Two major construction projects have given Rollins Brook Community Hospital a new look, and it now is a 25- bed, critical access facility that provides a variety of general and advanced health services. FILE PHOTO Rollins Brook Community Hospital will turn 75 on Monday.

In its service to Lampasas County and surrounding areas for three-quarters of a century, the healthcare facility has undergone remarkable changes.

Nestled on a hill on the north side of town, the native-stone hospital was named for its founders, Drs. H.B. Rollins and W.M. Brook. “With the aid of the community, by work or financial support, which was repaid by the issue of certifications redeemable in services, the 14-bed Rollins- Brook Hospital opened in 1935,” states the book “Lampasas County Texas: Its History and Its People.”

Over time, a series of ownership and management challenges at Rollins-Brook Hospital took their toll. The hospital briefly closed its doors in 1991.

Shortly after the closure, the community raised more than $500,000 to reopen the facility. The volunteer effort attracted national attention from media outlets such as ABC’s “World News Tonight” and the Los Angeles Times. During the transitional period, Metroplex Health System in Killeen stepped in to provide management and, ultimately, new ownership of the healthcare institution, which was renamed Rollins Brook Community Hospital.

Two major construction projects have given the hospital a new look, and it now is a 25-bed, critical access facility that provides a variety of general and advanced health services. They include 24-hour emergency services, advanced diagnostic imaging capabilities -- X-rays, CT scans, mammography, ultrasounds and echo-cardiograms for diagnosing problems of the heart.

Rollins Brook also offers a fullservice laboratory, general and same-day surgery, cardiopulmonary care, bone density scanning and a sleep disorders lab.

Two veterans of the Adventist Health System -- Carlyle Walton and Jeff Villanueva -- give direction to the local hospital.

During the 1990s, Walton was administrator of Rollins Brook, and he is credited with helping guide the facility to new heights, as the hospital’s physical plant and scope of services were expanded. In 1998, Walton was tapped by Takoma Regional Hospital in Greenville, Tenn., to be its president and chief executive officer. During his time at the helm, he achieved success in physician recruitment, expansion projects and community relations, according to officials with the parent organization -- Adventist Health System. Walton currently serves as president/chief executive officer for Metroplex Health System.

Villanueva, who had previously served with Adventist Health System, now serves as administrator of the Lampasas hospital, as well as vice president of Metroplex Health System.

In an interview last year, Walton said Rollins Brook had been promised more technology, including an advanced CT scanner that would give the hospital full-time radiology coverage. Metroplex Health System officials delivered on that pledge, as the unit was installed at the end of December.

There have been other recent upgrades, as well. In 2005, Rollins Brook completed a 14,000-squarefoot expansion that added a number of new patient rooms. In addition, a new surgical suite, located on the lower level, houses two operating rooms and an ambulatory surgery area with six pre-op/post-op bays and four recovery bays designed for same-day surgical procedures.

Rollins Brook and Metroplex Adventist hospitals are part of the sprawling Adventist Health System network, which manages 37 hospitals and is the 10th largest hospital system in the nation. The organization’s tradition dates back to 1866, when the Seventh-day Adventist Church opened its first healthcare center, in Battle Creek, Mich. Adventist-operated hospitals seek to extend the healing ministry of Christ.