In 1946, Hunterdon was the only county in the state of New Jersey without a hospital. Rose Angell, who was the county’s welfare director, decided that this was unacceptable, and with the help of Louise Leicester, a public relations specialist, she approached the Hunterdon County Board of Agriculture with a plea to build our county a hospital. Residents of Hunterdon County banded together to raise the funds to create their own community hospital. In 1953, Hunterdon Medical Center opened its doors and drew national attention for focusing on wellness and primary care. The founders of Hunterdon Medical Center believed that a quality hospital should be a teaching hospital and that physicians who participate in ongoing medical education maintain their knowledge of advances in medicine and rise to the challenges set by inquisitive students. Hunterdon Medical Center’s Family Practice Residency Program is one of the oldest and most respected in the nation. The residency program is consistently successful in attracting the best and brightest medical students from the finest medical schools worldwide. Each year, a large percentage of Hunterdon Medical Center graduates choose to remain in the hospital’s service area. This has resulted in the continuous renewal of the medical philosophy of the importance of primary care and sustained the unique synergy between the hospital and its specialists. Hunterdon Healthcare will continue to keep pace and offer the newest trends in medicine to the community. Building a healthier community is not an innovative program – it is changing the behaviors of people. Hunterdon Healthcare will continue to give our community the tools needed to make healthier choices to improve their well-being.