South Shore Hospital (Images of America)

South Shore Hospital is a dynamic regional medical center renowned for its culture of healing, caring, and comforting, as well as its top-notch medical and nursing care for thousands of patients a year. Opened as Weymouth Hospital in 1922, the hospital's founders set a standard unusual for the day: they insisted patients receive excellent care regardless of ability to pay and required the hospital be self-supporting. From these seemingly contradictory values grew an enduring legacy. Balancing these values produced many first-in-the-region innovations. The hospital boldly invested in advanced medical equipment and insisted on extraordinarily high clinical standards that won honors nationally. Before Weymouth Hospital welcomed its first patient in its pre-Civil War mansion, the seriously ill were transported to Boston hospitals by train or streetcar, because travel by automobile was difficult, if not downright dangerous. In its first six months, the hospital outgrew the mansion and nearly doubled its size, beginning a pattern of robust growth to meet ever-increasing need. Overcoming the financial hardships of the Depression, surmounting the scarcities of World War II, and managing the region's explosive growth, the hospital's story exemplifies courage in the face of challenges.