TUCSON, Ariz. (KGUN) — Tucson Medical Center is about to celebrate 80 years of serving Southern Arizona. But the location near Grant and Craycroft Roads has actually been treating patients for almost a century.
"The tradition of excellent care and innovative approaches to healthcare started so long ago and is rooted in the being of what we are today," said Julia Strange.
Strange is Tucson Medical Center VP of External Affairs and Brand. She is describing the connection between TMC today and when it admitted its first patient 80 years ago.
TMC has been recognized as the top hospital in Tucson by U.S. News & World Report. But TMC's mission of providing exceptional health care actually began 100 years ago.
"There was groundbreaking work that was going on on this site, in this very building a hundred years ago, in the treatment of tuberculosis," explained Strange.
Yes, before TMC there was the Desert Sanatorium. In the 1920s, it began operating as a tuberculosis treatment center and health retreat.
"It was very cutting edge," Strange said. "They were doing heliotherapy which is perfect for Arizona's sunny weather."
Heliotherapy is the use of sunlight as treatment. Tucson and the Desert Sanatorium became the prescription for those diagnosed with tuberculosis.
The Desert Sanatorium's outdoor spaces were used for treatments for nearly 20 years. But it fell on hard times during World War II and closed in the summer of 1943.
"The community came together and said: 'We want a community hospital that's focused on the needs of the people who live here,'" said Strange. "They raised the money and they opened the doors and that tradition continues today."
On November 9, 1944 Tucson Medical Center admitted its first patient. Eighty years ago, TMC was on the far eastern edge of Tucson.
"When it opened the nurses lived in the Arizona Building. That was the nurses' quarters because it was so far away from town," Strange said. "So, they would come out and stay here, and then they would do their shifts, and then they'd go back to town. There was a physicians' quarters as well."
As Tucson grew, so did TMC. It's now one of the largest hospitals in the state with more than 640 beds.
That may have been where the history of the Desert Sanatorium was lost.
"TMC is not in the preservation business, it's in the medical business," said architect Corky Poster.
Fortunately, Poster and his architecture firm, Poster Mirto McDonald, are in the preservation business.
"Preservation of the important history of how that medical facility developed is important to the story, but we have to find contemporary uses for those buildings," explained Poster.
That is exactly what TMC and Poster's firm did, restoring and repurposing three of the original Desert Sanatorium buildings.
"The Erickson Building, the Patio Building and the Arizona Building made up the core of that basically historic origin story of TMC," said Poster.
At the main entrance to TMC at Grant and Beverly, you'll find both the Arizona Building and the Patio Building.
Once the nurses' dorm, the Arizona Building's exterior has recently been renovated.
Originally the tuberculosis clinic, the Patio Building now houses administration.
To the northwest is the Erickson Building, once the home of Alfred and Anna Erickson—one-time owners of the Desert Sanatorium—also houses administration.
The three buildings have recently been named to the National Register of Historic Places.
"It's a real tribute to the great architects that actually did this project originally," Poster said.
Poster points out that the architect for both the Erickson Building and the Arizona Building is Henry Jaastad— a one-time Tucson mayor.
Well-known Tucson architect Roy Place designed the Patio Building.
Poster led the five-year effort to get the three historic buildings the national designation.
"We are honored to work on the buildings designed by the great masters," said Poster.
The great masters that made the Desert Sanatorium and Tucson Medical Center Absolutely Arizona.
TMC's 80th anniversary is on Saturday, Nov. 9.
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Pat Parris is an anchor and reporter for KGUN 9. He is a graduate of Sabino High School where he was the 1982 high school state track champion in the 800 meters. While in high school and college, he worked part-time in the KGUN 9 newsroom. Share your story ideas and important issues with Pat by emailing pat.parris@kgun9.com or by connecting on Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram.