Recently, Dr. Cora Christian spoke with the Source about health care plans for the Virgin Islands from the 1970s and beyond, including the role of the Frederiksted Hospital/Ingelborg Nesbitt Clinic, which became Frederiksted Health Care, Inc. in 2000.
To tie everything together, Christian noted that, before the construction of the V.I. hospitals, dating back to the mid-1700s, the Frederiksted Hospital began as a military hospital when the U.S. Military governed the island.
Originally named the Frederiksted Municipal Hospital, the facility was operated by naval officers and doctors from the 1800s and then continued to provide basic hospital and emergency services until the Gov. Charles Harwood Hospital was opened in 1950, according to Christian.
In 1953, the Frederiksted Hospital was closed with the opening of Charles Harwood Hospital and the opening of what would be designated the Ingeborg Nesbitt Clinic in 1961.
Charles Harwood Hospital was the primary hospital on St. Croix until the Gov. Juan F. Luis Hospital and Medical Center opened in 1982. Then, the Harwood facility was converted into the V.I. Health Department complex and offices. Today, the site is under construction and, upon completion, will be renamed for Donna Christian-Christiansen, M.D., who served as a U.S. Delegate to Congress from 1997 to 2015.
Christian, assistant commissioner of Health in 1977 to Commissioner Roy Adams, said the Nesbitt Clinic operated with 19 beds and an emergency room jointly with the Harwood Hospital.
She stated that many people worked on the territorial health care plan. The St. Thomas hospital, eventually named for Dr. Roy Lester Schneider, was built in the middle of the island with regional clinics in the Fortuna area and the East End.
In the 1970s, national health care was becoming focused on community-based primary care. According to Christian, the VIDOH applied for and received federal funding under the Hill-Burton Act to help build the Roy L. Schneider Hospital and the Gov. Juan F. Luis Hospital and Medical Center, with both physicians heavily involved in securing their future namesakes.
The hospitals were opened in 1982. Also in 1982, Charles Harwood ceased functioning as the primary hospital and was converted into the offices of the V.I. Health Department.
In the 1980s and 1990s, programs through Health Department facilities included school-based health, chronic disease management and community outreach, Christian said.
With local and federal funding, the Frederiksted facility, supported by the Ryan White Title III grant program, continues to provide high-quality primary health care to insured and indigent clients.
According to Christian, it was said at the opening of the new administration building, that 25% of the population is served by the renamed Frederiksted Health Care, Inc.
Today, there are several satellite sites, mobile units, and specialty clinics affiliated with FHC.
“Dr. Cora Christian is credited with the development of the Frederiksted Health Center, both its renovations from the old hospital into a functioning health center and its staffing with qualified professionals.” Congressional Record, Vol 160, No 89 (June 10, 2014), E939-E940.
