Nashville History Corner

The history of George W. Hubbard Hospital

BY RIDLEY WILLS II

Early in the 20th century, the board at Meharry Medical School decided to build a hospital to meet the medical needs of Nashville’s Black community and as a teaching facility for Meharry students.

They hired as a consultant Daniel Hale Williams, M.D., a successful heart surgeon at Providence Hospital in Chicago, of which he was the primary founder. Dr. Robert Fulton Boyd, of Nashville, one of the leading Black physicians in America, was named chairman of the George W. Hubbard Hospital Association, whose charge was to raise the money to build the hospital. The first section of Hubbard Hospital opened Dec. 15, 1910, on First Avenue South. It was named for Dr. George W. Hubbard, the first president of Meharry. The two-story brick structure, which was dedicated Nov. 12, 1912, could accommodate 80 patients and 20 more in the case of emergencies. Dr. Hubbard became the first superintendent.

In 1925, the Meharry board concluded that its hospital could not be modernized and enlarged to “conform to established modern standards.” Accordingly, they purchased six acres in North Nashville across what is today Meharry Boulevard from Fisk University, where Meharry would build in 1931 a new medical school. This was made possible through the generosity of the General Education Board, the Rosenwald Fund, George Eastman, the Harkness Foundation, the City of Nashville and Meharry alumni. The hospital became part of Meharry, a brick building, trimmed with limestone, which was three stories high on the east and five stories high at the rear because the land sloped down to Albion Street. It cost about $2 million.

By mid-century, Meharry’s president Dr. M. Don Clawson concluded that because Hubbard was primarily providing medical care for Nashville’s indigent Black community, a permanent partnership with Nashville’s city government was the only solution. He was not, however, able to pull this off.

In 1952, Dr. Clawson was succeeded by Dr. Harold D. West as president of Meharry. The next year, the City of Nashville agreed to reimburse Meharry Medical College for indigent care. This was a start.

Dr. Lloyd C. Elam became the sixth president of Meharry in September 1967. He also was the college’s first black president. At that time, Meharry had only a few buildings — the main building, which included Hubbard Hospital, the schools of medicine and dentistry, a nursing dorm, Alumni Hall and Alumni Cafeteria. Despite a rapid expansion of the campus during the Elam years, his administration and ones to follow were beset with financial problems at Hubbard. Unexpected help came in 1983 when the $30 million mortgage on Hubbard Hospital was forgiven.

In 1994, Hubbard Hospital closed, leaving Meharry without a teaching facility for its students. Meharry successfully negotiated with Metropolitan Government of Nashville-Davidson County to move General Hospital to the Hubbard location and care for Nashville’s indigent population.