HOUSTON, Texas (KTRK) — Riverside General Hospital was a historic hospital that began serving the Black community in Houston’s Third Ward as Houston Negro Hospital in 1926.<\/p>\n
The facility was known as an important component in keeping the community healthy.<\/p>\n
“It opened as a result of a group of black doctors petitioning the city, the philanthropic community, the state, everyone they could go to say we need better healthcare in Houston for our African-American citizens,” Harris County Commissioner Rodney Ellis said. “Before this hospital was built, if you were Black and born in Houston, Texas, you’d be lucky if you survived.”<\/p>\n
The historic Riverside General Hospital is being restored to open its doors again in a new form after being closed<\/a> for more than a decade.<\/p>\n On Friday, Juneteenth, local leaders explained the services that would be offered on the campus where Riverside Hospital was located.<\/p>\n “Harris County Public Health will be here offering dental services, HIV & STI screenings, immunizations, cancer screenings and a range of other preventative health services,” Harris County Public Health Executive Director, Leah Barton, said.<\/p>\n