Henry Ford Hospital Clinic Building
The Henry Ford Hospital Clinic Building was opened on January 28, 1955 with much fanfare in the hospital community. The opening ceremonies included guest speaker Dr. Kenneth B. Babcock, Commissioner on the Joint Accreditation of Hospitals; Governor G. Mennen Williams; and the entire Ford family in attendance with the hospital staff. The planning for the building began in 1945 with the selection of the New York architectural firm of Voorhees, Walker, Foley and Smith. The planning committee consisted of Drs. Frank J. Sladen, F. Janney Smith, Frank Hartman, Jean Paul Pratt, Arthur McGraw; along with V.L. Macchi, the architect Benjamin L. Smith, and the consultant Dr. Basil McLean.
The construction of the 17-floor, 131,000 square foot building with fourteen specialty outpatient clinics was funded by a twenty-three million dollar grant from the Ford Foundation in 1952. In addition to the clinics, twenty new operating rooms, an auditorium, a library, a pharmacy, offices for radiology, a laboratory, and therapeutic facilities were featured. The hospital administration felt that the new modern structure was a gift to the City of Detroit. In a Detroit News article from February 23, 1950, Henry Ford II endorsed the expansion saying, "The Clinic Building will bring up to date the high standard of facilities, services and comfort upon which the founder of Henry Ford Hospital was so insistent."
Construction of the Henry Ford Hospital Clinic Building, 1953. From the Conrad R. Lam Collection, Henry Ford Health System.