Honoring Eunice Medhurst

Eunice Medhurst, Lexington Medical Center’s first Director of Nursing, grew up in Lexington County, graduated from public schools there, attended nursing school in Columbia, and worked at Columbia Hospital for many years. George Rentz asked her to be the first director of nursing at what was the new Lexington County Hospital.

Medhurst was considered one of the best nurses in the Midlands. Her reputation enabled her to recruit the best nursing staff in the area to work at the new hospital. In addition to her knowledge and passion for nursing, she was also known as a strict disciplinarian who expected nurses to have perfectly starched white uniforms and to stand when a doctor walked into the room.

We asked her why she wanted to work at the new hospital in Lexington County. “It was a way to pay back the people of Lexington County for my education,” she said.

After retiring as director of nursing at LMC, Medhurst became a hospital volunteer.

Today, at age 99, she lives in West Columbia.

This month, Lexington Medical Center celebrates its 40th anniversary. We opened as a small county hospital on January 6, 1971. Today, we’ve grown into a modern medical complex with state-of-the-art technology and an unsurpassed culture of caring. Each day this month, we’ll share a story from our hospital’s history book.