Druid City Hospital, circa 1940

druid-city-hospital-1930-19a_e2773e4202.jpg

Title

Druid City Hospital, circa 1940

Subject

Druid City Hospital

Description

The original Druid City Hospital opened Mar. 28, 1923, on the University of Alabama campus. Prior to that time, Tuscaloosa had had a number of privately owned and managed hospitals. The movement for this new hospital began in 1919 when a group of Tuscaloosa physicians interested in seeing the city equipped with thorough hospital facilities called together a number of citizens and held a conference at which the ways and means of a new hospital were brought up. The result was the formation of a committee to investigate thoroughly the local situation and to report on the matter. S.F. Clabaugh was named chairman of the committee. E. I. Clarkson, Hugo Friedman, Charles Morris, F. M. Moody, F. J. Stevens, Dr. T.H. Patton, Dr. George R. Rau, Dr. George H. Searcy and Dr. J H. Ward were members of the committee. The committee reported to a citizens meeting around the first of 1920 that there was an urgent, desperate need for a modern, well-equipped hospital of not less than fifty beds to be erected and equipped at a cost of approximately $100,000. The committee was promised the cooperation of the Board of Trade, The Tuscaloosa County Medical Society, the Rotary Club and other civic organizations.

The University gave to the City of Tuscaloosa a four-acre site with the understanding that it was leased to the hospital association for 99 years. The site was felt to be perfect. It was far enough from the city and isolated enough to be quiet. It was on the car line, near the paved street and there was assurance that the paving would be extended. Experts in hospital construction, architects and builders and operators of hospitals were all consulted on the plans for the Druid City Hospital. Every modern improvement and convenience was given a place in the plans for the new building and duly considered by the architect, D.O. Whildin. The building required a year to construct. An article in The Tuscaloosa News and Times Gazette on March 27, 1923, describes the modern equipment provided for the hospital.

Druid City Hospital moved to the Northington Hospital campus in 1947 until a new facility opened in 1952 ,

Source

Personal Collection of Jason Townsend

Date

Circa 1940

Contributor

Jason Townsend (Description)
Betty Slowe (Description)

Type

Postcard

Identifier

41

Coverage

Tuscaloosa (AL)