{"id":243100,"date":"2026-04-23T11:16:32","date_gmt":"2026-04-23T11:16:32","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/243100\/"},"modified":"2026-04-23T11:16:32","modified_gmt":"2026-04-23T11:16:32","slug":"st-petes-lost-chapter-in-black-healthcare-history","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/243100\/","title":{"rendered":"St. Pete&#8217;s lost chapter in black healthcare history"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>            <a class=\"gofollow\" data-track=\"NTk1LDEsMSw2MA==\" href=\"https:\/\/sophia.smithandassociates.com\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\"><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/04\/Sophia-Sanchez-Version3-1.jpg\"\/><\/a><\/p>\n<p>Opened in 1923, Mercy Hospital, located around 1344 22nd Street South, was the only primary care facility available to African Americans in St. Petersburg until 1966. The hospital was founded to meet the Black community\u2019s healthcare needs during the segregation era.<\/p>\n<p>Despite facing considerable challenges from limited resources to staffing shortages, the hospital remained a vital resource for residents. One of its most notable moments came in 1926 when Dr. James Maxie Ponder became the first Black staff physician, marking a key milestone in Mercy Hospital\u2019s enduring legacy.<\/p>\n<p>A cornerstone of the St. Pete community<\/p>\n<p>Throughout its operation, Mercy Hospital acted as a cornerstone of the community. Former staff and patients recall it as a place where compassionate care was delivered despite the constraints of segregation. One former nurse reminisced about the camaraderie among the staff and the commitment to serving their patients.<\/p>\n<p><img fetchpriority=\"high\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"1024\" height=\"576\" src=\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/04\/MercyHospital_-1024x576.jpg\" alt=\"outside a hospital with a marker on the outside. the photo is in black and white\" class=\"wp-image-155007\"  \/>Outside the site of Mercy Hospital in St. Petersburg | Photo via Preserve the \u2018Burg (Facebook)<\/p>\n<p>\u201cStaff at Mercy became family. We got along really well; we just helped each other. We didn\u2019t have a lot of help, but we worked together. Aides, maids, and all\u2026nurses and doctors, we were nice to each other,\u201d said 90-year-old Tillman when speaking to <a href=\"https:\/\/theweeklychallenger.com\/keeping-the-history-of-mercy-hospital-alive\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener nofollow\">The Weekly Challenger<\/a> in July 2016. Read the <a href=\"https:\/\/theweeklychallenger.com\/keeping-the-history-of-mercy-hospital-alive\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener nofollow\">full article here<\/a>. <\/p>\n<p>After its closure in 1966, the building underwent various uses and stood as a reminder of the city\u2019s segregated past. In 1998, the City Council voted to purchase the then-vacant building, acknowledging its historical significance.<\/p>\n<p>The oldest surviving hospital building in the city<\/p>\n<p>Mercy Hospital, St. Petersburg\u2019s oldest surviving hospital building, holds a pivotal place in the city\u2019s history. <\/p>\n<p>During the Civil Rights Movement, the hospital became much more than a healthcare facility but a symbol of strength for protesters challenging racial segregation in local hospitals and beyond. Its role as a safe haven for those on the front lines of the fight for equality cannot be overstated.<\/p>\n<p>Today, it stands as the Johnnie Ruth Clark Health Center, continuing its legacy of care as part of the Historic Mercy Hospital Campus, serving as a vital community health resource.<\/p>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/history.healthystpete.foundation\/topic\/health-equity\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\" noreferrer noopener nofollow\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"1024\" height=\"107\" src=\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/04\/MadePossibleBy_FoundationHealthyStPete-1024x107.jpg\" alt=\"Made possible by Foundation for a Healthy St. Pete\" class=\"wp-image-99495\"  \/><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Opened in 1923, Mercy Hospital, located around 1344 22nd Street South, was the only primary care facility available&hellip;\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":243101,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[13],"tags":[202,204,203,199,201,200],"class_list":["post-243100","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-st-petersburg","tag-st-pete","tag-st-pete-headlines","tag-st-pete-news","tag-st-petersburg","tag-st-petersburg-headlines","tag-st-petersburg-news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/243100","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=243100"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/243100\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/243101"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=243100"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=243100"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=243100"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}