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ryoga-2003 · Posted: Mon Apr 09, 2007 10:44 pm Post subject: Waverly Hills Sanitorium!

Waverly Hills Sanitorium

HISTORY
The hospital, known as Waverly Hills, was opened in 1926 and was considered to be the most advanced tuberculosis hospital in the country. If a patient had any chance of surviving the disease, Waverly Hills was the place to come for treatment. Of course, treatment in those days was primitive at best, meaning that many simply came here to die. In those days, it was believed that the best cure for tuberculosis was plenty of nutritional food, plenty of rest and plenty of fresh air. Many patients came to Waverly and were actually cured and became well enough to once again enter society. For those not as fortunate, Waverly was the last place they ever saw. Records have been lost, but it is estimated that tens of thousands died at Waverly. At the height of the tuberculosis epidemic, it is reported that one patient an hour died.

The doctors and nurses volunteered their lives to try and find a cure for this disease. Many of them lived and died there with the patients. A number of different experiments were attempted in search for a cure. Some of these experiments may sound barbaric, or even pointless, by today’s standards, but others are now common practice. The lungs were exposed to ultraviolet light to try and stop the spread of the bacteria. This was done in early versions of “sun rooms”, using artificial light to mimic the effects of sunlight. Patients were also placed on the roof or on the open porches on the upper floor to take in air and sunlight. Keeping in mind that fresh air was thought to be a cure for the disease; the patients would often to be placed in front of the open windows in both summer and winter. Photographs exist that show many of the dying literally covered in snow but still placed outside in hopes that their lungs would expand in the clean, country air.
Many of the treatments were much harsher -- and much bloodier. Balloons were surgically implanted into the lungs and then filled with air to try and expand them more, often with disastrous results. Hydrotherapy often caused pneumonia. But some experiments were useful and these procedures are still used today. Pneumothorax was a procedure that consisted of deflating the infected area of the lung for a period of time and then letting it heal. Thoracoplasty was a very invasive surgical procedure where the chest of the patient was opened and then cords of muscle and up to seven ribs were removed. The opening was then closed up with the idea that the lungs would then be free to expand further and allow more oxygen into the lungs. This bloody procedure was only attempted as a last resort because fewer than 5% of the patients ever survived it.

In many cases, entire families came to live at Waverly Hills. Some were cured but many others left the hospital through what was called the “body chute”. This was a tunnel that led from the hospital to the railroad tracks at the bottom of the hill. It consisted of a motorized rail and cable system where the bodies were placed and lowered down on one side of the tunnel and steps led up and down on the other. A small steam plant on the property heated the tunnel, as well as the hospital and provided warmth for the maintenance workers that lived off the property. This was their entrance and exit for work. The tunnel was totally enclosed from the Morgue wing of the hospital. The purpose of this was so that the patients couldn’t see how many bodies were leaving the hospital. It was believed this would negatively affect their morale as the doctors discovered early on that the mental health of the patients was just as important as their physical health.

Because of the procedures and experiments that were performed at Waverly Hills and other hospitals around the country, tuberculosis was declining worldwide by the late 1930’s. It wasn’t until 1943 though that a young graduate student at Rutgers University by the name of Albert Schatz discovered Streptomycin, the first real medicine against the disease. By the mid 1950’s, tuberculosis had been largely eradicated because of this antibiotic. In 1961, Waverly Hills Sanatorium was closed because there was no longer a need for a tuberculosis facility. The buildings were reopened in 1962 as Woodhaven Geriatrics Sanitarium.

There have been many tales of patient mistreatment and unusual experiments that have filtered down from the hill over the years. Some have been proven false, while others unfortunately have turned out to be true. Electroshock therapy was widely used, although it was considered to be a very effective treatment in those days. Even today, it has been used with great results but now, as it was then, tragic losses sometimes occurred. During the 1960’s and 1970’s, a time of budget cuts for facilities of this type, there were many well documented cases of horrible conditions and unusual treatments at mental institutions all across the country. Apparently Woodhaven was no different because the state of Kentucky closed it down in 1982 due to patient abuse. The buildings, contents and land were auctioned off and the doors were locked for good.

