KANSAS CITY, Mo. — The Wheatley-Provident Hospital is the first medical facility built for and by black Americans in Kansas City.
But sadly, it now sits in ruin.
Before it opened in 1902, there weren’t a lot of options for black people seeking medical treatment. So the hospital was created to meet that need, as well as train minorities in the medical field.
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It closed in 1972 when Martin Luther King, Jr Hospital was built.
The building is on Kansas City’s Registry of Historic Places but, despite its impact on Kansas City’s history, it has been left to decay. Vines grow up the sides, most windows are smashed-in and trash litters the outside.