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Dr. Hershey was a very charismatic individual.
Because of his ability to just get things done I think just by his energy and his charisma,
his ability to inspire people, really took a lead on the physical creation of the med
center.
I recall many job meetings we would be having a problem and GE would say you know the electrical
switch gear is going to be a year late and he would make notes and he would leave the
room, half hour or an hour or so later he would come back into the room and say it will
be delivered as scheduled.
When he had a vision or an idea you know you either you know went along for the ride or
you sort of got run over while he was going towards that goal.
Dr. Walker, at least at this moment, I think that the atmosphere in this community is medically
is all in favor of this medical school.
Whether it will remain so or not I think depends a tremendous amount on the man that you select
for the job that is going to head this thing.
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I think initially the reaction to the location of the medical center was one of where are
all of the patients going to come from?
The first reaction of the community was somewhat disbelief.
We were used to smaller things like the old Hershey hospital and we found out in a short
time that it would be a vast difference.
Hershey did have a hospital, the Hershey Hospital but it was you know it was a small community
hospital,
it wasn't a facility that could handle major medical crises.
So it was a major change for the community.
Farming and dairy are important industries in Hershey.
Derry Township particularly in the 1960s, it was pretty rural.
These Holstein cows produced a pure fresh milk for Hershey's milk chocolate.
The infrastructure was designed to support a community of you know 4 to 5,000 people.
Bringing in a major medical center with a teaching hospital and a college of medicine
was gonna have a dramatic impact on that infrastructure.
I mean the water system was inadequate, the sewer system was inadequate, the whole infrastructure
had to be upgraded.
You know there was a lot of you know trepidation about people thinking what it would really
be like this big monstrous building.
We couldn't touch anything that wasn't going to create chaos for somebody because our demands
were heavy.
I was here about a year and we had all of the blueprints complete for the hospital and
I asked the head of the telephone company to come over and meet with me to kind of lay
it because I laid out all of the phone requirements for the hospital.
The first question was do these require private lines and I said in a panic absolutely and
they said well that's more private lines than we currently have in service.
I'd like to say it's sort of like a high tide lifting all boats.
The influx of people who had advanced degrees who brought their children in, children of
all nationalities and I think it raised the level of the school system dramatically.
The public school buildings you see in the background are a gift to the town from its
founder, Mr. MS Hershey.
Some fought it, most of us embraced it.
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