DeSoto County has had a healthcare facility since 1913 when Dr. J.A. Simmons opened his small sanitarium just south of Arcadia. In July 1920, the sanitarium was sold to a group of local investors and the name was changed to Arcadia General Hospital. This facility served the needs of DeSoto County residents, as well as neighboring counties, for over forty years. In the early 1960's, a group of local business people felt that it was time to build a new, modern hospital for their growing community.
These local business leaders wrote a special legislative act creating the DeSoto County Hospital District, which was approved in 1965 by the Florida Legislature and approved by the voters of DeSoto County. A local family donated twelve acres of land in Northeast Arcadia that would become the site for DeSoto Memorial Hospital. DeSoto Memorial Hospital opened its doors on November 11, 1968.