Charity Hospital

by John Keenan

Abandoned Southeast

Charity Hospital was once considered the safety net of New Orleans. It was a place where anyone could go and receive the best healthcare available. Established in 1736, by a French shipbuilder, whose dying wish was to fund a hospital for the poor. The first hospital building opened a year after New Orleans was founded in a small cottage located in the French Quarter. Charity Hospital quickly outgrew that facility and a handful of temporary hospitals sprung up around New Orleans. The administration was taken over by the Sisters of Charity, a group of Catholic nurses who would run the hospitals along with the Medical College of the University of Louisiana. By the 20th Century, New Orleans was rapidly growing and indigent care again exceeded Charity’s capacity.

From the rooftop the sunrise peaks out from behind Charity Hospital.

Today the hallways of Charity Hospital remain dark and empty.

In 1939, the Governor commissioned a new Art Deco-style 2,680 bed hospital tower on Tulane Ave in the…

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