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Baton Rouge General Mid City Celebrates 75th Anniversary

  • Category: News
  • Posted On:
  • Written By: Baton Rouge General

BATON ROUGE, La. – Today, Baton Rouge General announced the celebration of 75 years at its Mid City campus. On Jan. 30, 1950, an estimated 20,000 people gathered to mark the opening of the new, much larger hospital in the heart of the city on Florida Blvd. That morning, history was made as 19 patients were transported by ambulance to the new 250-bed facility so that the staff could seamlessly continue their work of providing the best care for patients.

From 1927 until the Jan. 30 opening of the new campus, BRG operated as a 62-bed hospital at 929 Government St., the current location of Guaranty Media Group. Prior to that, the hospital was housed in a three-story brick building at 315 Florida St. called The Sanitarium.

“Baton Rouge General is an essential part of the fabric of our community — from Mid City to downtown to North Baton Rouge and beyond — and our Mid City hospital holds a unique place in the heart of the city,” said BRG president and CEO Edgardo Tenreiro. “From the many locals who remember being born at this campus to the scores of nurses and physicians trained here, we are proud of the work we have done at Mid City for 75 years and plan to continue our mission of taking care of Baton Rouge for another 75.”

Once in its new home on Florida Blvd., BRG became a pioneer, with many “firsts” in the areas of cardiology, cancer, burn care and behavioral health, among others. Today, 1,200 employees work at Mid City, and last year over 75,000 patients were treated there. The hospital provides inpatient and critical care, emergency care, outpatient services like physical rehabilitation, imaging, primary care, behavioral health, wound care, radiation oncology and mobile health. It is also a hub for healthcare education, with both a School of Nursing and School of Radiologic Technology.

BRG will celebrate 75 years at Mid City all year long, featuring street banners, staff celebrations and t-shirts, and a spring event for community partners and friends of BRG.

“Seventy-five years ago, when thousands gathered to witness our opening, it was clear that Baton Rouge General holds a special place in this community,” said BRG-Mid City chief operating officer Trisha Guidry. “That deep connection remains just as strong today, and we are committed to providing the highest quality care for generations to come.”

A look back at Mid City through the years:

  • Polio, a crippling disease that struck adults and children, reached epidemic proportions in 1952. Iron lung treatment at Mid City gave patients new hope. Doctors and nurses treated up to 75 patients at one time in the polio unit.
  • Dr. Page Acree was instrumental in building a state-of-the-art cardiovascular program at Baton Rouge General. In 1961, the city’s first pacemaker implant was performed.
  • As a major hub of the state’s industrial corridor, Baton Rouge had the need for specialized burn care, opening its Regional Burn Center in 1970.
  • In 1974, the hospital gained national media attention when Dr. Eugene Berry performed a pacemaker implantation on Amy Sciple, a 5-day-old infant.
  • At a time when addiction disorder was a relatively new medical diagnosis, Mid City opened Louisiana’s first chemical dependency unit in 1976.
  • The Radiation Oncology Center opened in 1986 and three years later BRG became the first hospital in Baton Rouge to be approved by the American College of Surgeons as a Community Hospital Comprehensive Cancer Program.
  • BRG’s commitment to medical education expanded in 1991 when it became a teaching facility and began training residents in the fields of family medicine, emergency medicine and general surgery.
  • In 1991, BRG founded the Mid City Redevelopment Alliance to serve as a catalyst for growth and renewal in the area, and continues to work closely with MCRA to improve the infrastructure and quality of place in Mid City
  • Advanced Wound Care and hyperbaric treatments have been available at Mid City since 2000. Patients breathe 100 percent oxygen under pressure inside a hyperbaric chamber, which sends oxygen to damaged tissues and allows them to heal properly.
  • The Olinde House, established in 2005, is a fully functional on-site simulated home that helps rehab patients practice everyday skills as they recover – from making a bed, to cooking a meal, to doing the laundry.
  • Baton Rouge General cemented its reputation as a regional teaching hospital when it became an affiliate campus for Tulane University School of Medicine in 2010.
  • After the flood of 2016, the Mid City campus housed a special needs shelter before the State opened its shelter at LSU. In addition, one wing of the hospital housed more than 53 BRG employees and their families who needed temporary housing after the flood.
  • BRG announced its affiliation with William Carey University in February 2018, offering an 18-month curriculum to complete requirements for a Bachelor of Science in Nursing.
  • On March 30, 2020, BRG announced an agreement with the state to make Mid City a key part of the community’s COVID-19 surge plan, re-opening acute care beds to care for patients who couldn’t get care elsewhere and to take pressure off other area hospitals as the surge of patients continued to grow. The ER would also re-open that June.
  • The Baton Rouge General Foundation in 2021 announced a new initiative to address health inequity and barriers to care among the hospital’s patient base at Mid City. The CARE Initiative (Community, Access, Resources, and Education) tackles some of the most common issues keeping patients from achieving full health, including transportation, medical equipment, and food insecurity.
  • In 2022, BRG unveiled a plaque to honor the first African-American nurses to work there in the 1950s. This group of nurses trailblazed the path for future nurses and provided the best care for the African-American community at a time when it wasn’t easily accessible.
  • BRG’s first mobile health unit, BRG Care on the Go, launched in September 2024 to bring health care services into the North Baton Rouge community where people work, worship, and play.

For more information, visit brgeneral.org.

About Baton Rouge General Medical Center
Baton Rouge General Medical Center is the area’s first community hospital with over 600 licensed beds between three campuses. Baton Rouge General opened its doors in 1900, and has provided the Greater Baton Rouge community with high-quality healthcare for generations. An accredited teaching hospital since 1991, Baton Rouge General is affiliated with several medical school programs, and offers other medical education programs, including a School of Nursing, School of Radiologic Technology, Family Medicine Residency Program, Internal Medicine Residency Program, and Sports Medicine Fellowship Program. For more information, visit BRGeneral.org, find us on Facebook at Facebook.com/BatonRougeGeneral and follow us on Twitter @BRGeneral and Instagram @batonrougegeneral.

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