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Historical Milestones of Baptist Memorial Hospital-Medical Center
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Medical Center Memories
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1906: The first mention of a proposed Baptist hospital in Memphis was made by H.P. Hurt at a 1906 meeting of Baptist leaders. Hurt offered the following resolution: "Resolved that it is the sense of this association that we should have, in the city of Memphis, a Sanitorium for West Tennessee, East Arkansas, and North Mississippi, owned and managed by the Baptists, and that a committee be appointed to see if such a thing is feasible." Before his resolution, Hurt mentioned that the College of Physicians and Surgeons of Memphis had offered the Baptists a lot on Madison Avenue near the college, valued at $25,000 "and in addition to this a promise to raise a like amount in subscriptions." The only hospital in the city at the time was St. Joseph Hospital.
 1908: A board of trustees composed of representatives from Tennessee, Arkansas and Mississippi is organized on March 11. Its main concern is raising sufficient funds to open the hospital. 1912: The 150-bed Baptist Memorial Hospital, built at a cost of about $235,000, opens on July 22. The seven-story brick structure also includes a reception room, parlor, offices, elevator, dining room, kitchen, operating room, and heating plant. Forty-five nurses were in training the first year. 1915: A.E. Jennings becomes general superintendent of BMH, choosing to serve without pay. When he begins his duties, the hospital is $100,000 in debt and the trustees discuss selling the institution. The debt was retired in two years. 1916: Physicians at BMH and the Campbell Clinic are the first in the Mid-South to specialize in orthopedics. 1917: The board of trustees votes on Jan. 10 to change the name of Baptist Memorial Hospital to Good Samaritan Hospital. The board believes that some members of the public perceive the hospital serves only Baptists and concludes that has a negative impact on patronage and support. There is so much negative reaction to the name change that the board's vote is rescinded on March 6. 1918: A 100-bed south wing is erected at a cost of $273,000, increasing the hospital's capacity to 250 beds. 1920: A new east wing is completed at a cost of about $270,000. 1922: Superintendent A.E. Jennings announces that Baptist is the largest privately owned hospital in the South. 1927: The Physicians and Surgeons Building, which includes offices for doctors, a drug store, a restaurant, patient rooms, and hotel rooms for patient families, is dedicated on Nov. 17. The building costs $650,000. Baptist is the first hospital in the nation to offer a hotel and the first to own and operate a physicians office building. 1930: Physicians at BMH and the Campbell Clinic are the first ever to write a "how to" primer on orthopedics; the textbook is used during World War II by general practitioners. 1935: BMH is the first hospital in the Mid-South to offer physical therapy. 1937: An eight-story pavilion is added on the south side of Baptist, providing space for hospital offices on the first floor and increasing bed capacity to 500. 1946: Superintendent A. E. Jennings retires after 30 years of service. Frank S. Groner becomes hospital administrator. 1947: BMH is one of the first hospital in the country to install automatic elevators. 1950: In August, Baptist records an all-time high for hospital occupancy. Daily average occupancy is 514 - or 98 percent for the 525-bed facility. During the remainder of the year, hundreds of admissions are declined because of lack of space. A record 23,223 patients are cared for this year. Baptist provides free treatment for 7,231 of these patients at a cost of $298,199. A 13-story addition adjoining Baptist Memorial Hospital on Madison is proposed to give the city 250 more hospital beds. 1953: The National Polio Foundation selects Baptist as area rehabilitation center. A new unit for physical medicine and rehabilitation of Mid-South polio patients is created. 1953: Baptist breaks ground on the Madison-East addition. 1955: Baptist is the first in the region to install air conditioning when the Madison East Building was completed. 1955: On July 20, a record 613 patients are cared for at Baptist. 1956: The much-anticipated new 13-story Madison-East addition opens, bringing hospital bed capacity to 800. 1958: The Baptist Medical Building, a 10-story office building for doctors at the corner of Dudley and Monroe, opens. 1959: BMH is the first Mid-South hospital and among the first 10 in the nation to establish a satellite unit, the Regional Rehabilitation Center. 