B'nai B'rith at National Jewish Hospital

B'nai B'rith delegates in front of Guggenheim Pavilion at National Jewish Hospital

Due to the Silver Panic of 1893, the empty hospital languished for a number of years. Prominent Denver Jewish businessman Louis Anfenger, a local and district B’nai B’rith president, was able to convince the national fraternal order to impose a tax on members which enabled National Jewish to open in 1899. Nearly 150 tuberculosis patients were treated in the hospital’s first year. National Jewish Hospital emphasized the goal of providing free service and the motto “None may enter who can pay, none can pay who enter” was engraved on the doorway of the B’nai B’rith building at the hospital. Although the service was free, there were strict rules and regulations at the hospital. Only patients in the early stages of tuberculosis were admitted for a stay limited to six months. The patients also had to demonstrate that they had sufficient funds to travel back to their states once they improved, although many stayed in Denver. These conditions reflect the medical opinion of the time and the scarcity of hospital beds for consumptives. It was commonly thought that attempting to treat advanced cases only wasted time and money that could be more profitably directed toward patients who had a good chance of recovery. The minutes of the Independent Order of B'nai B'rith Lodge 171 (Denver, Colo.) Records contain information on the founding of National Jewish Hospital.