Jackson County (Mo.) Historical Society

Portals to the Past by David W. Jackson

County Has History of Caring for the Poor

Jackson Countians should recognize their 155+ year commitment to caring for underprivileged citizens.

In the early days the Jackson County Court (forerunner to today’s County Legislature) “boarded-out” by allotting funds for private parties within the community to provide room and board for those who could no longer care for themselves.

Figuring that it would be more efficient to administer one institution rather than doling resources to individual caretakers, the County Court purchased for $1,000 a 160-acre parcel of land from Henry Washington Younger (father of the infamous Cole Younger) in rural Jackson County. This became Jackson County’s “Poor Farm” (which technically was an almshouse, or poorhouse, with a large working farm connected to its operations). The site was on high ground in the Blue Hills countryside overlooking the scenic valley of the Little Blue River. Eventually, the property expanded to more than 300-acres with several institutional buildings. The first appointments for a superintendent and physician were filled by March 1852; 155 years ago this year if my math is correct.

By July 1908, the cornerstone of a new building changed the name of the institution to “The Jackson County Home.” This building became—and is still operated today—as a long-term care facility for indigent elderly. By the 1930s, the institution was referred to the institution as “The Jackson County Home for the Aged” and sometimes “The Jackson County Home for the Aged and Infirm.” A separate “nursing home” was located across the street for African Americans.

In 1928, Harry S Truman, as presiding judge of the Jackson County Court, campaigned for and saw passage of a bond issue leading to the construction of the three north-facing wings that were added beside the Jackson County Home. The east and west wings were three stories high and the center was four stories (the fourth floor constructed for hospital purposes; a mid-1970s addition connected the two buildings). A few years later as 33^rd President of the United States, Truman’s interest in a national health insurance program anchored him as one of the first national leaders to make health care funding a priority.

In the midst of the Great Depression, the Rural Jackson County Emergency Hospital in 1937 provided 24-hour emergency services. Like the “County Home” for elderly residents, the hospital’s 21 medical and surgical beds and 4 maternity beds were occupied by county residents who were without funds, and by emergency cases from automobile accidents on rural highways.

In the years that followed conditions deteriorated, however, and operational control of the hospital was eventually relinquished to the Kansas City General Hospital and Medical Center Corporation, a nonprofit corporation. In 1976, the Jackson County Legislature officially changed the name of the Jackson County Hospital and County Home to Truman Medical Center. Today, the expansively beautiful, forested property at Lee’s Summit Road and Gregory Boulevard is still owned by Jackson Countians; but, Truman Medical Center, Inc., manages the medical operations under contract.

In 1982, the Bess Truman Family Practice Clinic was adjoined on the east side of the hospital her husband had lobbied for in the roaring 20s. Between 1995 and 1997, an 11-phase, $24 million construction and remodeling project saw the addition of a multipurpose education center added on the west side of the complex, and a three-story expansion of the long-term care center attached to the east of the 1908 building.

As part of Truman Medical Center’s 2001 strategic vision and image, its two hospitals adopted new names: TMC Hospital Hill (located near Crown Center in Kansas City), and TMC Lakewood (the site of the former Poor Farm). Work began in 2003 at Lakewood to completely redesign, enlarge, and reconstruct the 1982 family clinic to better accommodate a host of vital services (ambulatory, emergency, in-patient surgical units, and medical offices). The $38 million dollar, 175,000-square-foot hospital expansion includes and newly re-designed distinctive entryway.

Take a drive into the countryside today, and feel proud of the daily services you are helping to provide to our neighbors in need.

David W. Jackson is archivist for the nonprofit Jackson County (Mo.) Historical Society’s Archives and Research Library at 112 W. Lexington Ave. Suite 103, Independence, MO, 64050. Discover all the products, services and programs including Jackson County Counts that are available through the Historical Society at www.jchs.org (click on ‘Educational Opportunities’). For more information, or to donate historical materials, call (816) 252-7454, or e-mail info@jchs.org.

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