1960: Baptist opens a 22-bed Intensive Care Unit. 1960: Baptist is the first in the nation to install a computer for accounts billing. 1962: Dr. Robert M. Miles, director of Medical Education, develops a clip to prevent blood clots formed in a vein from traveling through the vein and becoming lodged in the heart and lungs. Several years later the "Miles Clip" will be used to prevent a blood clot in former President Richard M. Nixon's iliac vein from reaching a vital organ. 1964: The Medical Center Plaza Building opens, which includes new hotel facilities for patient families. 1967: An 18-story addition to the Union East Unit opens, bringing the hospital's bed capacity to 1,825. 1968: Lisa Marie Presley is born to Elvis and Priscilla Presley at BMH on Feb. 1. 1969: The American Hospital Association releases statistics that show BMH is the third-largest hospital in the nation in terms of patient admissions. It continues to be the largest privately owned hospital. 1971: BMH opens a neonatal intensive care unit. 1972: Dr. Richard Kelley, pathologist for the Microbiology and Immunology sections of Pathology at Baptist, developed the first bacterium medium for the borreliosis disease that causes relapsing fever in humans. At that time this disease, transmitted by ticks, had never been cultured. Subsequently the cause of Lyme disease was determined using this medium, now known as Kelley's medium. Lyme disease is an inflammatory disease characterized by flulike symptoms that, if untreated, can result in chronic arthritis and nerve and heart dysfunction. 1974: BMH is the first hospital in Memphis and the third in the country to install a first generation unit of an EMI/CAT head-only scanner. 1977: BMH is one of the first 10 hospitals in the United States to establish a unit for the study, diagnosis and treatment of sleeping disorders. 1977: Elvis Presley is pronounced dead at BMH on Aug. 16. 1979: Baptist Memorial Hospital-East, a sister hospital to BMH-Medical Center, opens to meet patient demand in rapidly growing East Shelby County. 1979: Obstetrics moved from BMH-Medical Center to BMH-East on Father's Day. 1980: Dr. Richard Kelley, M.D., pathologist for Baptist's Microbiology and Immunology Department, and Dr. Wilton Rightsel, Ph.D., director for Microbiology at Baptist, are the first in the nation to isolate and identify the organism that causes Legionnaire's disease while an outbreak was occurring in the U.S. 1980: Joseph Powell becomes president and chief executive officer of Baptist Memorial Hospital. 1981: Baptist Memorial Health Care System Inc., a multi-hospital system with Baptist Memorial Hospital as the flagship institution, is established. It is the only Memphis-based provider with a network of regional hospitals spanning three states -- Tennessee, Arkansas and Mississippi. By 1982: There were a total of 2068 licensed beds at Baptist. 1982: Baptist becomes the first acute care hospital in the country to have an on-site geriatric unit when the first patients are admitted to the 29-bed unit. 1984: BMH-Medical Center installs the Mid-South's first hyperbaric oxygen chamber. 1985: The first heart transplant in Memphis is performed by a team of physicians from Baptist Memorial Hospital and University of Tennessee-Memphis. 1986: Physicians at Baptist begin performing bone marrow transplants on patients with lymphoma or Hodgkin disease who are unable to be treated with conventional chemotherapy, thus creating the first adult bone marrow transplant center in the Mid-South. 1992: Stephen Reynolds is named president and chief executive officer of Baptist Memorial Hospital. Outgoing BMH President Joseph Powell becomes president and chief executive officer of the Baptist Memorial Health Care System. 1994: BMH President and CEO Stephen Reynolds becomes president and CEO of the Baptist Memorial Health Care System. 1996: BMH-Medical Center is the site of the Mid-South's first successful implant of the HeartMate ventricular assist device, designed to keep heart transplant candidates alive while waiting for a donor heart to become available. 1997: Baptist announces plans for a $400 million expansion project. Merger begins with St. Joseph's Hospital. St. Jude Children's Research Hospital purchases St. Joseph's property and buildings. Baptist announces plans to tear down the 1,212-bed Medical Center facility, while at the same time expanding services at Baptist East to meet community demand. Plans are announced for a freestanding Women's Hospital and a Baptist Heart Institute on the campus of Baptist East, as well. 1998: Merger with St. Joseph's Hospital is completed. 2000: The last patients at the Medical Center are transferred November 17.  Top of Page |
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