THE CHANGING ROLE OF THE COMMUNITY HOSPITAL
fay C. Thomas Smith
Detroit's Henry Ford Hospital is undergoing significant change as it moves into its second half-century of service.
Problems of a changing sociological environment have had a strong impact on the 1,000-bed Henry Ford Hospital in central Detroit. In order to adjust to the changes, the hospital has embarked upon a two-pronged program, concentrating health care and health education where they are most needed in the inner city,
and expanding with new satellite health-care facilities in selected suburban areas as far as 20 miles from down-town Detroit.
The Hospital A community group was formed in 1909 to establish a general hospital. In the face of disagree-ments and delays, Henry Ford, chairman of the finance committee, returned all donations and built the Henry Ford Hospital at the expense of the Ford Motor Com-pany. The hospital opened in 1915 and was made an independent nonprofit corporation.
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