Our History

Cedarcrest Health traces its roots to 1923, when a serious influenza epidemic swept through Kettle County and exposed how far local residents had to travel for hospital care. Alarmed by the toll the epidemic took on the community, a group of local merchants, clergy, and farmers organized a community subscription drive to raise funds for a hospital of their own. Their efforts resulted in the opening of Cedarcrest Memorial Hospital, a modest twenty-two bed facility on the outskirts of Harlow Falls.

In 1927, the hospital established the Cedarcrest Memorial School of Nursing, which trained generations of young women from throughout the Allegheny Highlands region in the nursing profession. The school graduated its final class in 1971, as nursing education shifted toward college-based programs, but many of its alumnae went on to serve Cedarcrest and the surrounding community for decades.

As Harlow Falls and the surrounding towns grew in the years following World War II, so did the demand for hospital services. In 1958, the hospital completed a new patient wing, nearly doubling its bed capacity and adding a modern surgical suite. By the 1970s, the aging Memorial Hospital building could no longer accommodate the community’s needs, and in 1979 the hospital relocated to its current campus at 1500 Cedarcrest Drive in Harlow Falls, where Cedarcrest Medical Center stands today.

In 1998, Cedarcrest Memorial Hospital reorganized as Cedarcrest Health, a not-for-profit health system structure that allowed for future growth and expanded services throughout the region. That growth continued in 2004, when Renner Community Hospital, a 74-bed critical access hospital serving the western part of Kettle County, joined Cedarcrest Health, extending our reach to Renner, Ellery Township, and the surrounding rural communities.

The past two decades have brought continued investment in advanced care close to home. In 2010, Cedarcrest Health launched MyCedarcrest, our secure electronic health record and patient portal, giving patients convenient access to their health information. In 2015, the Cedarcrest Cancer Center opened its doors, bringing comprehensive oncology services to the region for the first time.

Today, Cedarcrest Health remains true to the community spirit that founded it more than a century ago, continuing to invest in the people, facilities, and technology needed to serve Kettle County for generations to come.

Page last reviewed: 02/17/2026