William Kennon Henderson, influential Shreveport businessman and Hospital Board member, was nationally recognized for radio broadcasts on his station KWKH (the call letters are his initials). Henderson gave free time to the Shreveport Charity Hospital to broadcast a daily health program to the community. Local physicians presented these informative programs at 7:15 each morning from the Hospital’s radio studio.

On December 24, 1931, nursing students Ms. Hardin and Ms. Clarkson were almost killed by a hit-and-run driver while crossing Murphy Street from the Nurses’ Home to Charity Hospital. To avoid future occurrences, an underground subway was constructed and named for the two students.

The O.K. Allen Tumor Clinic, situated in the Shreveport Charity Hospital, was the first cancer clinic in Louisiana. The Clinic, named in honor of incumbent Louisiana Governor O.K. Allen, was established under the auspices of the American College of Surgeons. The need for a cancer clinic was prompted by the increasing incidence of the disease. In the 1920s, cancer was the eighth leading cause of death and just ten years later was ranked second.