Thanksgiving 1906
Ellen Burge, the widow of a prominent Springfield lawyer, donates her frame duplex on Jefferson Avenue to be used as a Methodist hospital. Named the Burge Deaconess Hospital in her honor, this is the start of CoxHealth as we know it today.

1907
The Burge Hospital School for Nurses is organized. 

1908
A three-story brick building is constructed adjacent to the original house. This building has one operating room and male and female wards totaling 30 beds. 

1910
The Burge Hospital School for Nurses graduates its first class consisting of a single nurse. 

1924
The Women's Home Missionary Society, who then owned the property, deeded the hospital in trust to a group of Springfield citizens. The hospital was renamed Burge Hospital. Financial difficulties set in until the late 40s.

A new 40-bed unit is constructed and named the John Howard Nixon Wing in honor of Dr. Nixon, in whose memory $105,000 was donated for the construction.

1948
Burge Hospital School of Nursing graduates eight students, then closes for economic reasons. 

1949-1966
Expansion campaigns continue, adding several wings to Burge Hospital and bringing the patient bed count to 500.

Early 1950s 
Burge Hospital pioneers the Ozarks’ first polio unit, paving the way for later development of clinics to benefit the community’s children. 

1951
Burge Hospital School of Nursing reopens. 

1956

A three-story school building opens, providing residence rooms, lounges, classrooms, laboratory rooms and a library for the students of the Burge Hospital School of Nursing.

1960
The board increases to 24 members and the hospital is renamed Burge-Protestant Hospital. 

1969
One of the nation’s first Boy Scouts of America Medical Exploring posts is established at Cox Medical Center. Today, the post has more than 300 student members ages 14-21, making it the largest post in the United States.

1970
Cox Medical Center pioneers what is now known as the Medical Mile by purchasing land north of Highway M to be used for a nursing home. The move plays a major role in shaping Springfield’s growth over the next century.

1971

Burge Hospital School of Nursing is granted accreditation by the National League for Nursing and becomes co-ed. 

1974

The Medical Tower – a 10-story physician’s office building – is built across the street from Cox Medical Center. 

1980
On Oct. 23, 1980, officials announce plans to build a 220-bed women’s and children’s hospital for $35 million. A couple years later, plans change and the full-service Cox Medical Center South is constructed on the property just south of the Primrose Place Nursing Home. 

1981
The first organized wellness program for employees, LIFE – Life Improvement for the Eighties – is developed in cooperation with Burrell Community Health Center. 

A hospital ground-breaking ceremony is held on the southern property.

1982

Construction begins on the women’s and children’s hospital. 

1983
The Cox Learning Center North is built. A preschool and day care for employee’s children, the center can care for 82 kids. 

Due to population growth patterns for Springfield and the surrounding area, leaders decide to build a full-service hospital, rather than a dedicated women’s and children’s building. 

1984
A ground-breaking ceremony is held for the Medical Arts Center, a physician office building west of Cox Medical Center South and attached via a ground level hallway. 

1985

The 10-story Cox Medical Center South is finished and dedicated to the service of humanity. 

Neil Wortley retires and assumes the title of administrator emeritus.

1987
The Women’s Center, Senior Advantage and the Cox Family Practice Residency programs begins. 

1989
The 135,000-square-foot Cox Medical Plaza is built at the corner of Primrose and National avenues. The building is connected to Cox Medical Center South by the 446-foot Cox Skywalk, the city’s longest elevated walkway. 

1990

The Claudine B. Cox Child Care Center is built on the south campus and licensed for 228 children. 

The 30-room Cox Plaza Hotel opens inside Cox Medical Plaza. The hotel serves patients and their families.

1991
Cox Medical Centers holds the first Medical Mile race along South National Avenue to raise money for the Children’s Miracle Network’s CARE Mobile. 

June 1993
CoxHealth Systems, Oxford HealthCare and Home Parental Services merge home health services, making it the largest home health care company in southwest Missouri. 

October 1993
CoxHealth Systems purchases St. Vincent Hospital and the adjacent medical office building in Monett, Missouri. The building is renamed Cox Monett Hospital.