The building and land changed hands several times over the next 18 years. The second owner of the property wanted to tear all the buildings down to construct the world’s largest statue of Jesus Christ. He succeeded in demolishing all of the buildings except for the main hospital and was only stopped by an injunction because the building is on the National Historic Register’s “endangered” list. He then decided that if he couldn’t legally tear it down then he would do everything in his power to get it condemned. He let vandals come into the building and tear it up. After breaking windows, porcelain sinks, toilets and doors, they began spraying graffiti on every available wall. The owner then dug around the foundation, in some places as deep as 30 feet, to try and make the foundation crack. If this happened, then he believed he could get the building condemned and would be able to legally tear it down. Fortunately, the structure refused to give way and his efforts failed. The area where his extensive digging took place can still currently be seen.

By 2001, this once regal and majestic hospital had been ravaged by time, the elements and vandals and was a shell of its former self. Waverly Hills had now become every town’s “haunted house”. Vagrants took to living here and kids broke in for the rush of finding a “ghost” or just to get high. It started to get the reputation of being haunted and rumors had it that satanic rituals were taking place within its walls. There were tales of a little girl running up and down the third floor solarium playing hide and seek with trespassers, of a little boy playing with his leather ball, of rooms lighting up as if there was still power to the building, doors slamming, disembodied voices, a hearse driving up and dropping off coffins and an old woman running from the front door with her wrists bleeding screaming “help me, somebody save me!” The years went by and the owner decided to sell the property to the new owners, who took possession in 2001.[/color]

Jamky · Joined: 20 Dec 2007 Posts: 23

Pretty good write up. Still has some of the old misinformation though. And I'm not knocking you in the least. You did a great job of finding what is out there. It's just that unfortunately a lot of what's out there isn't true.
Waverly Hills opened in 1910. It was only the main building that was finished in 1926.
The total number of deaths is likely between 5 and 6 thousand, no where near the exaggerated figures so widely circulated.
The worst year for deaths in the history of Waverly Hills was 1945 in which 162 deaths occurred. The worst day of the worst year was Dec 16 1945. On this day, four people lost their lives. (2 white, 2 black - 3 male & 1 female average age 37.7, and all died of Pulmonary Tuberculosis.) Long way off from a person an hour!!!

The info on the treatments is way off. There has been no indication that Waverly used any procedures that were not well accepted and used world wide. Though the balloon and hydrotherapy MAY have been used at some points to fight TB, there have been no signs thus far that these treatments were used here.
And there never was a treatment designed to "expand the lung", they were all based on the concept of putting the lung (or portion of it) at rest. Thoracoplasty used chest muscles to permanently close off a lung that was too far gone to save. Artificial pneumothorax collapsed a lung so it would be at rest and therefore able to heal.
The fact that so many have mistakenly claimed otherwise is just proof of some people's lack of research before repating something as fact. And I have never seen any figures that show a 95% mortality rate for Thoracoplasty. In fact, based on the number of people I have seen who survived it vs the number of death certificates that list that as a surgery prior to death I would say it is just as untrue as the rest of the claims. But let's look at it realistically, if the procedure closed off a lung that was too far gone to save, then obviously that patient would have certainly died without the surgery. With that in mind, even if the mortality rate were true, it would show that one in 20 patients were snatched from a certain death by using this treatment. So is that barbaric? Or heroic?
And exactly how do you expose lungs to ultraviolet light?
In reality, the belief was that by getting sunlight (or ultraviolet light) the body created more vitamins which would help fight off the disease. That's sunlight upon the skin, NOT to individual infected organs. The closest REAL treatment to that which was claimed is the treatment of Laryngeal Tuberculosis (TB of the throat) by using a mirror to reflect sunlight down the patient's throat. But this wouldn't get anywhere near the lungs!!!

Likewise in the next section. Electric shock therapy was never used at Waverly. The room where previous "researchers" CLAIMED this happened has been debunked long ago and is known to be 100% false. And Waverly never housed "mental patients" and even in the Woodhaven era it was not a "mental hospital" it was nothing more ominous then any other nursing home/geriatrics facility.
Yes, there were some unfortunate senile patients or minor cases of dementia but Waverly is not designed to house patients who might be a danger to themselves or others. Just looking at the windows would show you that.

All in all, an interesting collection of facts to be looked into further. But just like any other haunted location you can't just believe everything that you hear.

Thanks for sharing.

Tattooed Angel · Joined: 13 Jan 2008 Posts: 87 Location: UK

I've got this one on my database too, even though I'm in the UK and it's not as easy to investigate, looks an amazing place though.

Next year the team I'm with are hoping to go to denbeigh Asylum in Wales