Spencer, who later served as a physician in the Union Army during the Civil War.

In those days, physicians studied medicine not in school, but with other physicians. One of Dr. Spencer's most notable pupils was a certain B. R. Goodrich who gave up the practice of medicine for the rubber business.

Another subsequently famous visitor to the building was an itinerant Scandinavian carpenter named Jacob A. Riis who worked on one of its many renovations. Mr. Riis became a well-known author, philanthropist and friend of Theodore Roosevelt during the latter part of the 19th and beginning of the 20th centuries.

Additions were made to the original hospital in 1948, 1968 and 1981. The 1981 wing contains the hospital's modern operating/recovery suite and emergency department. That construction also included a diesel-operated electric generator, ensuring continuous electrical power during local black-outs. In 1999, a building renovation expanding outpatient services and emergency services was completed.

Westfield Memorial Hospital provides its patients with a wide range of services including cardiac stress testing and rehabilitation, physical therapy, ultrasound, mammography and CT scan services. Our laboratory performs more than 150 different tests on blood and urine, with special tests performed at our reference lab and results promptly returned. Similarly, our radiology department meets our patients X-ray needs and a radiologist is on-call 24 hours a day for emergencies.

We are affiliated with Saint Vincent Health System in Erie, Pennsylvania, and the Children's Hospital of Buffalo, New York. These relationships provide our nursing and medical staffs access to continuing education programs to remain on the cutting edge of their respective professions.

Westfield Memorial Hospital is a member of the Regional Heart Network, a group of area hospitals using state-of-the-art care for heart attack emergencies.

Westfield Memorial Hospital is a voluntary, not-for-profit acute care hospital located in Northern Chautauqua County of New York. Established in 1942, the hospital's primary service area now consists of 11 townships in a 300-square-mile rural area of northwestern Chautauqua County.

apabilities and Services

For more than half a century, Westfield Memorial Hospital has provided high quality health care to residents of western New York. Through new technologies, services and partnerships, Westfield Memorial Hospital has evolved over the years to offer patients the most sophisticated medical advancements--while keeping the ease and familiarity of a community hospital. Our facility includes 29 medical/surgical beds, three maternity beds and an outpatient department offering a range of diagnostic and treatment services.

Westfield Memorial Hospital also offers ambulatory surgery, cardiac rehabilitation, CT scanning and ultrasound. We provide such community outreach services as a prostate cancer support group, cardiac support group and a variety of wellness programs.

As an affiliate of Saint Vincent Health System in Erie, Pennsylvania, Westfield Memorial Hospital now offers direct access to highly specialized care, including the convenience of on-site physician specialists. And with a newly modernized facility staffed by the area's finest physicians and medical professionals, we are committed to meeting the health care needs of area families for years to come.

ontact Information

Westfield Memorial Hospital
189 E. Main Street
Westfield, New York 14787-1195
Telephone: (716) 326-4921
Facsimile: (716) 326-3802
E-Mail: webmaster@wmhinc.org
Website: http://www.wmhinc.org/

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