1994
CoxHealth Systems announces the creation of Cox Insurance Company, the first insurance company in Missouri to be owned and operated by a hospital. 

Burge School of Nursing is renamed the Lester L. Cox College of Nursing and Health Sciences in honor of Lester L. Cox. 

August 1994
Burrell Behavioral Health and CoxHealth Systems merge behavioral health services.

1995
Cox Medical Plaza II opens south of Cox Medical Plaza, including a three-story parking garage between the buildings. 

1996

CoxHealth Systems and Ferrell-Duncan Clinic solidified its relationship, with Ferrell-Duncan non-physician staff becoming CoxHealth Systems employees. 

The Commission on Cancer of the American College of Surgeons grants four-year approval to CoxHealth Systems’ cancer program, distinguishing it as the only comprehensive cancer program in Springfield at the time. 

August 1996 
The CARE Mobile starts with donations made to Children’s Miracle Network. CoxHealth Systems partners with the Springfield-Greene County Health Department to staff the vehicle. 

1997
Cox Family Practice Residency receives full five-year accreditation after undergoing significant curriculum changes and affiliating with the University of Missouri-Columbia.

September 1997
CoxHealth Systems’ cancer program is named after John K. and Ruth L. Hulston in honor of the man whose leadership on the board of directors was an integral part of the health system’s success. Housing the system’s cancer care, Cox Medical Plaza II also is renamed Hulston Cancer Center.

July 1998 
CoxHealth Systems announces the acquisition of Columbia and Hospital Corporation of America facilities in Springfield. The Columbia South hospital becomes part of CoxHealth Systems’ south campus and is renamed Cox Walnut Lawn. The Columbia North outpatient center becomes the North National Outpatient Center. Most employees become CoxHealth employees and physicians are offered the option of applying for hospital privileges. 

November 1998 
The North National Outpatient Center is sold to a group of physicians, who re-open the center as a 45-bed hospital after extensive renovations. 

February 2000 
Lester L. Cox College of Nursing and Health Sciences becomes accredited.

July 2001
Cox Monett Hospital opens the $5.3 million special delivery unit, returning obstetrics services to the Monett area for the first time since 1987. 

September 2001 
Cox Air Care is accredited by the Commission on Accreditation of Medical Transportation. 

May 2002 
Plans for southwest Missouri’s first medically-based wellness and rehab center, The Meyer Center, are unveiled. The center is named after long-time board member Kenneth and the late Jane Meyer. 

July 2002
The board of directors votes to rename CoxHealth Systems as CoxHealth. 

May 2003 
CoxHealth announces a $2 million gift to transform Cox Medical Plaza I to the Clarence R. and Edna M. Wheeler Heart and Vascular Center. 

September 2003 
The Meyer Center for Wellness and Rehabilitation opens, including outpatient rehabilitation facilities and a fitness center. 

January 2004 
Cox Family Practice Residency program changes its name to Cox Family Medicine Residency, in accordance with new guidelines issued by the American Academy of Family Physicians. 

July 2004

The Martin Center for Diagnostic and Imaging Services opens.

September 2004 
Children’s Miracle Network adds a second CARE Mobile.  

February 2005
CoxHealth collaborates with Ozarks Public Television and St. John’s Hospital to launch “HealthStyles,” a 30-minute, magazine-style program focused on everyday health issues. 

January 2006
CoxHealth turns 100, celebrating a century of caring for the Ozarks with current and former employees, medical staff, volunteers and board members. The Centennial Spectacular celebration includes a time capsule dedication, a special awards presentation, a historic video, food, pictures and games. 

February 2006 
CoxHealth is named a Top 100 Integrated Healthcare Network by Verispan based on critical success factors in eight categories. 

April 2006
The Medical Arts building is renamed the Turner Center, thanks to a major gift from the Turner family. The Turner Center becomes CoxHealth’s newest single point-of-service building for women’s and children’s services.

