Then & Now: From brick buildings on a hilltop to sprawling downtown hospital

A collection of brick buildings dedicated on a hill more than 125 years ago is now the site of Miami Valley Hospital.

The start of the sprawling campus, originally named Protestant Deaconess Hospital, first opened in a private home in downtown Dayton, the Adam Pritz residence, at 7 E. Fourth St.

Within a few years, the home was no longer large enough to care for the sick and $100,000 was raised for a new hospital building.

That building was dedicated Oct. 14, 1894, at its current location along Main Street between Apple and Wyoming streets.

At that point, the hospital had 150 beds and a separate surgical suite. Records indicate patients were treated on average for 74 cents a day. The hospital charged $5 a week for a private room and patients paid whatever they could afford for a bed in the public wards.

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