Abbott Northwestern Hospital
28th Street building of Abbott Northwestern Hospital
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| Non-profit organization | |
| Industry | Health care |
| Founded | Minneapolis, Minnesota, United States (1889) |
| Founder |
Elizabeth Kenny Harriet G. Walker T. B. Walker Dr. Amos Abbott |
| Headquarters | Minneapolis, Minnesota, United States |
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Area served
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North America |
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Number of employees
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5,347 |
| Website | [1] |
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Footnotes / references More [2] |
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Abbott Northwestern Hospital is a 627-bed teaching and specialty hospital based in Minneapolis, Minnesota. It is the largest not-for-profit hospital in the Twin Cities and a part of the Allina Health network of hospitals and clinics. U.S. News ranked Abbott Northwestern among America's Best Hospitals with six adult specialties ranked in the top 50 in the United States.
Abbott Northwestern Hospital was founded in 1882 as Northwestern Hospital for Women and Children. Harriet G. Walker, the wife of prominent Minneapolis businessman Thomas Barlow Walker, invited 44 Minneapolis ladies to a meeting. Although it was billed as a fine social event, Walker actually had the foundation of a charity hospital in mind. Dr. Mary Hood, who attended the birth of Walker's last child Archie, explained the need for a hospital to treat victims of malnutrition, diphtheria, tuberculosis, typhoid, and pneumonia. Dr. Mary Whetstone appealed by saying that no one cared for the people for the worst diseases or "smoothed their dying pillows". Although the typical Victorian women of the time were not used to hearing the details of disease and disadvantaged lives, the ladies donated toward the foundation of a hospital. The first building in late 1882 was a small rented house on 3 1/2 Avenue South and had room for ten patients, two nurses in training, and maids. This facility was hardly big enough for the needs of the community, so it moved to a second home in 1883 at a cost of $3000. In 1887, the hospital moved to a permanent location at the corner of Chicago and 27th Street, at a cost of $36,000. The hospital's care was patterned after Woman's Medical College of Pennsylvania, Dr. Hood's alma mater. Dr. Hood and Dr. Whetstone gave simple, practical care such as diet, cleanliness, and rest. The hospital also established a training school for nurses.
In 1932, Northwestern Hospital celebrated its 50th anniversary. The building at the time could house 200 patients, and was valued at $1,000,000. It had a staff of 81 student nurses, 16 graduate nurses, and 30 other members of its general staff. It was overcrowded at the time, so expansion was needed. Because of the Great Depression, though, it took until 1941 before the west wing and the central pavilion were remodeled and the original hospital building was demolished.
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