Baptist Hospital: The rise and fall of a Knoxville health care empire

When Knoxville's East Tennessee Baptist Hospital was first proposed in 1943, the city was in dire need of more hospital beds. Higher than anticipated costs made fundraising a challenge.

It turned out financial challenges didn't just define the hospital's origins. They would be the institution's downfall, too, ultimately leading to its closure in August 2008.

The period in between wasn't so bleak. Baptist Hospital was a bustling cornerstone of health care in Knoxville for the majority of its 60 years, with countless patients treated there during that time.

The hospital also brought thousands of jobs to the city. In the spring of 1989, the hospital employed more than 2,000 people, the Knoxville News Sentinel reported on April 30, 1989.

The idea for a Baptist Hospital was reported ahead of the October 1943 Knox County Baptist Association convention, where initial conversations regarding the hospital were expected to be had, the News Sentinel reported Oct. 10, 1943.

An additional hospital was greatly needed in the city at that time.

"Present hospital facilities in this area, even in pre-war days, were scarcely adequate, especially at General Hospital. Now, all hospitals are taxed to carry the additional load," the News Sentinel reported Oct. 26, 1943.

The article noted the hospital's services would be available to everyone, not just Knoxville's Baptists. "It becomes, therefore, not only an urgent obligation on all the community, but a matter of enlightened self-interest, to lend a strong backing to the Baptist hospital movement."

Plans formed for the new 200-bed hospital, which was estimated to cost $1 million, and fundraising efforts began. Fundraising materials cited the 1,261 hospital beds then available to the 843,000 people living in East Tennessee, which allotted 1.5 hospital beds to every 1,000 residents, the News Sentinel reported May 18, 1944.

At the time, the four hospitals in Knoxville were General Hospital, St. Mary's Hospital, Howard-Henderson Hospital and Fort Sanders Hospital, according to a 1944 News Sentinel article.

One fundraising strategy for the planned Baptist Hospital encouraged Knoxvillians to purchase war bonds to go toward the hospital campaign, with the promise they would "not be redeemed until the present emergency no longer exists," the News Sentinel reported June 8, 1944.

Fundraising succeeded, and $1,052,021 was raised for the hospital, more than the initial million sought, the News Sentinel reported July 14, 1944. In November, a location was announced: the south bank of the Tennessee River, between the Henley and Gay Street bridges.

As it turned out, $1 million wouldn't cover the cost of the hospital. The board of directors raised the goal amount to $1.5 million, and then $2 million, the News Sentinel reported Aug. 5, 1945. By 1948, more funds were called for, with a price tag of $3.1 million named in July 30 of that year.

The first patient was seen at the hospital the day after Thanksgiving on Friday, Nov. 26, 1948, the News Sentinel reported that day.

By 2006, the Baptist Hospital had expanded to a group of hospitals called Baptist Health System which, in addition to the original location, included Baptist Hospital West, Baptist Hospital for Women, Baptist Hospital of Cocke County and seven Baptist Senior Health Centers, the News Sentinel reported Jan. 13 of that year. The group also managed Etowah's Woods Memorial Hospital and Tazewell's Claiborne County Hospital.

Even with its numerous arms, financial woes had already begun. The system had around $190 million of long-term debt at the end of the fiscal year in 2005, the News Sentinel reported in 2006.

In early 2008, Baptist Health System merged with St. Mary's Health System to form Mercy Health Partners. By March, the new Mercy Health announced plans to build a new downtown hospital that would replace both Baptist Hospital and St. Mary's Medical Center, the News Sentinel reported March 12, 2008. By then, the original Baptist Hospital at 137 Blount Ave. had grown to include nine buildings and 23 acres, the News Sentinel reported on March 23, 2008.

It was decided the Blount Avenue campus would be home to the new hospital, the News Sentinel reported in April 2008. Emergency and inpatient services were transferred to other Mercy locations on Aug. 1, officially marking the end of Baptist Hospital's true hospital operations, the News Sentinel reported in Aug. 3 2008.

A year after announcing the new Blount Avenue hospital, Mercy Health Partners' board of directors unanimously voted to terminate those plans, citing the tumultuous economy as a top reason, the News Sentinel reported June 12, 2009.

Baptist Hospital operated as Mercy Riverside, offering outpatient services until Mercy South opened off Chapman Highway in 2010, the News Sentinel reported Dec. 15 of that year, leaving only a few office buildings operational at the enormous campus.

Demolition started at the hospital in March 2014. Buildings at the site today include Regal Entertainment's corporate headquarters and the One Riverwalk Apartments.

Hayden Dunbar is the storyteller reporter. Email [email protected].

Support strong local journalism by subscribing at knoxnews.com/subscribe.