September 2006 
The Pediatric Urgent Care Center opens at Turner Center. This building is Springfield’s first urgent care clinic dedicated exclusively to children newborn to 16 years old. 

October 2006

The region’s first Memory Clinic opens at CoxHealth staffed by doctors from the Cox Senior Health Center and Ferrell-Duncan Neurology.

June 2007 
CoxHealth celebrates the formal grand opening of the Wheeler Heart and Vascular Center.

Cox Air Care dedicates a new $5.1 million MD 902 Explorer helicopter. The helicopter replaces the smaller Messerschmitt BO 105 LS air ambulance Cox Air Care put into service in January 1989. 

June 2008 
CoxHealth holds its first neonatal intensive care unit reunion. More than 100 families attend the event, which brings together former patients and the nurses and physicians who cared for them. 

Lester L. Cox College of Nursing and Health Sciences wins initial approval to offer a medical assisting program, the college’s first program outside of nursing. 

July 2008
CoxHealth is instrumental in the development of a Missouri law that prioritizes care for stroke and heart attack patients. The law requires EMS transport patients directly to designated stroke centers, bypassing what may be the nearest hospital. 

October 2008
The Lester L. Cox College of Nursing and Health Sciences board votes to change the school’s name to Cox College. 

November 2008 
Plans for the Meyer Orthopedic Center are announced, transforming the existing Cox Walnut Lawn building into an orthopedic specialty hospital. 

March 2009 
CoxHealth announces a partnership with Wal-Mart Stores Inc. to bring in-store convenient care clinics to southwest Missouri. The Clinic at Walmart are the chain’s first in-store clinics in Missouri, and the first Joint Commission accredited in-store clinics in the nation. 

May 2009
CoxHealth breaks ground on a new 78,000 square-foot Emergency Department, tripling the bed count. The $52.5 million project includes a number of green building initiatives designed to help the environment. 

July 2009
CoxHealth sells the operations of Primrose Place Nursing Home to Regional Care of Missouri. 

January 2010 
The seven medical imaging specialty programs previously offered by the CoxHealth Schools of Diagnostic Imaging transition to Cox College, and the college received approval to launch a new Associate of Science in Radiography degree program. 

March 2010
The CoxHealth Family Medical Care Center achieves recognition from the National Committee for Quality Assurance as a level-three Physician Practice Connections-Patient Centered Medical Home, the first of its kind in southwest Missouri. 

May 2010
Meyer Orthopedic and Rehabilitation Hospital opens on the Cox Walnut Lawn campus.

CoxHealth, in partnership with St. John’s Hospital and Ozarks Technical Community College, announce a scholarship program for dependents of health system employees who pursue an allied health career degree at the college, representing a $250,000 commitment by each health system. 

September 2010 
The Cox Medical Center South Emergency Department opens in the hospital’s Lipscomb Family Wing. 

December 2010 
CoxHealth and Springfield Neurological and Spine Institute announce an exclusive partnership arrangement. Under the agreement, CoxHealth purchases the clinic and assets of SNSI. The clinic’s 80 employees become employees of CoxHealth. 

June 2011 
The Clinic at Walmart opens its fifth location, the third clinic in Springfield and the first on the city’s north side. 

September 2011

The CoxHealth Stroke Center receives the American Heart Association/American Stroke Association’s Get with the Guidelines – Stroke Gold Plus Performance Achievement award.

October 2011 
A 27-bed critical care unit opens at Cox Medical Center South, bringing the total number of critical care beds to 76. 

The CoxHealth Breast Care Clinic is granted a three year/full accreditation designation by the National Accreditation Program for Breast Centers. 

February 2012 
CoxHealth receives a $45,000 grant from the Kohl’s Cares Foundation to expand the Cardiac Kids program to teach children and their families about living a heart-healthy life.

CoxHealth is listed among the nation’s Best Regional Hospitals by U.S. News & World Report. 

March 2012 
CoxHealth is named to the American Heart Association/American Stroke Association’s Target: Stroke Honor Roll. 

