11/11/2025
🇺🇸 Honoring Our Veterans — and the Legacy They Built 🇺🇸
Today, on Veterans Day, we pause to honor the men and women who have served our nation—and to reflect on the proud history that connects their service to Kittson Healthcare itself.
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🔷A Legacy of Service: How Kittson Healthcare Began as a War Veterans Memorial Hospital
In the early days of Kittson County, healthcare wasn’t found in a facility—it was found at home. Families cared for their sick as best they could, and doctors traveled long distances by foot, horse-drawn buggy, or even snow sled to visit patients in need. It was a challenging system, and many in the community suffered from the lack of immediate medical access.
Among the earliest physicians to serve the region were Dr. Eric Engson, Dr. Charles Goar, and Dr. J.B. Muir. In 1903, a young doctor named Arthur W. Shaleen, M.D. began practicing in Hallock. His dedication to medicine—and later, to his country—would change the future of healthcare in Kittson County forever.
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🔷A Vision Sparked by Sacrifice
After serving in World War I, Dr. Shaleen returned home with a vision: to build a hospital that would both serve the local community and honor the brave Kittson County men who gave their lives in the war. At the time, citizens were still hesitant about the idea of a hospital. Two prior attempts to build one had failed. Many believed a simple first-aid station would suffice.
But the reality was heartbreaking. Residents in need of surgery were being transported—often by train—to distant cities like Warren or Crookston. Some, tragically, never made it. At a town meeting, one father tearfully recounted how his daughter died en route to surgery for a ruptured appendix. His plea helped ignite the county’s support.
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🔷A Community Rises to the Challenge
Dr. Shaleen, along with the support of the American Legion and local residents, spearheaded the movement to build a true hospital. Instead of a monument in the park, they would build something that could save lives—a living memorial to the county’s war heroes.
In 1919, a nonprofit corporation was formed: Kittson County War Veterans Memorial Hospital, Inc. The community came together, with over 500 local residents investing in the project through stock shares. An architect with ties to the Mayo Clinic and Cleveland Clinic designed the building, ensuring it met the highest standards of care and sanitation. The cornerstone was laid on Memorial Day, May 30, 1921.
Less than a year later, on March 27, 1922, the hospital opened its doors.
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🔷A Facility Rooted in Respect
The original hospital was a two-story, 23-bed facility with modern amenities for its time: running hot and cold water in each room, dedicated obstetrics and nursery areas, and an operating room on the second floor. The cost? $80,000—an incredible sum that reflected both the sacrifice and the commitment of the people who built it.
Outside the hospital, a bronze plaque was placed on a stone, engraved with the names of the Kittson County men who had died in World War I. That monument still stands today, reminding all who visit that Kittson Healthcare was born from service—both military and medical.
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🔷Pioneering Innovation: The Story of Casey Jones
Among those inspired by Dr. Shaleen’s work was local inventor Frederick McKinley “Casey” Jones. A close friend of the doctor, Jones began helping the hospital by crafting or repairing medical equipment. After driving Dr. Shaleen through a snowstorm for a house call, Casey was inspired to invent a snow machine—one of many innovations that would follow.
He later designed a portable X-ray machine at Dr. Shaleen’s request, which allowed X-rays to be brought directly to patients’ rooms. Although he didn’t patent the invention, it served the hospital for years. Casey Jones would go on to invent refrigerated transport units and found Thermo King, earning over 60 patents in his lifetime.
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🔷Honoring the Man Behind the Mission
Dr. Arthur W. Shaleen is rightly remembered as the father of hospitalization in Kittson County. A WWI veteran, physician, and community leader, he served as president of the hospital board for 15 years. His widow, Margaret, remained involved in the hospital's milestones long after his passing in 1946.
Dr. Shaleen’s passion and compassion built more than a hospital—they built a legacy. That legacy continues today in every patient served by Kittson Healthcare.
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🔷On This Veterans Day, We Remember:
To the veterans who inspired a hospital…
To the community who built it with their own hands…
To the generations of healthcare providers who followed…
We thank you. We remember you. And we continue to serve in your honor.
