LOUISVILLE, Ky. — Along I-64, a cupola pokes out from the trees. It's the crown feature on the U.S. Marine Hospital in Portland. Inside, Bill Wagner, a board member of the foundation caring for the building, looked out.
"You can see all of Louisville's bridges from here," he said, the morning fog obscuring some in the distance. Rain pattered on the metal roof. It was put in about ten years ago when the foundation raised nearly $3 million for exterior improvements.
Even on a rainy day, it's a special sight with little details to appreciate.
"That skylight, underneath it was one of the operating rooms," Wagner said, pointing to the northeastern corner of the hospital. In 1852, when the hospital first opened, the natural light was necessary for surgery.
At one point, the hospital harbored union soldiers during the Civil War and housed medical students in the 1970's.
Its history intersects with prohibition, too. Some of the artifacts, stored on the building's first floor, are bottles of medically prescribed bourbon they found hidden in the attic between the rafters.
From the cupola, its easy to see Family Health Centers' primary building. It's four stories tall, looming behind the old hospital.
"Even though this is a large building," Bart Irwin, CEO of the health center and Bill Wagner's successor, said. "We are out of space as far as putting medical providers and finding office spaces for social workers, behavioral health, as we continue to expand our services."
Family Health Centers is taking the building over from the foundation. The project will begin with $2 million, approved for interior renovations by Louisville Metro Council.
Patients at Family Health Center pay for treatment on a sliding scale according to what they can afford, but wait times are around two months. Putting some of their offices in the old hospital will give them more space for care.
"And still," Wagner said, "with a focus on providing access to some of the most vulnerable populations. Whether they're low-income, minority, homeless, immigrants and refugees. Preserving that history here on this campus is very important."
Although the U.S. Marine Hospital Foundation will no longer own its namesake, they'll still work to raise the remaining funds for this project and maintenance going forward.
If you want to contact the foundation for a tour or a donation, you can mail them by addressing a letter to Friends of the Marine Hospital at 2215 Portland Avenue, Louisville, KY 40212.
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