Homer G. Phillips Hospital facts for kids

The Homer G. Phillips Hospital was a very important hospital in St. Louis, Missouri. From 1937 to 1979, it was the only hospital for African Americans in the city. At that time, many places still had separate facilities for different groups of people.

Located at 2601 N. Whittier Street in The Ville neighborhood, it was the first teaching hospital west of the Mississippi River that served Black people. A teaching hospital is where new doctors and nurses get their training.

Even after hospitals in the city started to end their separation, Homer G. Phillips Hospital kept serving the Black community until it closed in 1979. By 1961, it had trained more Black doctors and nurses than anywhere else in the world. After it closed as a full hospital, it was recognized as a St. Louis Landmark in 1980. It was also added to the National Register of Historic Places in 1982.

In 2003, the building was changed into senior living apartments. It now provides homes for older adults.

Hospital History

Building the Hospital

Between 1910 and 1920, the number of Black people in St. Louis grew a lot. Many moved North during the Great Migration to find jobs. However, the main City Hospital only served white patients and had no space for Black patients or staff.

In 1919, a group of Black community leaders convinced the city to buy a 177-bed hospital. This hospital, called City Hospital #2, was meant for African Americans. But it was too small for the more than 70,000 Black residents of St. Louis.

A local Black lawyer named Homer G. Phillips led a campaign. He wanted the city to borrow money through a bond issue to build a much bigger hospital for Black people. The bond issue passed in 1923, meaning the city had permission to borrow the money.

However, the city did not want to use the money for a new hospital. Instead, they suggested adding a separate part to the original City Hospital. This location was far from where most Black people lived. Homer G. Phillips fought hard against this idea. He successfully argued with the St. Louis Board of Aldermen to get the money for a new hospital.

The city bought 6.3 acres of land in The Ville, which was the heart of the Black community. But before construction could start, Homer G. Phillips was tragically killed. Two men were arrested, but they were found not guilty. His death is still a mystery.

Construction on the hospital began in October 1932. The city used money from the 1923 bond issue and later from the Public Works Administration. This was a government program that helped create jobs and build things during the Great Depression. City architect Albert Osburg designed the building.

The hospital was built in stages. The main part was finished between 1933 and 1935. The two side wings were completed between 1936 and 1937. The hospital officially opened on February 22, 1937. There was a parade and speeches by important leaders. In 1942, City Hospital #2 was renamed Homer G. Phillips Hospital to honor him.

How the Hospital Operated

By 1944, Homer G. Phillips Hospital was one of the ten largest general hospitals in the United States. However, the city often did not give it enough money or staff. By 1948, many of its medical residents (doctors in training) came from the two American Black medical schools. This included Dr. Helen Elizabeth Nash.

In the 1940s and 1950s, the hospital was a leader in new medical practices. They developed ways to give patients food through their veins (intravenous feeding). They also found better treatments for gunshot wounds, ulcers, and burns.

The hospital was not just for patients. It also had a nursing school. Plus, it offered training for x-ray technicians, lab technicians, and medical record keepers. It even trained doctors from other countries who were turned away by other hospitals because of their race.

In 1955, the mayor ordered all city hospitals to end their separation. Homer G. Phillips Hospital then started accepting patients of all races and religions. But it remained mostly a Black institution into the 1960s. This was because of its traditions and the people living in its neighborhood. By 1960, every department had at least one Black doctor. Many of these doctors also worked at Washington University in St. Louis or Saint Louis University. In 1962, three-fourths of the interns (new doctors) at the hospital were Black.

William Lacy Clay, Sr., a leader who opposed closing Homer G. Phillips Hospital

The Hospital Closes

As early as 1961, people suggested combining Homer G. Phillips with City Hospital. Some Black community leaders, like William Lacy Clay, Sr., were against this idea. He was a city alderman at the time and later a U.S. representative. But others accepted it, thinking it might be a necessary step for an integrated community.

By the mid-1960s, there were efforts to reduce services or close the hospital completely. In the late 1960s, St. Louis moved the brain and mental health departments from Homer G. Phillips to City Hospital. They said it was because of low pay at Homer G. Phillips and its distance from Washington University staff.

No other departments were moved between 1964 and 1979. However, on August 17, 1979, St. Louis suddenly closed almost all departments at Homer G. Phillips Hospital. Only a small clinic in a nearby building stayed open. The community was very upset and protested. More than a hundred police officers were needed to control the crowds and help patients leave.

William Lacy Clay, Sr. led the fight against the closure. Many people in the community believed the closure was because of race. Protests outside the hospital continued for over a year. A group called Campaign for Human Dignity was formed to keep the movement going. The mayor created a group to study the hospital's future, but nothing came of it. The protests did not succeed in reopening the hospital.

During the protests, the St. Louis Board of Aldermen listed the hospital as a St. Louis Landmark in February 1980. In 1981, a new mayor, Vincent Schoemehl, was elected. He had promised to reopen Homer G. Phillips. But instead, he followed the earlier task force's plan.

The next year, in 1982, the hospital was listed on the National Register of Historic Places. This was because of its important architecture, its role in education, and its significance to Black history. But in June 1985, Mayor Schoemehl ordered all city hospital services to close, including the clinic at Homer G. Phillips. Public hospital services in the St. Louis area were moved to Clayton, Missouri. The Homer G. Phillips complex became completely empty.

Renovation and New Life

In 1988, a developer tried to turn the hospital into a nursing home. But these plans failed. The building was empty until 1991, when the city reopened the small clinic next door. The old nurses' building behind the main hospital also reopened as part of the Annie Malone Children's Home. However, the main hospital building stayed empty.

In 1998, the developer's daughter, Sharon Thomas Robnett, started new talks with the city. She wanted to turn the building into a low-income nursing home and apartments for older people. She signed a 99-year lease for the property.

In December 2001, renovations began on the main building. This project was led by Robnett's company and Dominium Management Services. It continued until July 2003. The renovation cost over $42 million. It created a 220-unit living facility for older adults, called Homer G. Phillips Dignity House.

To make sure residents felt safe, they added a fence, security cameras, and remote keyless entry. Homer G. Phillips is now a place where people aged 55 and older can live independently. It has many features like a mini-mart, a beauty and barber salon, a computer lab, and a fully equipped exercise room.

Building Design

The original Homer G. Phillips complex includes a main central building. Four patient wards connect to this central building, making an X shape. There is also a service and power plant building, and a nurses' residence behind the main building.

The front of the central building was changed with an added entrance for the emergency room. This covers the first three floors of the building. All buildings in the complex are made of yellow brick with terra cotta (a type of baked clay) trim.

Many hospitals built in the 1920s were very tall, like skyscrapers. But Homer G. Phillips was designed with seven stories to fit in with the size of the Ville neighborhood. The building has different roof shapes and angled ends on the patient wards, which adds to its unique look.

The outside of the building has a red granite base. Terra cotta trim is used around the windows and as a horizontal line around the buildings. Other original buildings, like the nurses' building and lecture halls (connected by a tunnel), are also part of the hospital's historic listing. However, a separate clinic built in 1960 is not included.