by Stacey Foxworthy

Created on: September 03, 2010

Located in Louisville, Kentucky Waverly Hills Sanatorium was a two story hospital that opened on July 26, 1910. Its main purpose was to attend to a surge of tuberculosis patients at a time when antibiotics were not readily available to combat this infectious bacterial disease. Referred to as the ‘white plague,’ those stricken with tuberculosis were typically isolated from the general public as a result of its highly contagious nature. Sanatoriums were built to house these patients.

The commonly held belief at the time was that proper nutrition, plenty of stress-free living, and fresh air would increase the recovery chance of those that had fallen victim to this terrible disease. The majority of sanatoriums that housed tuberculosis patients were built in isolated areas often times with a picturesque setting to promote an atmosphere of serenity and peace. The reasons behind this were not only to isolate patients but also to combat the demoralizing symptoms of tuberculosis that included an overall weakness coupled with weight loss, fever, coughing, and shortness of breath. Infected patients would often feel as though they were drowning in their own lungs. It is a terrifying and disheartening disease.

Treatment for tuberculosis at Waverly Hills Sanatorium included heliotherapy in which the patients were placed under ultraviolet heat lamps or out in the sun’s rays in hopes that ultraviolet light would kill the bacterium. Fresh air and proper nutrition were considered extremely important in ridding a person of this potentially fatal disease. In some cases balloons had been surgically implanted into the lungs to aid in expanding them allowing them to heal. Those people that could afford the more experimental treatment had the option of Pneumothorax which was the collapse of an infected lung. The person was to survive off of the other lung that remained expanded. The hope was that the collapsed lung would be given a chance to heal before it was re-inflated. A last resort method involved Thoracoplasty which was the removal of a few ribs and some muscle tissue in order to allow lungs to expand and heal. Fewer than 5% of patients that received this procedure managed to survive.

The hospital was equipped with a great deal of open air porches promoting the idea that exposure to fresh air was considered extremely important in the health and recovery of the patient. Pictures from the past demonstrate this practice with large beds lined up on the open air

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