Sacred Heart Sanitarium
| Sacred Heart Sanitarium | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Opened | 1893 |
| Current Status | Demolished |
| Building Style | Single Building |
| Location | Milwaukee, WI |
| Alternate Names |
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History
The hospital was the idea of Mother Alexia Hoell and Mother Mary Alfons of the School Sisters of St. Francis. They wanted to build a place like those in Europe where people would come to rest and recover from chronic and non-infectious diseases. Additions were made to the building in 1902 and 1929. The sisters advertised the sanitarium as having all the comforts of home with none of the dread of institutional living. People even vacationed there, taking advantage of the billiard room, bowling alley, gym, assembly parlors, swimming pools, sun parlor, smoking room, writing rooms, conservatory, tennis courts and golf-putting green on the 17-acre site. The sanitarium was considered one of the best in the country.
Treatments consisted of water cures named after Monsignor Sebastian Kneipp in Bavaria, electric shock, massage, zander treatments performed on gymnastic equipment, and numerous other beneficial and elaborate treatments for healing. In 1965 it became known as the Sacred Heart Rehabilitation Hospital and began treating people with mental illness and alcohol and drug addictions. Parts of the five-story building were demolished and replaced with a one-story facility.
