Since 1924, Willis-Knighton has served the needs of this community with an eye toward the future. The hospital was founded as Tri-State Sanitarium by Dr. T.E. Williams and Dr. L.H. Pirkle to address needs in the fast-growing neighborhoods of west Shreveport. It was sold four years later to Dr. James C. Willis and Dr. Joseph E. Knighton. In 1950, a year after it transitioned to a not-for-profit healthcare organization, it was named in honor of Doctors Willis and Knighton. The vision of early founders grew as Shreveport grew, helping to establish Willis-Knighton as a leader in the field of healthcare locally, regionally and nationally.

The years have brought changes in technology and treatment along with tremendous growth. From one small hospital, Willis-Knighton has grown to encompass multiple facilities, spanning the entire continuum of care for residents in northwest Louisiana and the Ark-La-Tex. Today the health system includes four hospitals as well as a retirement community and a full range of support services.

Willis-Knighton has offered many firsts in our community, including:

  • Satellite hospital
  • Center for women’s health
  • Eye institute
  • Heart and vascular institute
  • Collaboration as a private hospital with a public, academic medical center, Louisiana Health Shreveport.
  • Innovation center with virtual hospital
  • Talbot Medical Museum
  • Senior residential options at The Oaks of Louisiana to enhance continuum of care
  • Freestanding hospital for physical and behavioral rehabilitation
  • Numerous “firsts” in technology and procedures, including proton therapy and TomoTherapy at the Willis-Knighton Cancer Center, state-of-the art imaging and diagnostic services, innovative cardiovascular technology and eye surgery technology.

Willis-Knighton’s past is closely tied to those of its friends and neighbors and so is the health system’s future.

Willis-Knighton is a locally-owned, locally-operated healthcare organization dedicated to caring for the people in our community and investing in their health and wellness. The health system’s growth is a result of consistently responding to community needs, a mission it will continue well into the future.

John C. McDonald Regional Transplant Center

Description

The John C. McDonald Regional Transplant Center is the only transplant center in north Louisiana. More than 2,000 organ transplantations have been performed since the program’s inception in 1977. The Center is proud to treat patients from the Ark-La-Tex and beyond.

The Center is named after Dr. John C. McDonald, a pioneer in transplant surgery at Willis-Knighton and the Louisiana State University Health Sciences Center in Shreveport.  Under his leadership an guidance the Center has grown.  It performed the first heart transplant and the first heart-lung transplant in the region,

The John C. McDonald Regional Transplant Center is approved by the Organ Procurement and Transplantation Network (OPTN) to perform the following transplantations:

Location in Museum

Talbot Museum Digital Archive.  Throughout its existence, the Center's achievements have been documented by the Sheveport Times

Age

1977

100 Years