In 1911, the Hollingsworth & Whitney Company, a logging operation which became Scott Paper Company, erected a large brick building in Greenville Junction to serve as the regional YMCA and 10-bed hospital. Many of the more than 2000 employees of this company needed housing and health care while working in the forests of the Moosehead Lake region. The president of Hollingsworth & Whitney was Charles Augustus Dean of Wellesley, Massachusetts, whose vision and commitment brought about the free-standing hospital we know today.

The only physician who practiced in the area at this time Hiram Hunt, MD. In 1906, Dr. Hunt was joined by Frederick J. Pritham, MD, who served the medical facility and the community for half a century. Together, Drs. Hunt and Pritham delivered babies, healed the sick and mended injured lumberjacks.

Original building circa 1920.
Photo taken from the current front entrance to the hospital.

By 1914, it became clear that a larger hospital was needed, and Dean financed and began the construction of a 22-bed, fully equipped medical facility. The construction was completed in 1917; in addition, a 2-story residence for the nurses was completed at that time. The hospital was actually incorporated in the state of Massachusetts since it was Dean's residence as well as several board members. At the time it opened, the charge for a ward bed was $2.00, $3,00 for a private room, and $4.00 for special services.

With the death of Hiram Hunt in 1919, Dr. Pritham was the only physician in the area. He was soon joined in 1920 by Dr. Norman Nickerson who also practiced in Greenville for several decades. For many years, the hospital flourished as did the Moosehead Lake region.

In 1941, the Board of Directors voted to apply for affiliation with the State of Maine, and incorporated in Maine as the Charles A. Dean "Memorial" Hospital.

Following World War II, the hospital encountered difficulty, and turned to the community for assistance in order to remain open. A major fund drive was launched in 1947. This effort was joined in 1948 by the newly formed Hospital Auxiliary, which continues to this day as an active group of individuals devoted to the welfare and success of the hospital in its mission to serve the region.

Throughout the 1950's and 1960's, C.A. Dean provided health care to the employees of Hollingsworth and Whitney and to the Scott Paper Company. In 1967, construction on a new hospital began adjacent to the old one and the building was completed in 1968. An official dedication took place in October of that year. Consequently, the nursing home moved to the old, original hospital. In 1984, a new nursing home was built to accommodate spacing needs on the C. A. Dean campus.

In 1978, the hospital entered into an affiliation agreement with Mid-Maine Medical Center in Waterville. The relationship with Mid-Maine Medical Center endured until 1998, when C.A. Dean became a member of Eastern Maine Healthcare (EMH).

EMH is a healthcare system serving central, eastern, and northern Maine and is a full service system that spans the continuum of care. It is comprised of several member hospitals and subsidiary organizations.