Akron’s City Hospital was created from a fund left by an early resident, Boniface DeRoo. The fund, which represented the lifetime savings of a frugal hard working man, amounted to $10,000. The first building used for the hospital was an old frame house at the corner of Broadway Street and Center Street. Patients were seen,…
Construction on the first building was completed on March 1, 1915. Akron’s new Peoples Hospital struggled financially in its early years. The institution relied heavily on donations, volunteer hours, and donated medical supplies to stay afloat.
It began as a dream by Boniface DeRoo, a Dutch immigrant whose will provided approximately $10,000 for the establishment of Akron’s first hospital. More than nine years elapsed after DeRoo’s death in 1883 before a group of 12 men organized the City Hospital Association. The association purchased the Bartges Homestead in 1892 and opened the…
Opened in 1892, City Hospital provided a place where the sick and injured could be treated with the best principles of medical practice.
The County House – also known as the Summit County Infirmary – stood from 1865 to 1919 off West Exchange Street near the present site of Westminster Presbyterian Church between Rose Boulevard and Mull Avenue.
One of City Hospitals greatest supporters was industrialist Ohio Columbus Barber. By 1904, O.C. Barber had donated more than a quarter of a million dollars to the institution.
The main building of City Hospital was constructed in 1892, with the training school for nurses being added in 1897. The first class of nurses had just two students.
Construction on Akron’s new hospital was completed in 1915. The building was located on West Cedar Street and had 125 beds. In 1916, a separate facility was added to house the hospital’s nurses.
In 1989 Akron’s City Hospital and St. Thomas Hospital merged to form the Summa Health. The new company runs a network of hospitals including Akron, Barberton, St. Thomas, and Western Reserve.
“The City Hospital of Akron, founded in 1892, is a voluntary hospital with a self-perpetuation board of trustees. The institution has 373 beds and a nurses’ home to accommodate 140 people. The staff consists of 91 doctors and 628 employees.”
DeRoo, a native of The Netherlands, and longtime resident of Middlebury, left $10,000 in his will for the founding of a hospital in Akron. The will spent many years in litigation because of a claim for compensation related to nursing, laundry and care by a family DeRoo boarded with. The suit was eventually settled, and DeRoo’s…
After construction in 1915, the hospital struggled financially. In those early years, the hospital relied heavily upon donations of money, supplies and volunteer hours in order to remain in operation.
The City Hospital of Akron had its inception in a fund left by an early resident, Boniface DeRoo. The fund which represented the lifetime savings of a frugal hard working man, amounted to $10,000. The first building used for the hospital was an old frame house at the corner of Broadway Street and Center Street.…
Founded in 1892, Akron’s City hospital was the first accredited radiology department in the United States. The hospital was also a pioneer in open heart surgery. Akron City Hospital is also the birthplace of basketball legends LeBron James and Stephen Curry. Today, the hospital is part of the large Summa Health hospital system.
It began in 1914 with the establishment of The Peoples Hospital Co. Just one year later, a new 125-bed, Peoples Hospital on West Cedar Street would be serving the medical needs of Akronites. In 1954 the hospital would see a massive 200-bed expansion as well as a new name, Akron General Hospital (shown here).
The Summit County Infirmary – also known as the County Poorhouse – stood from 1865 to 1919 off West Exchange Street near the present site of Westminster Presbyterian Church between Rose Boulevard and Mull Avenue. A Hellish Place When the Infirmary opened it was praised as “an honor to the county and a mark on the…
In the early 1900s, Akron was growing faster than any other city in America. An increasing need for quality healthcare services led Dr.s W.W. Leondard, A.F. Sippy, and G.M. Logan to imagine a new hospital that would be financed, owned, and patronized by the people of Akron. With the financial help of Akron’s elite, including names…