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The Old Brewster Hospital

Current look of the hospital.

The Old Brewster Hospital is a hospital in Jacksonville, Florida that was the first to serve African Americans in LaVilla. The hospital also served as a training facility for African American nurses. The hospital was opened from 1901 to 1966.

Summary

The Old Brewster Hospital was first built in 1885 on 915 Monroe Street. The location of the medical center was within LaVilla, a predominantly black neighborhood. Also the first to train African Americans in the art of nursing.

History

The LaVilla community was in need of medical attention, so the Women’s Home Missionary Society of the Methodist Episcopal Church funded the Old Brewster hospital. Previously the residence of Hans Christian Peter, the hospital started to be built in 1885. Brewster Hospital was named after Rev. George A. Brewster, for Matilda Cutting Brewster donated $1000 in his name. Then the hospital opened in 1901, for citizens of LaVilla were damaged from the Great Fire of Jacksonville. At the time, hospitals did not serve African Americans in Jacksonville, and the Old Brewster Hospital was considered the first.

Training school for nurses from Boylan Industrial Home and School, which was occupied by many African American girls. The facility was the first training hospital for black nurses in America. The nurses made 1,230 house calls the first year that they were open.

The Civil Rights Act of 1964 allowed African Americans to be able to go to other hospitals. Therefore, more hospitals out-competed the Old Brewster Hospital causing a closure. The facility was added to the National Register of Historic places in 1970s.

Features

The Expansion

The Old Brewster hospital was not enough for LaVilla, so it had to expand to other hospitals. In 1931, the hospital obtained a new building on 8th and Jefferson street, on the edge of Springfield. When the Old Brewster Hospital closed down, the Springfield location was rebuilt and renamed to the Methodist Hospital. Then the hospital was starting to become affiliated with University of Florida in 1999. In 2013, the hospital was renamed to UF Health Jacksonville.

Building Structure

The hospital is two stories of red brick. The front of the building has wide porches that were Victorian "gingerbread" porches. The hospital contained two wings with 30 beds.

The Future

Ever since the closing of the building, the facility has been vacant. However, organizations have been looking into buying the lease of the hospital. The North Florida Land Trust, a non-profit organization, have shown recent interest to lease the old hospital and to preserve the hospital's history, as of June, 2017.