The old Mennonite hospital, Bloomington

Illinois · United States · Hospital

One room on the third floor at the end of the corridor, where a woman died painfully of cancer. The call light kept coming on. The room was never used.

The building at Bloomington, Illinois was the old Mennonite hospital before it became industrial premises, and everything reported in it belongs to a single room: third floor, end of the corridor.

A woman died there of cancer, in considerable pain.

After her death the call light in that room kept switching on and off. Staff described a smell in the room that could not be removed no matter what was tried. Noises came from it regularly.

The room was never used again.

That decision is the substance of this account. Hospitals do not take beds out of service for atmosphere. A ward closing a room permanently is an operational choice with a cost attached, made by people who had run out of other options.

An update from June 2008 comes from a worker in the building's later life, who reports having been upstairs hundreds of times.

The call light is the detail that stays with people. It is a device with exactly one purpose: to tell the staff that the patient in that bed needs someone.

FAQ

Where is The old Mennonite hospital, Bloomington located?

The old Mennonite hospital, Bloomington is in Illinois, United States.