Charity Hospital And The Ghosts Who Live There

History

Located in New Orleans in the French Quarter, the hospital was opened on May 10th of 1736.

In 1858, yellow fever became an epidemic. There were 2727 patients that were admitted with yellow fever and close to 1400 had died from it. That year alone over 11,000 patients were seen.

New Orleans would keep expanding and the demand for medical services was growing. The hospital was no longer big enough to accommodate all the needs of the city. This is when the sixth location was built. It would be the second-largest hospital at the time with close to 2,700 beds. The authority of the building was the Public Works Administration. The people who were responsible for building the hospital are architects who also built the capitol building in Louisiana. There are many beautiful features in the building.

There was another building built next to the hospital in 1931. It was a health-science center. The hospital was known for serving those who did not have insurance and being ranked level two in the nation for trauma centers.

However, with that being said, in 1968 the hospital would lose a malpractice case. The court had ruled that a child who was born outside of a marriage would be prevent suing due to a dead parent.

Hurricane Katrina

The hospital would have severe damage from flooding after Hurricane Katrina in 2005. In fact, headlines were made from evacuations of patients in the hospital.

It flooded the entire basement trapping roughly 3690 patients and 1200 staff members inside for 5 days, during which time there was no electricity, little food and water, and no assistance from the government.

Forty-five Memorial Hospital patients were found dead after the Katrina evacuation. A physician witness said the hospital administrator had suggested that some patients be euthanized.

The morgue also flooded, leaving bodies floating down the basement hallways.

When the hurricane hit, everyone was evacuated. The hospital was empty and remained that way for twelve years now. It is something you would see in a movie. Everything is just how it was when they left. There were carts of containers that were supposed to be taken to the morgue, however, they were still in the pathology lab. There are beds and notes still on the boards from before the hurricane hit. Today, all the materials that would rot, including body parts and bodies, have been removed. However, that doesn’t change the fact that the hospital looks like something out of a zombie movie. It is abandoned and run-down. Many people try to sneak into the hospital to get photos and see what is still in there. Old staff members have put up banners in the hallways. Not only do people sneak in there to see what is happening, they sneak in there to find out if stories of paranormal activity are true.

Paranormal

Those who died in the hospital during the days, weeks following Katrina’s destruction, continue to leave their mark on the abandoned property. The injustice continues to echo through the halls, and outside the walls, causing the building to decay from the blooming rose it once was. The ghosts of former patients reportedly roam around, seemingly doomed to this supernatural jail forever, with no chance for escape it seems.

There have been some crazy occurrences since the building has been abandoned. One of the most common things that have happened is seeing the lights of a Christmas tree appear in an empty building. The lights would appear in just a single room while the rest of the building was dark.

Numerous staff members, patients, and visitors have shared their eerie encounters with the spectral presence. One former nurse reported seeing the ghostly figure standing at the foot of a patient’s bed, providing solace and comfort during a particularly critical moment. Patients, too, have claimed to feel a soothing, yet unexplainable, presence when they were at their most vulnerable.

Even skeptical individuals who dismissed the existence of ghosts were swayed by their own inexplicable experiences within the hospital’s walls. Their encounters ranged from inexplicable cold spots and strange whispers echoing in empty hallways to objects moving seemingly of their own accord. Such occurrences only fueled the curiosity surrounding Charity Hospital’s spectral inhabitant.

Many people were talking that paranormal activity was occurring in the area. It is believed that the spirits on the site are those that died in the hospital.

Some believe the spirit could be that of a dedicated doctor or nurse who perished while tending to patients. Others suggest it may be the ghost of a former patient who has remained tethered to the hospital, unable to move on.

The ghost of Charity Hospital has become the subject of fascination for paranormal enthusiasts, attracting investigations from local ghost hunting groups and curious individuals hoping to catch a glimpse of the spectral entity. These visitors use various methods, from EVP (Electronic Voice Phenomenon) recordings to infrared cameras, in their quest to capture evidence of the ghost’s presence.

Conclusion

The ghost of Charity Hospital continues to captivate the imaginations of those who come into contact with its legend. Whether a testament to the power of human spirit or a haunting reminder of the tragedies that unfolded within the hospital’s walls, the ghostly presence remains an enigmatic entity that persists, bringing both fear and solace to those who dare to enter its domain. As long as Charity Hospital stands, so too will the allure and mystery of its resident ghost, forever etching its place in the annals of supernatural folklore.