The year was 1984 and Scottsdale Healthcare, now HonorHealth, opened its second hospital, Scottsdale Memorial North, at 92nd Street and Shea Boulevard on Jan. 4, 1984, and the 60 team members had to get creative to provide the best care for their patients.

“Reflecting back, I recall the excitement of opening up a new facility,” said Kathy Stinson, chief operating officer and chief nursing officer at Sonoran Crossing Medical Center and one of the original Scottsdale Shea team members. “We worked hard to get the doors open and added services incrementally over time.”

To get the doors open, team members got creative with tools used by the construction workers (screwdrivers, wrenches and other tools) to put equipment together. The first patient, who ironically was a doctor, spent time recovering in his room watching a TV that used a coat hanger as an antenna. Sometimes you just have to make do with what you’ve got.

First Lady Nancy Reagan was on hand for the ribbon cutting with her Secret Service detail in tow. A former team member remembers seeing them in their three-piece suits escorting Mrs. Reagan and setting up a command post in one of the imaging rooms, complete with a “red phone.”

A lot has changed since then. Scottsdale Shea Medical Center now boasts 427 beds, comprehensive maternity services including a dedicated pediatric ICU, a Level III neonatal ICU, a bariatric surgery center of excellence, a certified Cardiac Arrest Center, a designated Primary Stroke Center and is home to HonorHealth Cancer Care, the Virginia G. Piper Surgery Center and the HonorHealth Research Institute.

“The HonorHealth story continues to be written one day and one patient at a time,” says Todd LaPorte, HonorHealth CEO. “We will always do whatever it takes to care for our patients and community building upon the legacy of those who have come before us.”