‘70 for 70’: The face(s) of St. Tammany Health System
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Note: This article is part of “70 for 70,” a weekly series of history posts counting down to St. Tammany Health System’s 70th anniversary on Dec. 1, 1954, by highlighting 70 artifacts from its first seven decades. Today we offer installment No. 4: The face(s) of St. Tammany.
The main entrance of St. Tammany Parish is photographed upon its completion in 2004 as part of the New Millennium Project, an three-phase $45 million that tripled the size of the hospital, including construction of a new lobby. (STHS archives)
You only get one chance, they say, to make a first impression.
That’s not true in the case of St. Tammany Parish Hospital. It’s had at least three. That brings us to this week’s installment of “70 for 70,” a weekly series highlighting 70 artifacts from St. Tammany Health System’s history.
Installment No. 4: The face(s) of St. Tammany
Today’s artifacts: Photos of the lobbies of St. Tammany Parish Hospital.
Why they are significant: A hospital’s lobby is like its front porch: It’s the first thing any visitor sees – and, at least in St. Tammany Parish Hospital’s early days, it doubled as a waiting room, meaning it’s where many people spent most of their time.
Suffice it to say: We’ve come a long way, baby.
Scroll down for photos of the hospital’s lobbies over the years.
THE FIRST LOBBY: The main entrance to the hospital as it appeared from Tyler Street upon its completion in late November 1954 – but, notably, before landscaping was installed.
A LOOK INSIDE: Upon the completion of the original hospital building in 1954 – a one-story, 30-bed country affair – it boasted what we’ll charitably call a “cozy” lobby/waiting room area. This scanned newspaper image shows the inside of that lobby as it looked upon the hospital’s opening. The windows to the left of the photo would have looked out over Tyler Street.
LOBBY NO. 2: By the late 1970s, the hospital had already undergone numerous expansions and updates. That included a renovation of the lobby and main entrance. As this photo shows, gone were the two heavy wooden doors from the original lobby, replaced by a more modern steel-and-glass entryway.
The one-story wing seen to the right of the main entrance was the patient wing of the original 1954 hospital, since demolished. The two-story wing seen to the left of the main entrance was added in one of the hospital’s early expansions.
A CLOSER LOOK: A close-up version of the previous photo. Although the exact date of the photo is unclear, the presence of the USA Today newspaper rack just outside the doors indicates it was taken after Sept. 15, 1982, which was when USA Today began publishing.
It is interesting to note that it appears hospital leadership opted to re-use the same signage from the original hospital entrance, although the letters seem to have been reinstalled to better suit this new entrance.
It is also interesting to note that the license plate on the front of the pickup truck in the photo – probably a novelty plate – reads “1-ELVIS,” which, while not significant for this story’s purposes, is too cool to not mention.
AN EVEN CLOSER LOOK: There’s that USA Today box we were talking about. The other newspaper box is for The Times-Picayune. Also visible is a trash can adorned with the “Pitch In” logo from the ubiquitous national 1970s anti-litter campaign.
STEPPING INSIDE: The undated photo above, and a second one below, offer a peek inside the hospital’s second lobby area, which was considerably less cramped than the first one – but nothing close to what was to come next.
THE NEW MILLENNIUM: With the approach of the year 2000, hospital leadership decided to position St. Tammany Parish Hospital for the new millennium. Thus was born the massive New Millennium Project, the most ambitious expansion project undertaken by the hospital since its founding.
One of the last phases of construction gave the hospital its third entrance, dominated by a sweeping, curved canopy (pictured in the image atop this post). Visitors to the hospital have passed under that canopy on their way into the two-story atrium lobby that has welcomed guests to the hospital since the New Millennium Project’s completion in 2004.
Do you have a St. Tammany Parish Hospital artifact or story to share? We’d love to hear about it! Email us at CommDept@stph.org.
Next week – Installment No. 5: A cause is born
Last week – Installment No. 3: A groundbreaking moment