Flagler Hospital
| Flagler Hospital | |
|---|---|
 |
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| Geography | |
| Location | St. Augustine, Florida, United States |
| Coordinates | 29°51′47″N 81°19′03″W / 29.863144°N 81.317604°W |
| Organization | |
| Care system | Medicare/Medicaid/Public |
| Hospital type | General medical and surgical |
| Services | |
| Emergency department | yes |
| Beds | 316 |
| History | |
| Founded | as Alicia Hospital on March 1, 1890 |
| Links | |
| Website | www.flaglerhospital.org |
| Lists | Hospitals in Florida |
Flagler Hospital, based in St. Augustine, Florida, is a not-for-profit facility established in 1889. The organization has received numerous accolades and offers "Centers of Excellence" in bariatrics, heart, cancer, maternity, orthopedics and sinus.
In the 1880s, there was no public hospital between Daytona Beach and Jacksonville. Dr. Sloggett purchased a house on Marine Street for his home in 1884, but his goal was to eventually transform the structure into a hospital.
The children of the St. Augustine Loyal Temperance held a fair at the Union chapel on April 7, 1888. Their intent was to raise money for a hospital in St. Augustine. Winter resident Henry Flagler became interested in the issue. On May 22, 1888 he invited St. Augustine's most influential women to his Ponce de León Hotel and offered them a hospital if the community would commit to operate and manage the facility. The ladies accepted his offer, then began soliciting contributions and organizing fund-raisers.Dr. Andrew Anderson was named chairman of the board of trustees in 1889. Flagler purchased and deeded the property and building on Marine Street to the St. Augustine Hospital Association, and the facility opened March 1, 1890 as a non-profit institution, serving whites only (no hospitals in Florida were integrated until the 1970s). Physician and St. Augustine mayor DeWitt Webb also practiced there.
In 1905, the name of the facility was changed to "Flagler Hospital" in honor of their first benefactor.
A training school for nurses was started in 1913.
A 1916 fire destroyed many of the hospital's structures. Nearby local residents took the patients into their homes until they could be placed elsewhere. The hospital association began making plans for a new structure, but nearly five years passed before it became reality. Henry Flagler died in 1913; his third wife, Mary Lily Kenan Flagler, donated money to construct a brick structure with three floors which was dedicated January 5, 1921.
During the 1930s, hospital admissions averaged between 60 and 70 admissions each month. A new Florida law was passed in 1932 which required that medical training schools be associated with multiple hospitals, so the nurses training program was discontinued after nearly 20 years.
During World War II, there was a big increase in admissions, with almost 40 births per month. The hospital was forced to raise prices to pay for higher supply costs.
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Wikipedia