Company Profile
Tahoe Forest Health System
Company Overview
In 1949, the Joseph family created a legacy that would benefit our community for generations to follow. The community quickly rallied around the Joseph’s donation of land for a new hospital, and by a vote of the general public, Tahoe Forest Hospital District was formed. Tahoe Forest Health System, a DBA of Tahoe Forest Hospital District, continues to thrive under this heritage of philanthropy.
Tahoe Forest Health System proudly offers a comprehensive range of high-quality programs and services across Truckee and North Lake Tahoe. These include 24-hour emergency care, a Level III trauma center, three urgent care clinics, the Gene Upshaw Memorial Tahoe Forest Cancer Center, the Joseph Family Center for Women and Newborn Care, and state-of-the-art diagnostic imaging. We also offer both primary and specialty care services, including orthopedics and sports medicine, rehabilitation and sports therapy, an extended care center, home health and hospice, and a variety of community health and wellness programs.
Tahoe Forest Hospital is a not-for-profit rural health care facility with 25 acute care beds and 36 long-term care beds. Designated a critical access hospital, it is fully accredited by the Healthcare Accreditation Facilities Program and licensed by the State of California Department of Health Services.
Our service area covers six rural counties, two states, and approximately 3,500 square miles, reaching the communities of Truckee, North Lake Tahoe, Donner Summit, the Sierra Valley in California, and Incline Village in Nevada.
A vital resource of Tahoe Forest Health System is Incline Village Community Hospital located in Incline Village, Nevada, and serving North Lake Tahoe, Kings Beach, Crystal Bay and Incline Village. It is a 4-bed critical access hospital offering 24-hour emergency care, primary and specialty care, diagnostic imaging, laboratory, surgical services, physical therapy and rehabilitation services, and home health and hospice.
Company History
Up until the formation of the Tahoe Forest Hospital District in 1949, Truckee was served only by a small, insufficient clinic in Brickeltown. Four years prior, recognizing this shortfall, the Rotary Club of Truckee proposed backing “some kind of hospital or first aid station with a bed” at the Truckee Fire Station. However, further discussion revealed the need for a “decent, fair-sized hospital,” and support grew behind forming a hospital district to build and operate a 12-bed hospital.
In need of a site for the new hospital, the club approached Richard “Dick” Joseph, one of Truckee’s prominent landowners, who had recently lost his wife Margaret in childbirth. Joseph agreed to donate land in memory of his son Levon, who was killed in World War II.
Joseph was an Armenian immigrant who arrived in the U.S. in 1906. He fell in love with Truckee during a short stop on a train ride from Sacramento to Colorado, and eventually, he and Margaret settled there. By the 1920s, Joseph had become a prominent figure in town, purchasing much of the land that is now Gateway and running businesses like Manstyle Barbers, the Donner Hotel, and the Pastime Club.
But tragedy struck when complications arose during Margaret’s pregnancy and Joseph was forced to rush Margaret to Reno, where she died shortly after giving birth to twin girls. Joseph believed that if a full-service hospital had existed in Truckee, Margaret’s life could have been saved.
To facilitate the land donation, the Tahoe Forest Hospital District was formed in April 1949, and a bond was passed to finance its construction cost of $400,000 ($5.2 million in 2024 dollars). Tahoe Forest Hospital opened to patients on April 14, 1952, with two doctors and 15 beds.
In 1965, the hospital saw its first expansion with the opening of the North Wing, a 42-bed acute care center. Throughout the 1970s and 80s the hospital continued to grow, adding a new emergency department, x-ray and laboratory, physical and respiratory therapy, minor surgery, intensive care unit, and an alternative birthing center. Much of this expansion was supported by additional land and monetary donations by Dick Joseph and his sisters, Roxie and Azad.
The early 2000s saw even greater growth, with the opening of the Western Addition in 2006, which included an intensive care unit, a medical surgery unit, an MRI facility, and a new lab. This was followed shortly thereafter by the passage of the 2007 Measure C General Obligation bond with 72% of the vote, providing $98.5 million for renovation and expansion. Construction began the following year, and the next eight years saw the opening of a new emergency department, a long-term care center, the Gene Upshaw Memorial Cancer Center, and the Joseph Family Center for Women and Newborn Care.
The Tahoe Forest Health System is deeply grateful to the Rotary Club of Truckee’s initial organizing efforts and to Dick Joseph’s original land donation, as well as to the Joseph family and our community’s continued support throughout the years. The Tahoe Forest Health System is honored to have served the Truckee-North Tahoe community for the past 75 years and is committed to providing exceptional healthcare in the years to come.
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