Willis-Knighton Health System
Willis-Knighton Health System
Willis-Knighton Health System
Willis-Knighton Health System
Willis-Knighton Health System
Willis-Knighton Health System
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.
Willis-Knighton Medical Center
Description
Over the years, the Willis-Knighton Health System's “North Campus” has grown from a small 80 bed hospital to a massive complex of buildings and specialized clinics. Virtually all of this growth is the vision of one man, James K. Elrod, the system’s long-time CEO and President. In 1965, Elrod was hired as administrator to oversee what was then Willis-Knighton Memorial Hospital’s first major expansion in more than four decades. Since then cranes lifting steel and trucks pouring concrete have been an almost constant sight at the Greenwood Road and Hearne Avenue facility.
In 1975, Willis-Knighton opened the Diagnostic and Surgical Building, the first doctor-owned condominium in Louisiana. A few years later, construction on the medical center’s “Radial Tower” with its innovative design began and in 1979 the five story building it opened its doors. That same year the area was renamed “Willis-Knighton Medical Center”.
In 1982, the medical center added five new surgical suites specifically dedicated to outpatient or “Day Surgery”. Physician’s Commons, a series of offices, across Greenwood Road was opened in 1985 for additional physicians’s offices.
In 1988, the Steen-Hall Eye Institute opened, spearheaded by Drs. William Steen and Donald Hall. “Steen-Hall” became renowned through the region for its cutting edge techniques in eye surgery. Today following Dr. Steen’s untimely death and Dr. Hall's retirement, the facility has become the Willis-Knighton Eye Institute.
1992 saw the construction of the system's first wellness and fitness centers on the north campus. This and the others at each of the system’s major facilities would strengthen the system’s mission to “continuously improve the health and well-being of the people we serve.
The turn of the 21st century saw the opening of the Willis-Knighton Cancer Center. This was the first center dedicated to the diagnoses and treatment of cancer with all the services all available under one roof. Within a few years, the Cancer Center would become the first in Louisiana to offer Tomo Therapy Radiation Treatment. And in 2014, the Proton Beam Therapy Center was opened enabling cancer patients to receive radiation with pinpoint accuracy.
Construction began in 2006 on the Willis-Knighton Extended Care Center. Here skilled rehabilitation services are offer to patients in pleasant and comfortable surroundings. The close proximity to the Medical Center means extended care patients can be transported quickly and safely to there for additional tests or if they become acutely ill.
In 2018, the WK Heart and Vascular opened continuing the system’s commitment to cutting edge cardiac care.
Location in Museum
Talbot Museum Digital ArchiveAge
1965-presentDonor
Many of the photos and articles are courtesy of the Times of Shreveport.
-icu.jpg "Intensive Care Unit The Times_Sun Dec 12 1965")
- WK opens new Radiological Unit January 1974
- Changing Look of WK Memorial Hospital 1965
- Eye Institute Ground Breaking November 1986
- New Kitchen at WK Memorial Hospital 1967
- WK Memorial Hospital expansion opened 1965
- Contact signed for hospital expansion May 1964
- Vsiting Hours Guidelines circa 1967
- 50th anniversary insert Shreveport Times
