LaGarde Army/Navy Hospital
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LaGarde Hospital was built in 1941 to relieve congestion during the Second World War at other regional Army hospitals such as Camp Beauregard in Pineville, Louisiana, and Camp Shelby in Hattiesburg, Mississippi. The hospital was designated as an "exempt station," meaning that it was independent from a larger Army camp.
After completion of the hospital's construction in March 1941, the city's public welfare department selected about 150 needy families to receive scrap lumber from the project. Captain Frank A. Ray, Construction Quartermaster for the hospital, and Sarah Davis, Chairman of the Welfare Department of the New Orleans Chapter of the American Red Cross, coordinated the donation of lumber to the city's public welfare department.
Although it was ready for occupancy in March 1941, LaGarde Hospital did not become operational until April 1, 1941 after the medical staff set up rooms and tested the equipment. LaGarde Hospital offered 1,650 hospital beds for post-surgery patients and those recuperating from acute or chronic diseases and other ailments. It was staffed with 73 medical officers, 120 nurses, 500 enlisted men, and 100 civilian employees.
In March 1946, the Veterans Administration (VA) Medical Center moved into the LaGarde General Hospital complex. After the Second World War, commercial and residential construction on the Lakefront came to a halt. The VA moved its headquarters from the Lakefront to downtown New Orleans in September 1952.
Files
An aerial view of the lakefront, 1945, looking at LaGarde Hospital
The New Basin Canal is in the foreground extending from right to left. Canal Boulevard is the double road halfway up the picture with the softball filed adjacent to it. You can see the two runways of the naval airbase in the upper portion of the photograph. LaGarde Hospital is to the left of Canal Boulevard. After the Veterans Administration moved to its new facility to downtown New Orleans in 1952, the site was sold for residential use and renamed West Lakeshore. On the other side of Canal Boulevard is a rare view of the Naval Musser-Gorden Hospital. This site was eventually sold for residential construction and renamed East Lakeshore. Photo from NOLA.com and the History of Medicine (NLM) Collection
LaGarde Hospital, circa 1945
Notice the lakefront in the upper left background and Canal Boulevard near the top of the photo. Currently, Harlequin Park resides where the hospital once stood. Command headquarters building is in the lower right hand corner.
New Orleans Veterans Affairs Medical Center, circa March 1946
In 1946, Improvements to LaGarde hospital were made when the Veterans Administration hospital relocated to the lakefront. The administration building was built using brick, rather than the wood used in the construction of the original buildings. Courtesy of the New Orleans Veterans Affairs and Paula Fortier
LaGarde Hospital, circa 1943
Picture taken from atop the First Canal Lighthouse. Lakeshore Drive is seen across the center, and a Jax Brewery sign can be seen along the right edge. LaGarde Hospital is located in the background, upper left. Courtesy of Louisiana Division/City Archives, New Orleans Public Library