Submitted photo
Mount Regis substance abuse treatment center after a fire that occurred on December 30th.
100 years of history burned with Mount Regis
Meg Hibbert Contributing writer
When the 100-year-old building that housed Mount Regis substance abuse treatment center went up in flames the week after Christmas, so did years of community medical memories.
“It’s just always been here,” said Bill Chauncey, who works down the hill at Hammerhead Hardware. “People used to know it as White Cross Hospital,” he remembered.
Mount Regis and the crest of the hill on which it sits was such a landmark that that area of South Salem almost incorporated as the Town of Mount Regis until Salem annexed the community that formerly was part of Roanoke County. The disastrous Dec. 30 fire that gutted the heart of the white-columned wooden building wasn’t the first time the mansion had burned, either.
According to historical research pulled together by Lisa Hatcher, Mount Regis Center’s director of business development, the basement and first floor were damaged in a fire in the 1930s, and a night nurse sounded the alarm.
That’s what happened this time, too. Hatcher declined to name the night nurse who helped evacuate patients, but said he noticed a glow in an outside camera and started getting patients out of the building. That happened about the same time that an off-duty fire/EMS employee was driving by and saw smoke and maybe something glowing, Hatcher said. In the 1930s fire, damage was estimated at $2,500. This time, the Salem Fire Marshal estimated damage at $600,000.
Recently, Hatcher had researched the history of Mount Regis Center for an online “Wikipedia” entry. She found that the property had been purchased in 1890 from the Salem Development Corporation for $700 by John W. Matheny, who planned to build a residence but then decided to use it for a private tuberculosis hospital built in 1914 which he named Mount Regis Sanatorium Inc.
“The hospital, which started as a 20-bed facility, grew to become a well-equipped, modern 65-bed facility by 1920 and served as a nursing training program from 1918 through 1933,” Hatcher wrote. “When Mr. Matheny passed away, his heirs sold the property to the corporation in charge of the healthcare facility Mount Regis Sanatorium, Inc. for $150 on Aug. 27, 1920. The facility was renowned for being in an enviable location overlooking the picturesque old town of Salem…”
The sanatorium closed on Dec. 20, 1939, Hatcher found, but the building continued meeting the needs of the area’s healthcare industry by serving as a dormitory for nurses working at area hospitals. It was also a training center “for girls in a National Youth Administration program through the end of World War II,” Hatcher wrote.
The building’s next incarnation was as White Cross Hospital for treatment of alcoholism opened in April 1947, and under the guidance of Dr. H.N. Alford, medical director. “The hospital rapidly became synonymous with providing innovative and effective treatment for individuals suffering from alcoholism, with individuals traveling from as far as Cincinnati, Ohio and Nashville, Tennessee for treatment.”
Hatcher continued, “The team at White Cross Hospital worked diligently to identify methods for easing the withdrawal symptoms, and by 1952 the medical team offered medication assisted treatment therapy resulting in decreased nausea, vomiting and nervousness during detoxification.”
Town of Mount Regis?
“In the spring of 1952, residents in the area that surrounds Mount Regis Center were upset over water, electricity and sewer rates and proposed they incorporate their own town named, Mount Regis, which means “queenly commanding mountain.” Instead, the 520 acres south of town were annexed into Salem. In June 1954, the director of White Cross Hospital on Mount Regis Hill, Howard L. Roberts, captured a seat on the town council as the representative for this area known as South Salem,” Hatcher wrote.
“By November 1960, the facility’s reputation spanned the globe as the newest medical director, Dr. Albert J. Russo, was asked to speak to whiskey manufacturers about adverse effects of alcohol and addiction. Dr. Russo chastised alcohol manufacturers for failing to keep up with modern science and challenged them to find a way to alter the chemical composition of drinks so people could still enjoy the taste but have minimal side effects.
The story was so popular it was picked up in cities as far away as Jackson, Mississippi, Long Beach, California and even Sydney Australia, and while many people probably scoffed at the suggestion, many people who enjoy “mock tails” today would likely thank Dr. Russo for leading the charge decades ago.”
