By Mickey Goodson

We ought to get together and do something about . . . ”

Pretty frequently these days, you hear Oakhurst neighbors saying things like “We ought to get together and do something about . . . ” (It happens several times at almost every neighborhood meeting). We like to think of ourselves as a neighborhood that’s not afraid to get together, roll up our sleeves, and make things happen. That’s not just a recent phenomenon though, but a long standing Oakhurst tradition. And the building where ONA meets each month is a symbol of that activist spirit across the decades.

It all began 90 years ago as a dare. Dr. Michael Hoke was an orthopaedic surgeon in Atlanta. In 1913 he treated a college student for a bone infection. During his treatment, the student stayed with his aunt Mrs. Bertie Wardlaw, a neighbor and friend of Dr. Hoke. Wishing to express her appreciation for Dr. Hoke’s treatment of her nephew, Mrs. Wardlaw asked what she could do to honor him. He said that if she would raise the money for the hospital expenses of indigent, crippled children, he would volunteer his time to treat those patients.

Well, Mrs. Wardlaw accepted the challenge, got together with her friends and started raising money. Two years later, in 1915, The Scottish Rite Convalescent Hospital for Crippled Children was founded in Decatur in two rented cottages. The facility gave indigent, crippled children a place to recover after having surgery at Piedmont Hospital and Wesley Memorial Hospital (now Emory University Hospital). It accommodated 18 patients (20 in case of urgency). And true to his promise, Dr. Hoke accepted the role as Medical Director.

Three years later, in 1918, a new 50 bed building was opened on West Hill Street. The name was changed to Scottish Rite Hospital for Crippled Children. It now had the facilities to become a full orthopaedic surgical hospital for those who could not afford to pay for care, and featured a natural light surgical suite overlooking the wooded area to the rear. The new hospital focused on treating Georgia children crippled by polio, and was the first hospital in the United States devoted to the orthopaedic care of children. The Oakhurst hospital served as a model for 19 later Shriner’s Hospitals for Crippled Children around the nation.

In 1926, the reputation of Dr. Hoke and the Oakhurst hospital led then-Governor of New York, Franklin D. Roosevelt, to persuade Dr. Hoke to direct the National Polio Foundation located in Warm Springs, Georgia.

The next Medical Director, Hiram Kite, M.D. served 40 years, until 1965. He kept the Scottish Rite Hospital in a leadership role in pediatric orthopaedics, achieving international recognition for his treatment of patients with clubfoot deformities.

Until the mid 1960s, the hospital accepted only children whose parents could not afford to pay for their care. During the early years, the Scottish Rite Masons were depended upon to cover the cost of the staff salaries and medical supplies. In 1933, Scottish Rite Mason Tom Slate convinced Georgia Tech Athletic Director Bill Alexander to allow the University of Georgia and Georgia Tech’s freshman teams to play on Tech’s Grant Field free of charge to benefit Oakhurst’s Scottish Rite hospital. This began the tradition of the annual Scottish Rite football festival.

Finally, in 1966 the hospital began taking paying patients so that specialty pediatric care would also be available to those who could pay. Other surgical specialists joined the orthopaedics on staff as new surgical clinics were added and in 1971, additional services were developed including a Pediatric Continuity Clinic plus neurology, allergy, and cardiology clinics.

Two other main buildings were added later. A service annex, built prior to World War II is a one-storied addition attached to the north side of the administration building. Then, a nurses residence building was built following World War II to the east of the hospital.

Continuing the tradition of making things happen. In the late 1970s, after Scottish Rite had left Decatur, the nursing residence building was renovated and then served for almost two decades as the home for the Oakhurst Community Health Center, a multi-disciplinary primary care practice developed to serve the surrounding neighborhoods. The practice was organized by Oakhurst residents, led by community activist Elizabeth Wilson. Just as in the original idea for a children’s hospital in 1913, Elizabeth began approaching neighbors to say, “We ought to get together and do something.” Through numerous neighborhood meetings, volunteer efforts by Oakhurst residents and eventual grant support from the U.S. Public Health service, the new health center was structured as a not-for-profit business and offered care to all neighborhood residents on a sliding fee basis, without regard to ability to pay. Long before the current trend of multi-disciplinary medical practices, the center employed four full-time physicians in the Oakhurst center, including a pediatrician, family physician, internist, and OB-Gyn specialist. The center was governed by a Board of Directors composed of Oakhurst residents, and was led by Ms. Wilson though the years of development and growth. She eventually, of course, retired, ran for the Decatur City Commission, and continued the tradition of getting people together to get things done as our long -time Mayor of Decatur.

So when we sit down in the Solarium for our monthly Oakhurst Neighborhood association meeting, we should remember that the building itself is a symbol of an almost century old Oakhurst tradition, “We ought to get together and do something about . . . !”