Local History: A Place of Healing

A Place of Healing: A History of Wentworth-Douglass Hospital
with Noreen Biehl

On my first day as a PR assistant at Wentworth-Douglass Hospital in 1984, I moved into a tiny office in the Rollins Building with a desk, a phone and bookcases brimming with news clippings, photo albums and various memorabilia about a small community hospital and the people who walked its halls through the decades, bringing training, technology and eagerness to their jobs as doctors, nurses, dieticians, clinicians, educators, volunteers, techs, housekeepers, organizers and builders. 

This is the story, described through the decades of a changing nation, of what made Wentworth-Douglass Hospital the Seacoast’s Leading Hospital, the fastest growing birth center, a major trauma center and dedicated state of the art Cancer Center. It took foresight, fundraising, ambitious recruitment and even court battles to turn a city hospital into a formidable regional health care resource – now part of the Mass General Brigham health system. The journey begins in 1906.  

About the Presenter 
Noreen A. Biehl began her love for seeking information and writing in high school, as she wrote for the school newspaper. She went on to major in English/Journalism at UNH receiving a BA degree, followed by a MS in Communication Management/Health Care Administration from Simmons College, Boston. She worked as a reporter for Foster’s Daily Democrat before beginning a 30- year career at WDH, retiring as Vice President of Community Relations. She is the author of A Place of Healing: A History of Wentworth-Douglass Hospital, published in 2016, a novel - Guilty News, published in 2022, and is currently a reporter for the South Berwick Reporter covering police and local news.  

In addition to writing, Noreen Biehl is the past president of the Rotary Club of Dover, NH and former commissioner on the Dover Housing Authority board. Prior to moving to Dover, she lived in South Berwick for 16 years and most recently moved to North Berwick with her husband Franklin and golden retriever Molly.