Carilion History: Roanoke Community Hospital, Part 1

Even before it was built, Carilion Roanoke Community Hospital (CRCH) represented people caring for people. The community relied on the hospital to be successful and provide the best health care possible to all those who needed it. Yet, the hospital relied on the people for support to make Community Hospital a reality in 1967. 

Jefferson Hospital

Jefferson Hospital was founded in 1907 by Dr. Hugh Trout, a native of Staunton who recognized a need for a hospital in downtown Roanoke.

In 1908, two well-built homes on Franklin Road were joined together to create the 40-bed Jefferson Hospital. A new charter, dated May 1914, provided for the construction of a new structure and training school for nurses.

This building had three all-brick and fireproof additions and eventually grew to house 151 beds and 15 bassinets.

The hospital was later equipped with the first portable telephones, diagnostic X-ray and radiation therapy, a laboratory, cancer clinic and a training program for interns and residents. Between 1914 and 1965, the hospital trained 658 nurses.

In 1930, area hospitals hadn’t yet felt the high demand for hospital beds, so patients often visited the hospital before admission and chose the room they liked best. Each patient paid $6 a day for a private room or about $35 a week. Patients usually occupied 40 beds.

By the spring of 1967, the cost had risen to $23-$35 a day for private rooms and the number of patients had swelled to 168 in the hospital that was suited for 150. It was such a tight fit that there were always patients in licensed beds in the hallways.

A Need for a New Hospital

The demand for hospital beds soared as the population grew in the late 1950s. Roanoke needed a modern hospital with enough beds to adequately house patients.

In May 1959 a survey was conducted of specific hospital needs in Roanoke; the report showed the community needed a new 200-bed hospital to replace Jefferson Hospital.

In 1909, the 26-bed Lewis-Gale Hospital had been founded on the corner of Luck Avenue and Third Street. In 1959, Lewis-Gale officials were planning to expand their hospital to adjacent land and declined an offer to partner with Jefferson in creating a new hospital.

When Lewis-Gale decided to scrap its plans to add on to its facility, it joined the effort to create the new hospital and a new report was created, calling for a 400-bed facility to replace the existing combined 340 beds of the two hospitals, which would each cease operations when the new hospital opened.

City leaders formed a committee to study the plans for the new hospital and issued a report in favor of locating the new hospital somewhere in southwest Roanoke.

Jefferson Hospital was demolished in 1968.

Later in the planning process, Lewis-Gale officials decided to continue operating their hospital. A deal called for a $400,000 contribution from Lewis-Gale and stipulated that the new hospital would get Lewis-Gale’s obstetrics, pediatrics and school of nursing.

When the new hospital opened, Lewis-Gale continued operating as a medical/surgical hospital and opened its new facility in Salem in 1973.

Jefferson contributed all of its assets to the new hospital, including about $1 million in property.

In September 1967, area rescue squads moved the last of the patients from Jefferson Hospital to Community Hospital of Roanoke Valley (CHRV).

Creating a Hospital

The original board of directors was organized in 1960 and immediately began shaping the future of CHRV. They selected a modernistic hospital in Mobile, Ala. as a guide for the new hospital.

The search for a location to build the hospital included potential sites near Fishburn Park, Peters Creek Road and where Tanglewood Mall is today. Officials considered the downtown area out of their price range.

In August 1961, planners purchased a large tract of land near the intersection of Virginia 119 and U.S. 220 in the Edgehill section of town.

In January 1962, the hospital launched a fundraising drive to collect $3 million from the community to support the building of the estimated $8 million facility that was scheduled for completion in 1964. City officials had named Community Hospital as the city’s number-one capital need.

Citizens for Greater Roanoke asked hospital officials in February 1962 if they would consider relocating to central Roanoke, where it would be closer to the population and be a centerpiece of an urban renewal project. By then, the public had already contributed $816,000.

The previously-purchased site was sold and in March 1962, officials selected an area known as Orchard Hill in downtown Roanoke. The hospital would be built across from Elmwood Park at the intersection of Elm Avenue and South Jefferson Street. According to published reports, the downtown site was paid for by hospital organizers and, as part of an urban renewal project, the city received matching non-cash credits from government.

Meanwhile, donations poured in from companies such as General Electric and Valleydale Meats, and from individuals and small group efforts such as a fundraiser conducted by fifth graders at Preston Park Elementary School. Norfolk and Western employees donated $228,175 through payroll deductions.

The community exceeded the original goal and contributed a total of $3.3 million. The federal government awarded a matching $3 million in Hill-Burton funds.

Stay tuned to the ePulse for the next part of the story…groundbreaking and construction!