The Swingle house

Tennessee · United States · Hospital

The first hospital in Johnson City, Tennessee, where a doctor performed surgery in his own home in the 1920s. What people say about his patients is not.

Swingle Hospital was the first hospital in Johnson City, Tennessee, standing near what is now Science Hill High School. In the 1920s Dr Swingle carried out straightforward operations in what was a privately owned house.

The legend attached holds that he was a careless surgeon and that every patient he operated on died on the table.

That is worth pushing back on. Surgery in the 1920s, performed outside a proper theatre and before antibiotics, killed people for reasons that had nothing to do with the surgeon. A doctor operating in his own house was providing the only care available in the town, and the mortality that followed was the mortality of the period.

The local instruction is to walk slowly up the front path, between the row of hedges, and see what happens on the way.

No record supports the claim about his competence, and it should not be repeated as fact about a named man.

FAQ

Where is The Swingle house located?

The Swingle house is in Tennessee, United States.

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Accounts are drawn from local folklore and visitor reports.