Original 1920s Lutheran Hospital was on Fairfield Avenue. Moved to West Jefferson Boulevard in 1992. By March 5, 2001 the last of the old hospital was torn down. Lutheran celebrating 30 years of doing heart transplants Jennifer L. Boen July 13, 2015 in the The News-Sentinel newspaper.
At the beginning of the 20th century, local Lutheran church leaders in Fort Wayne felt an urgent need for an additional hospital in the city. Led by Reverend Philip Wambsganss, they raised funds from the surrounding area, in 1904, the 25-bed Lutheran Hospital opened.
The hospital was sold in 1995, with the proceeds forming The Lutheran Foundation which continues promote community wellness through its support of regional organizations, churches, and schools.
Overview
Lutheran Hospital is a tertiary-care facility serving northeastern Indiana, northwestern Ohio and southern Michigan. Lutheran is the region's only heart and kidney transplant center. In addition, Lutheran Children's Hospital offers pediatric inpatient and intensive care units and the most pediatric subspecialties in the region. Lutheran Hospital added a fifth floor which opened in late 2011.
Lutheran Hospital is a member of the Lutheran Health Network, owned by Community Health Systems.
Mark your calendars for our June 21 event “The Longest Day” in our neighborhood park. The Lutheran Hospital was build for the community a 100 years ago and financed by farmers who took out a second mortgage on their farm. In a Spirit of Community we will have a fabulous program partnering with other non profits. And yay the Brava’s Hot Dog cart will be there, too❤️ Stay tuned for more announcements!
Inscription:
Fort Wayne Luth. Hospital - Ich Bin Krank Gewesen Und Ihr Habt Mich Besucnet. Matthaus 25:36.
The Lutheran Hospital Association was organized by area Lutheran congregations in 1903 under the leadership of its director, the Reverend Philip Wambsganss. The association then purchased the former 21-room brick residence of Judge Lindley Ninde on Fairfield at Wildwood Avenues and remodeled it to accommodate 25 patient beds with the resulting dedication being held on Thanksgiving Day, November 24, 1904. Three months later an addition was already in the planning that would bring the hospital’s size to 75 rooms by 1906. In 1953, the original structure was entirely replaced when a $3-million project allowed for the construction of an entirely new hospital with a capacity of over 300 patients, which was dedicated in 1956. Over the years a number of further facility expansions continued to take place on the hospital’s 12-acre site.
In 1981, the hospital, landlocked on Fairfield Avenue, purchased substantial acreage at I-69 and US 24 with the intention of someday constructing a new hospital at that location. Six years later, in 1987, the announcement was made that the first phase of the new facility’s construction was ready to commence. At a cost of $92million, the new Lutheran Hospital was completed in 1992 and the final move from Fairfield Avenue to 7950 W. Jefferson Blvd took place.
In 1995, Quorum of Brentwood, TN bought Lutheran for $137millon. This sale resulted in the emergence of The Lutheran Foundation , which has invested and grown the proceeds since, thus far disbursing over $162million to faith and health & wellness based activities over a 10 county area in Northeast Indiana. Even with these distributions, in 2016, the Foundation held assets of over $200million.
The sale of Lutheran Hospital to Quorum did not include the hospital’s old 425,000 sq. ft. facilities on Fairfield Avenue, for which the foundation strived to find a new use. Finally, with no buyers in sight, the old hospital was razed in 2000, the grounds landscaped, and then reborn as Lutheran Park and Gardens in 2006. The only building left standing on the former hospital grounds, the original Duemling Clinic (small rectangular building pictured at the southwest corner of Fairfield and Home Avenue) is now The Lutheran Foundation’s offices.
After buying Lutheran, Quorum went on to purchase St. Joe Hospital in 1998. With St. Joe’s purchase came Dupont Medical Center, which had been built in 1990 on the 125 acres at I-69 and Dupont Road that St. Joe had purchased in 1984 for future healthcare expansion. From this site later evolved Dupont Hospital, whose groundbreaking then took place in 2000. Dallas-based Triad Hospitals then acquired Quorum (who owned a number of hospitals and health care facilities in addition to Lutheran/St. Joe/Dupont) in 2001 for $2.4billion. Then in 2007, Community Health Systems (CHS) of Franklin, TN purchased Triad, which included Lutheran Health Network, for $5.1billion, and who as of this writing remains the current owner.
Join us on Jan. 29 for a celebration of 25 years since Lutheran College of Health Professions became part of the University of Saint Francis! An open house from 4 to 6 p.m. in the Doermer Family Center for Health Science Education showcasing Indiana’s first fully immersive learning laboratory will be followed by a 7:30 p.m. lecture by Mike Schatzlein, M.D., former CEO of Lutheran Health Network at the Robert Goldstine Performing Arts Center. For more information, visit go.sf.edu/futureofhealthcare.
An open house from 4 to 6 p.m. in the Doermer Family Center for Health Science Education showcasing Indiana’s first fully immersive learning laboratory will be followed by a 7:30 p.m. lecture by Mike Schatzlein, M.D., former CEO of Lutheran Health Network at the Robert Goldstine Performing Arts Center. For more information, visit go.sf.edu/futureofhealthcare.
