The Omaha Emergency Hospital was located at 912 Douglas Street in downtown Omaha, Nebraska. Originally used as a brothel, there was a great deal of debate about whether the building was an appropriate donation to the city when Anna Wilson, a notorious madam, willed it to the city upon her death.^[1]

History

Originally planned to be opened in 1889,^[2] the hospital was not opened until the late 1890s. Located in the city's original Sporting District, it was a three-story building with double-bay windows on the first and second floors, the house was equipped with 46 beds. The hospital was used exclusively for contagious diseases, and included a venereal clinic.

Anna Wilson, Omaha's most notorious and very rich madam, willed the building to the city upon her death. The mansion had been built as a brothel, and city officials and the public openly argued whether it was appropriate for the city to accept it as a gift. The city left much of the original ornamentation, minus the exterior stone porch columns, which were originally carved as nude women to advertise services inside the building.^[3] Racy artwork remained in the facility's bathrooms until the building was razed in the 1940s.^[4]

Students from the Creighton University School of Medicine were encouraged to intern at the hospital for many years.^[5]

See also

• History of Omaha
• List of hospitals in Omaha, Nebraska

References