Allen County Infirmary
| Allen County Infirmary | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Established | 1853 |
| Opened | 1865/1953 |
| Current Status | Demolished Active (Current Facility) |
| Building Style | Single Building |
| Architect(s) | A.M. Strauss (Original Building) |
| Location | Fort Wayne, IN |
| Alternate Names |
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History[edit]
The Allen County "Poor Farm," as it was originally called, was established in 1853 and was first located in the wilderness of section 29 of Wayne Township (in the area of present-day Elmhurst High School, north of Lower Huntington Road). In that year George L. Parker was employed to keep the paupers at the Poor Farm for an annual sum of $600, and John A. Robinson was retained to build a house for the inmates for $750. These facilities were enlarged in 1854 and again, extensively, in 1860, during the directorship of James M. Read. In these years the director was required to furnish a team of horses, a wagon and harness, four cows and such farming equipment as would be necessary. The county, in exchange, paid Read $800 and furnished clothing and provisions for the inmates.
In 1864, at the height of the Civil War, the entire facility was moved closer to Fort Wayne. An infirmary was built as the centerpiece to the new farm, in the area just west of the present-day Bluffton Road Bridge, in what today is known as the Indian Village neighborhood and the Quimby Village Shopping Center. The new infirmary building was completed in June 1865, for $14,468, and James Read, the former overseer of the Poor Farm, was named Superintendent of the Allen County Asylum, as it was now called.
Expansion of the infirmary space was again required in 1871, and under Superintendent John Spice provisions were made to offer care "for the convenience and better management of the different classes of inmates" (History of Allen County, 1880, p.54). This is the facility that, in 1902, William Johnston came to superintendent. Today, in Allen County, the descendant of the old county Poor Farm and Asylum is the Irene Byron Health Center. Behind the Main Building and connected to it with a covered porch was the Insane Ward. North of the Main Building was the Power House and Laundry. South of the Main Building was the Bakery and farther south were the horse and cattle barns, the horse barn being nearest the road. [1]
Although a showplace through the 1930s, the facility came on hard times until 1954 when the Allen County Home, as it was called then, was placed under the direction of a new superintendent, Orville Miller, who lived at the facility with his wife, Sylvia and four daughters. Miller took a vital role in updating the facility and inviting the community to help do so. Miller served until his death in 1965. The facility became licensed as a nursing home in 1966. Tom Kastanis was appointed superintendent in 1965 and the facility’s name was changed to the Allen County Health Center. It was that year that the facility became self-sustaining. This was primarily due to the implementation of the Medicare and Medicaid programs.
In 1974, the Allen County Health Center merged with the Irene Byron Hospital forming Byron Health Center with a bed capacity at that time of 500. The tuberculosis unit was then closed the following year resulting in a 466-bed intermediate care facility. In 1995, the Allen County Commissioners signed an agreement with Recovery Health Services to operate the facility and Byron Health Center became the first county facility of its type to ever morph from being governmental in nature to being run as a private, not-for-profit entity in the state of Indiana.
Byron Wellness Community moved to its new state-of-the-art facility in May 2020 when it came to be known as Byron Wellness Community, at 1661 Beacon Street, in the heart of the medical corridor of Fort Wayne.
References[edit]
- Jump up ↑ Hassett, Kayla. "The County Home in Indiana : A Forgotten Response to Poverty and Disability." Diss. Ed. Vera A. Adams. Ball State U, 2013. Cardinal Scholar, 05 Apr. 2013. Web. 12 Nov. 2014.