In 1967, Dr. Robert Edward Paine, Jr. (“Dr. Bob” or “Grandoc”) a prominent internal medicine physician and native of Salem, felt “called” to help expand the treatment at White Cross Hospital to treating drug addiction. In addition to tending patients at seven area hospital and medical centers and continuing to make house calls, Dr. Bob served as the medical director at Mount Regis Center throughout the 1980’s and with the assistance of Judge Beverly Fitzpatrick, he helped establish Roanoke’s Drug Court,” Hatcher’s entry says.
Mukesh P. Patel, M.D. a psychiatrist and board certified addictionologist, has been serving as the medical director of Mount Regis Center since 1985. “Area residents still refer to Mount Regis Center at times as White Cross Hospital because it was well known not only for the outstanding treatment for substance abuse but also for the large illuminated white cross that was perched on the roof which could be seen across the valley as a landmark. The center briefly changed its name to Southwest Virginia Treatment Center but changed its name back to Mount Regis Treatment Center in 1986.
The facility was purchased by Pioneer Healthcare in 1989, which was acquired by Acadia Healthcare in 2011, and the leadership team recognized the intrinsic value the name has to the members of the community, they decided to continue doing business as “Mount Regis Center”.
Curt Lane, Mount Regis’ Chief Executive Officer, issued this statement after the fire: “Mount Regis has enjoyed a long history of treating patients who need help while being a valued member of the community and has enjoyed good neighbors. This tragedy has shown us the value of those years of committed and dedicated work of making Salem and the surrounding area a ‘community of choice’ for those who are natives and those who come here.”
One of the staff members said one woman brought a bouquet of flowers. “She didn’t have any personal connection with Mount Regis but was used to passing by and seeing it here,” the staff member said.
Lane expressed his thanks to the outpouring of care the facility’s staff received from across the region and even out of state, including local government, businesses, residents and friends.
Former Roanoke mayor and area historian Nelson Harris has several old postcard photos of White Cross Hospital in his book, “Salem and Roanoke County in Vintage Postcards,” published by Arcadia.
Other mentions of Mount Regis in history can be seen in archives of WSLS TV news film collection from 1951-1971, when 60 residents appeared before Salem Town Council to oppose. Moving the hospital. The script reads, in part: “Salem Town Council did little to appease resident (sic) opposing a new White Cross Hospital at Franklin Street and Kimball Ave.”
It went on to say that residents had turned out to oppose the town planning commission’s approval of a permit to move the location of the hospital for alcoholics. Mayor James I. Moyer said he didn’t think council should take action until Town Attorney R.S. Kime gave an opinion on the action, which would have been by the May 26 council meeting.
In May of 2016, the rezoning request to build a new Mount Regis center on city-owned property next to the YMCA came up in when Dan Friesland appeared before Salem City Council. He asked council to reconsider a new Mount Regis center on city-owned property Friesland and business partner co-own on Elizabeth Medical Park.
Council approved the zoning request that night and now the 48-bed building is nearing completion on the property downhill from the YMCA on Knotbreak Drive.
The request was initially opposed by owners of Salem Montessori School, which is also located on Elizabeth Campus and was about to build a second building for its y0ungest students. The Salem Planning Commission also recommended denial, but council approved the zoning use for in-patient treatment.
The Mount Regis Center for alcohol and drug treatment center caught fire during the night of Dec. 30 from what Salem Fire Marshal Doug Miller determined were “improperly discarded smoking materials.” He estimated there was $600,000 damage to the main building that housed 25 patients in residential treatment.
All the patients, staff and residential cat, “Regis,” escaped unharmed. Patients are in day meetings at the former Trust Point building in Salem, and no new patients are being accepted right now, explained Lisa Hatcher, director of business development for Mount Regis Center.
She said medical records and some old photographs were salvaged from the smaller building on the left side of the residential building, which mostly had water and smoke damage. That building was used as a patient lounge, for counseling and where patients ate their meals, she said.
The staff is looking forward to a new treatment center already under construction on Knotbreak Road, near the Salem Family YMCA. Hatcher said the parent corporation is in talks with the contractor to see if the new facility on the Elizabeth Campus can be completed earlier than the original date of late March or early April. The new site can be seen from the parking lot of the burned building, on the other side of Salem.
