Gifford Medical Center

Gifford Medical Center began as a private hospital created by Dr. John Gifford.^[7] It was originally located in a private home near its current location on South Main Street.^[7] A few years later when Dr. Gifford was planning to close the hospital due to the expense, a group of local citizens created a corporation and sold stock to raise money to keep it open.^[7] The new institution was called Randolph Sanatorium and Dr. Gifford was the medical director.

Gifford is home to the first hospital birthing room in New England.^[8] The facility--which allows women to give birth in a non-medical setting with family, and to stay in the room before, during and after birth--opened in 1977.^[8] The hospital has five birthing suites, one with a tub for water births, and handles over 200 births per year.^[9]