Our History with the DeKalb Community

DeKalb General Hospital was built in 1969 by Hospital Corporation of America, and saw its first patient August 6 of that year. In 1987 the Hospital was part of the HCA spinoff to HealthTrust.

In August, 1992, the hospital was purchased locally and remained under local ownership for three years. In July of 1995, it was purchased by Baptist Hospital in Nashville, and became Baptist DeKalb Hospital. Then in January of 2002, it was purchased by Ascension in St. Louis.

Finally, in July of 2006 the hospital was purchased by Cannon County LLC, a group comprised mainly of local physicians. The name was changed to and remains DeKalb Community Hospital. The hospital has enjoyed a long history of medical excellence being named one of the Top 100 Hospitals in American by Solucient for five years.

Since 1992 over $4,600,000 has been reinvested back into the hospital through three massive renovation projects adding 9,000 square feet. Besides totally refurbishing every room in the facility, the hospital increased its emergency room from one to five beds, the number of operating room suites from two to three, created two new birthing rooms, brought in-house a CAT Scan, and built a community education room to offer free public seminars on topics such as diet, health and fitness and a new wing to house an MRI unit.

DeKalb Community Hospital is the only acute care facility in DeKalb County. It is licensed for 71 beds and offers comprehensive diagnostic, medical, surgical, and rehabilitative services to a service area population of 75,000. DCH has a 24-hour emergency room that participates in the Middle Tennessee Poison Control Consortium, a four-bed intensive care unit, and flight services to tertiary care in Nashville and Chattanooga.

Located just 7 miles from scenic Center Hill Lake in Smithville, Tennessee DeKalb Community Hospital offers warmth and hospitality that reflect its surroundings.

Not only are hospital employees genuinely concerned about the quality of care you receive, they also go that extra mile to ensure that your hospital stay is as pleasant as possible.

DeKalb Community Hospital, an affiliate of Capella Healthcare, is partly owned by some of the physicians who serve our patients. For more information, contact Administration at 615-215-5300. To see a list of physician investors, click here