The CoxHealth Hyperbaric Medicine and Wound Care Center earns a three-year Hyperbaric Facility Reaccreditation with Distinction from the Undersea and Hyperbaric Medical Society. CoxHealth and the Springfield Neurological and Spine Institute enter an arrangement with the University of Missouri, allowing the organizations to host neurosurgical residents for surgical rotations. 

April 2012 
CoxHealth and Texas County Memorial Hospital in Houston, Missouri, agree to a formal affiliation allowing the organizations to collaborate.

October 2012

CoxHealth is award Level 1 Trauma Center status by the Missouri Department of Health and Senior Services.

CoxHealth becomes a founding member of the BJC Collaborative, a partnership between CoxHealth, BJC HealthCare, Memorial Health System and Saint Luke’s Health System.

Joining with Mercy Springfield Communities and the University of Missouri School of Medicine, CoxHealth announces plans to pursue the development of a clinical campus in Springfield. 

January 2013 
CoxHealth and Skaggs Regional Medical Center announce a strategic partnership and a more than $100 million investment. The hospital is renamed Cox Medical Center Branson. 

CoxHealth becomes the first hospital in the region to feed premature babies with donor breast milk, supplied by a milk bank in Kansas City. The effort helps launch the area’s first donor milk depot. 

April 2013
CoxHealth announces plans to construct a 310,000-square-foot addition to Cox Medical Center South to house the Jared Neuroscience Center and the Dee Ann White Women’s and Children’s Hospital. The addition allows CoxHealth to convert all patient rooms at Cox Medial Center South to private rooms. 

June 2013 
CoxHealth opens the area’s first Obstetrical Emergency Department. 

September 2013

CoxHealth announces it will become the first health system in the Ozarks to stop hiring tobacco users.

November 2013 
CoxHealth expands the Cardiac Kids program to Nixa Public Schools with a $41,000 grant from Kohl’s Cares Foudation. 

September 2014
Cox Medical Center Branson unveils the first phase of its $30 million Emergency Department and critical care unit expansion, a 60,000-square-foot renovation and construction project. 

November 2014
Kohl’s Cares Foundation donates more than $50,000 to CoxHealth the Cardiac Kids program.

January 2015
CoxHealth announces the additions of pediatric general surgery and pediatric urology to its list of pediatric specialty programs. 

March 2015
Cox Medical Center Branson opens its clinical decision unit, part of the hospital’s $30 million expansion project. 

June 2015

CoxHealth embrace accreditation vendor DNV GL-Healthcare; its five hospitals, as well as its outpatient centers and provider-based clinics all received national accreditation by DNV. 

CoxHealth opens the Dee Ann White Women’s and Children’s Hospital and Jared Neuroscience Center, a 10-story addition to Cox Medical Center South.

October 2015
CoxHealth opens its High Risk Breast Clinic, the first in the Springfield area. 

The Springfield Center for Dyslexia and Learning opens on the Cox Medical Center South campus, housed in Turner Center. 

February 2016
CoxHealth hosts its first Innovation Accelerator to allow employees to innovate ways to work more efficiently and effectively. 

June 2016
CoxHealth announces it will begin hiring qualified nurses from overseas. Approximately 100 nurses are expected to join the health system over the next year through this program.

August 2016
CoxHealth announces a new Learning Center location to open in the fall of 2016 for Branson families.

October 2016
Citizens Memorial Hospital/Citizens Memorial Health Care Foundation and CoxHealth signs a letter of intent, marking the beginning of a strategic partnership.

January 2017
CoxHealth opens a 2,600-square-foot urgent care clinic in Monett, with can also connect with experts at CoxHealth Occupational Medicine via telemedicine. 

January 2018
CoxHealth acquires Barton County Memorial Hospital, a 25-bed critical access facility in Lamar, Missouri. The hospital is renamed Cox Barton County Hospital and becomes the sixth in the system. 

Cox College announces they will soon launch a new nurse practitioner program that focuses on psychiatric and mental health needs, bringing a one-of-a-kind resource to the area.

February 2018
CoxHealth recruiters traveled to Puerto Rico to hire nurses to support the growing need for health care workers in our community.