After almost twenty years of planning, the Swedish Hospital of Minneapolis was incorporated on January 10th, 1898. The first home for the new institution was a rented, two-story frame house at 1419 South 9th Street. Just three years later, 5,000 people, mostly Swedes, celebrated laying a cornerstone for a new building at 723 10th Avenue South. The tall building facing Elliot Park was the third and last location of Minneapolis Swedish Hospital. On October 14, 1928 the cornerstone was laid for the new $700,000 building. A ceremony with an address from Dr. Lotus D. Coffman, University of Minnesota president, marked the occasion. Designed by local architects, Magney and Tussler, the first three floors were completed in 1929. While other expansion plans were developed they were put on hold during the depression and further delayed when the United States entered World War II. The hospital added the fourth through eighth floors in 1946 and 1948. The addition of these floors made Swedish one of the biggest private hospitals in the whole Upper Midwest. Our very own Senator-elect and Minneapolis Mayor Hubert Humphrey was the first patient admitted to the new section of the hospital.
A couple months later, Ole and Lena went to the Swedish Hospital so Lena could give birth to their first baby. Ole paced the waiting room until he was met by Doctor Sven who came out to inform him that there was some good news and some bad news. Sven could see that Ole was nervous. He spoke softly and said,
“The good news is that you have a normal baby boy.The bad news is that it’s a Caesarean.”
A tear welled up in Ole’s eye and he swallowed before he told Doctor Sven,
“Vell, I’m glad it is a healthy baby…but I vas kinda hoping it vould be a Norvegian”.
On October 1, 1970, the Swedish Hospital merged with neighboring, St. Barnabas Hospital and became Metropolitan Medical Center. In 1988, Mount Sinai Hospital merged with Metropolitan Medical Center. That partnership lasted until 1991 when the institution folded due to declining admissions and inadequate reimbursement. These days the old Swedish Hospital is used as a clinic for Hennepin Faculty Associates as part of the Hennepin County Medical Center campus.