How Mee Memorial Hospital got its name
By Barbara Starkey
South County Magazine
October 2009

Much attention has been thrust upon our Mee Memorial Hospital over the last several years.
Its past and future have been scrutinized, talked about and written about.  Personnel from Wellspring Partners have been working long hours over many months to assist our troubled Mee Memorial, each one contributing his or her own expertise and loving attention to the areas of illness that our hospital has slumped into.  This has been done under the careful eye of Richard Namerow, Managing Director of Wellspring Partners.  Newcomers to King City often have asked how Mee got its name.  One such person to ask is our new permanent CEO of Mee Memorial, Lex Smith.  Another more recently is our now permanent CFO, Susan Childers.
    I remember years ago when I came to King City I had wondered the same thing.  I had found the answer in Harry Casey’s book “43 years of Casing the Town,” which Ed Copley, a long-time resident of King City, had loaned me Ed has always been willing to loan his historical books to me and I truly appreciate it.
    Another interesting aspect in this vein also would be about the doctors that have been a part of King City’s history, the birthing house and the doctor who rode the countryside to minister wellness on his motorcycle.  That is another whole story to explore. 
    We do appreciate our Mee Memorial as many small communities do without a hospital and now we can relate our hospital with Fort Hunter Liggett and the Soledad Correction Facility.  The helicopter pad which sits outside the emergency room is a sign of confidence and security to us.
    On October 1, 1962 Mee Memorial opened after it had started in 1958 with a Hill-Burton grant of around $600,000 and a donation from Myrtle and George Mee of Peachtree Valley.  It seems that E.L. (Gene) Rianda came to Harry Casey to discuss the possibility of a new hospital.  Then they met with L.M. “Doc” Andrus and all were sold on the idea.  Two more, not to be forgotten were Al Kaiser and Dr. Len Hughes Andrus.
    Raising money was the big problem, of course, and the men continued to work on the idea.  The Hill-Burton grand was ready but there was $286,640 to be raised to qualify.  Still short they were of $150,000. 
    Harry Casey, in this book, tells about he, L.H. Andrus and Jim Pettitt taking Tom Mee to lunch at Keefer’s (then on Broadway) in hopes of convincing Tom Mee to contribute $25,000 to memorialize his late father, George (of the Peach Tree ranch.)  The cost of constructing a room was $25,000.
    It seems that L.H. Andrus and Pettitt made impressive pitches to Tom was was listening more attentively.
    Then Tom asked “How much for the whole thing?  How much to put your fund drive over the top?” 
Jim answered, “$150,000.”
Tom told him, “You got it, buddy boy.”
Harry Casey writes: “That was it.  Tom sold the purebred cattle herd and the hospital began construction.”
In gratitude the hospital was named after George L. Mee who was one of the state’s outstanding cattlemen of his time.
I imagine the reason I remembered this story for so many years was because of the ending that Harry Casey put to the article about naming the hospital.  I quote Harry Casey in this book of October 1994:
I shared the happiness and enthusiasm of my colleagues after that luncheon with Tom Mee.  On my way home I stopped off to visit my grandmother and business partner of those days, Sarah Vivian.
“Well, gran’ma.  We put the hospital fund over the top today.  One man gave the entire $150,000 that was needed!”
“Oh,” said gran’ma.  “That’s nice. Who?”
“Mee,” I answered.
“YOU!” gasped gran’ma.  And passed out.
And THAT is how the George L. Mee Hospital got its name!