Good Samaritan-Waverly Hospital, hospital in the United States
Good Samaritan-Waverly Hospital is a two-story brick building in Columbia, South Carolina, designed in the Moderne style of the mid-twentieth century. The facility contained a pharmacy, laboratory, X-ray rooms, two operating rooms, staff dining area, and capacity for about fifty beds.
The hospital resulted from the merger of two older facilities in 1938, both founded by local Black physicians in 1910 and 1924. After serving the African American community for decades, it closed in 1973 when desegregation and a new integrated hospital undermined its financial viability.
The building sits in a neighborhood shaped by the African American community, where many residents once received care within its walls. It reflects how Black medical professionals built their own health facilities to serve their community when other institutions would not.
The building is privately owned and not open to visitors, but serves as a marker of local history within the community. Its listing on the National Register of Historic Places helps preserve its structure and story for future generations.
This hospital was the only place in Columbia where Black nurses could train and work, making it a center for medical education during segregation. Though it closed in 1973, the building gained recognition on the National Register of Historic Places in 2008, preserving its role in local memory.
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