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Museum Exhibit Marks 'Century of Life' for Henry Ford Health System

April 23, 2015, 6:19 PM by  Allan Lengel

Over the decades, Henry Ford Hospital has had a lot of firsts:

First to use purified heparin to treat blood clots. First to develop the liquid oxygen tent. First to use the multiple-lead electrocardiogram. First in Michigan to carry out a successful open heart surgery using the heart-lung bypass machine.

Now, on the second floor of the Community Gallery at the Detroit Historical Museum on Woodward in Midtown Detroit, the accomplishments are being recognized in an exhibit "Henry Ford Heath System: 100 Years Measured in Life." The exhibit opened Saturday and runs through Jan. 3.

The exhibit tells how it all began, when auto pioneer Henry Ford took control of the building of the 48-bed, Detroit General Hospital that was stalled.

Ford, the story goes, only wanted to invest in a hospital, but when construction came to a standstill shortly after the groundbreaking, Ford got fed up and got together investors and finished the project himself. His wife Clara contributed personal wealth and talent to the hospital, and pushed for the creation of its first psychiatric unit, the Henry Ford School of Nursing and Hygiene and the Clara Ford Nurses Home, according to a media release.

The exhibit tells the story of breakthroughs in medicine and racial barriers, and the the growth of medicine and the treatment of various illnesses including AIDS.

Thursday was media day, and folks in attendance included John Popovich, president and CEO of Ford Hospital, and Henry Ford III, the son of Edsel Ford II.                                                             

The elegant nursee' uniform back in the day.

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Racial issues surfaced and employees like Wilma Gandy worked to integrate the placement of patients. 

Henry Ford III talks to Deadline Detroit about his great great grandfather Henry Ford's legacy in the health care field.

The words of Henry Ford.

John Popovich, president and CEO of Ford Hospital, talks to Deadline Detroit about Henry Ford Hospital and the museum exhibit.

Mary Morris was pioneer in nursing. She became the hospital's first African-American director of nursing in 1972.

Henry Ford (left), his wife Clara and Edsel Ford.



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