Act 40 of the Louisiana Legislature, signed by Governor William P. Kellogg, was passed to once again establish a charity hospital in Shreveport. This hospital would be maintained at the expense of the State “for the reception and medical and surgical treatment of indigent and destitute sick and wounded persons, without distinction of race and color, said hospital to be known and designated as the ‘Shreveport Charity Hospital.’” The sum of $10,000 was appropriated for the support and maintenance of the hospital.

The Shreveport Charity Hospital was located at the site of a former private school, run by Reverend Jesse Franklin Ford. The group of dilapidated log and frame buildings was at the corner of Pierre Avenue and Ford Street in an area called Moss Side Park. The ill-equipped hospital could accommodate 25 patients. The Shreveport Charity Hospital remained at this location until 1889.

A five-man board of governors administered the hospital and was composed of Captain Simon P. Levy, W.P. Ford, Peter J. Trezevant, Mayor W. Nick Murphy, and J.B. Smith. The hospital’s first staff consisted of three professionals:  Dr. Thomas G. Ford, chief surgeon; Dr. W.K. Sutherlin, intern; and Dr. W.M. Turner, superintendent.

Click here for a list of the staff at Shreveport Charity Hospital from 1876 to 1916.