Category: Homer G. Phillips Hospital

1979: City closes Homer G. Phillips Hospital

The City of St. Louis announces the closing of Homer G. Phillips Hospital, while the other public hospital — the largely white City Hospital #1 — remains open. This decision sparks protests in the Ville neighborhood, where Homer G. Phillips is located.

1958: Black surgeons given faculty status, hospital admitting privileges

Carl Moyer, MD

Carl A. Moyer, MD, head of Washington University Surgery, gives faculty status or Barnes Hospital admitting privileges to Black Homer G. Phillips surgeons Frank Richards, MD, William Sinkler, MD, and others.  “Dr. Moyer was a terrific guy, very interested in Homer Phillips. The only way I got into the St. Louis Surgical Society was that […]

1958: Howard Phillip Venable, MD, joins WUSM faculty

Howard P. Venable, MD

A Black ophthalmologist, Howard Phillip Venable, MD, joins the School of Medicine faculty. Later, he is promoted to assistant clinical professor of ophthalmology. He is also a longtime physician at Homer G. Phillips Hospital and is director of ophthalmology there when the hospital closes in 1979. Howard Phillip Venable oral history audio recording available via […]

1955: Homer E. Nash Jr., MD, joins SLCH medical staff

Homer E. Nash Jr., MD, was “a consummate educator and renowned clinician whose name is synonymous with compassionate care. … He was a constant advocate for his patients, and they adored him,” writes the St. Louis American, June 4, 2022.

Black pediatrician Homer E. Nash Jr., MD, joins the Children’s Hospital medical staff, after earning his medical degree at Meharry Medical College and performing residency training at Homer G. Phillips Hospital. He dedicates his 46-year career to providing care to children in North St. Louis, many of them poor and underserved. He wins Children’s Hospital’s […]

1953: SLCH receives funds to expand pediatrics at Homer G. Phillips Hospital

The U.S. Children’s Bureau awards Alexis Hartmann, MD, of Children’s Hospital funding to establish an expanded pediatric residency at Homer G. Phillips Hospital under Helen Nash, MD; Park White, MD; and Neil Middelkamp, MD. They also receive funds to build a modern unit for premature babies at Homer G. Phillips.

1949: Helen E. Nash, MD: First Black woman to join WUSM faculty

Helen E. Nash, MD, becomes the first Black woman to join the School of Medicine faculty and the first Black attending physician at Children’s Hospital, where she serves for more than 40 years. A trainee of Homer G. Phillips Hospital, she becomes a hugely impactful physician and mentor and establishes scholarships for students interested in […]

1949: Velma Murphy Jones begins nursing career at Barnes Hospital

Velma Murphy Jones, right, pictured in the Barnes Hospital Bulletin, February 1976

Velma Murphy Jones, a graduate of Homer G. Phillips School of Nursing, begins a decades-long career at Barnes Hospital, where she serves as the first Black nurse in charge of a nursing division. Image: Velma Murphy Jones, right, in the Barnes Hospital Bulletin, February 1976