Located in Baltimore in Maryland, U.S.A, Glenn Dale Hospital was a tuberculosis sanatorium and isolation center. Glenn Dale Hospital first opened its doors in 1934 and closed in 1981. The shutdown was caused by asbestos. Police patrol the hospital grounds on a regular basis, thanks to Maryland-National Capital Park and Planning Commission Park.

Tuberculosis Epidemic

The hospital was built in 1932 by the city of Baltimore to help curb the tuberculosis epidemic which was ravaging the city. Adults were cared for in a separate room within the Colonial Revival style building, while children were cared for in another. The children were cared for in two buildings: the Nurse Home and the Children's Hospital Building. Only two of the hospital's 23 buildings were used for treatment. An incinerator, paint and repair shop, laundry, pump house, water softener house, heating and power plant, sedimentation and control building, and adult hospital building were among the structures. The basements of each hospital housed a morgue.

Art rooms, staff housing, nurses' homes, a theater, playgrounds, seclusion rooms, storage areas, chapels, and boiler rooms were all available at the hospital. The massive structure made the hospital one of the largest tuberculosis sanatoriums ever constructed. In the 1940s, a vaccine was developed that assisted in the treatment of tuberculosis cases. The number of cases immediately decreased, forcing the hospital to expand into the treatment of other conditions. It was used as a home for criminally insane people until it was closed down.

End Of An Era

A fire inspection of the building was performed in 1976, and it appeared to be extremely critical. There were problems with fire escapes, laundry chutes, cramped living quarters, and unsafe materials that endangered the patients' health. Lead paints and asbestos were also a source of hospital damage. The total cost of bringing the building up to code was $23 million. The hospital's operations were halted due to the need for large sums of money for restoration. The facility housed 370 patients at the time of its closure. The number of patients gradually decreased until Glenn Dale Hospital was closed in 1981.

Glenn Dale Hospital Historic Landmark

The hospital was transferred to the District of Columbia, which sold it to the Maryland-National Capital Park and Planning Commission in 1994. The transfers came with the requirement that the facility is used as a continuing care retirement community. Those who attempted to bid were turned down because none of them were licensed to operate by the terms of the contract. In 2011, Glenn Dale Hospital was listed on the National Register of Historic Places and is currently in the process of becoming a park. Broken glass, peeling paint, corroded walls, and overgrown vines currently adorn the hospital structures.

Because they are so close, the children's and adult hospital buildings can be seen from Glenn Dale Road. The hospital buildings' basements are extremely dangerous and filthy. Pieces of rusted, sharp metal, cloth, and debris hang from the ceilings of the buildings' interiors. The buildings have been found to contain significant amounts of asbestos and lead paint. Garbage, broken glass, and graffiti litter the walkways. Rats and bats have infiltrated the hospital. Some of the walkways are underwater.