After studying cancers and tumors in Chicago, physician and surgeon Dr. George Dale established a practice in Iola in 1880 and built a medical structure at the southeast intersection of Main and State streets with second-floor offices, a main-floor pharmacy where J. C. Land dispensed drugs, and a small attached building to the south for liquor. In 1887, Dr. Dale also built a 50-foot by 180-foot private hospital and sanitarium mid-block on the east side of Washington Street. The Iola Cancer and Tumor Sanitarium established there quickly earned national renown but had a relatively short life. After the 1898-1901 arrivals of Drs. Loope and Lee, references to the sanitarium disappeared. Sold for $5,000 in 1900, the structure was operated by various owners as the Park Lawn hotel for a few years, then as a rooming house and ultimately as the multi-dwelling McKay House. Acquired by the Iola Hospital Association in 1961, it was razed, and the site later hosted a convalescent home attached to the Iola Hospital. Dr. Dale was elected Iola’s first village president upon its incorporation in 1892 and died on April 24, 1901, at age 57.