Anderson Memorial Medical Center                    Norway, Michigan       www.andersonmemorial.com

Facility History

From its earliest days, Norway has had its own healthcare facilities. After the demise of the mining industry in the early 20th century, the handsome brick facility which had been the headquarters of the Penn Iron Mining Company became the Penn Hospital, and it served the community until 1960, when the new Anderson Memorial Hospital was opened.

In the mid 1950s, as the city was searching for a site for its new hospital, their peferred location was a vacant property on Main Street, between Fourth and Fifth avenues. There was a small playground on the lot, and during the winter it was flooded an served as the city's second skating rink. The land was owned by the family of John E. Anderson, a pioneer resident of the community who had established the Chevrolet & Oldsmobile dealership across the street from the vacant property, Anderson Motors.

In addition to his business interests, John E, as he was called, had invested in the future of the community, buying and platting several additions to the city. He was a partner with his brother, Gust, in a lumber business, and owned Spring Valley Farm, west of Norway on Kimberly Road.

John E, born in Sweden in 1868, had emigrated as a young man. He married Johanna Gustafson, who had also come from Sweden, and they had five sons (Einar, Ivar, Enfred, Rueben, and Arvid). A daughter (Edith) died as an infant; Ivar died in 1939.

The four remaining sons continued in various businesses in the area. When approached about the availability of the Main Street site for a hospital, they offered the land to the City of Norway with the stipulation that the hospital would be named in honor of their parents. The facility was dedicated in 1960 as the Anderson Memorial Hospital.

Eventually the Dickinson County Healthcare System (DCHS) took over administration of the Anderson Memorial Hospital. When DCHS planned a new hospital in Iron Mountain, part of their justification rested on the closing of Anderson Memorial in Norway. With completion of the new hospital in the mid 1990s, the Norway operations were phased out.

A number of medical professionals with offices and patients in Norway, plus many residents of the Norway area, made it clear that they wanted some level of medical care to remain available within the community. In October 1997, title to the former Anderson Memorial Hospital building was turned over to the City of Norway. The Anderson family worked with the care providers and the community to put this facility back into service. The Anderson Memorial Endowment Fund (AMEF) was set up as a non-profit entity to restoring, attracting, and maintaining healthcare services in the community.

In the fall of 2000 it was certified as a Rural Medical Center, and reopened for business as the Anderson Memorial Medical Center, under the authority of the City of Norway. On September 1, 2001, the title to the facility was transferred from the City to AMEF.

We look forward to many years of service to the residents of Norway and the surrounding area.