PHOENIX — There isn’t much to see when passing Jefferson and 14th streets near downtown Phoenix. But what once stood in a now empty lot, is a part of Arizona history. The first hospital opened in Arizona dedicated to treating Black patients.
It all started with one couple. Griot and local historian Anthony Pratcher II spoke with 12News about the Hacketts.
"Winston and Ayra Hackett, they were migrants from Texas. They moved to Arizona during World War I," he noted.
At the time, Arizona was segregated and the Hacketts knew Black residents were being turned away from healthcare facilities. In 1921, after getting his medical license, Dr. Hackett became the first Black doctor in the state. He and his wife, Ayra, then found a place to open their practice.
"He was then able to purchase the former home of Territorial Governor Kibbey and turn it into a, at the time they called it a colored hospital," Pratcher said.
They opened the Booker T Washington Memorial Hospital, named after the founder of Tuskegee University, where Winston Hackett went to college. A lot of the supplies were donated by the public and the Hacketts treated many ailments.
"In Black or Hispanic neighborhoods, what you often found was very high mortality rates pertaining to respiratory infections, as well when it came to childbirth, infectious diseases," Pratcher noted.
Winston Hackett also built tuberculosis cottages to treat patients around the corner of the hospital. After more than two decades and helping hundreds of patients, he finally had to close the hospital in 1943.
Ayra Hackett died and Winston Hackett went blind. However, he was able to use the facility to house Black service members during the war. And he sparked lasting healthcare change in Phoenix.
"Dr. Hackett also donated many of his supplies and his equipment to Father Emmett McLoughlin, a Catholic priest with Saint Monica's Mission,” Pratcher stated.
That became Memorial Hospital by 1949 and is now Phoenix Memorial Hospital.
While the structure was torn down and there is only an empty lot left, the historic power couple left a lasting legacy in Arizona.
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