Dudley Guest Hospital - Life After 1900

Life After 1900

In 1908, Tipton pawnbroker Hugh Lewis left his entire estate of £80,000 to the hospital.

Most of the hospital was rebuilt between 1929 and 1939, on the far side not visible from Tipton Road, though part of these new buildings were visible from Birmingham New Road which opened in 1927 and allowed for a second vehicular access point (which was closed in the 1990s). A new pre-fabricated timber/plaster board annex was added in the 1960s.

The hospital's accident and emergency department closed in 1983 and was relocated to the new Russells Hall Hospital. Around this time, fears were rife in the local area that Dudley Guest Hospital was on the verge of closure, but the opening of a new hydrotherapy pool and physiotherapy department later in January 1986 appeared to silence these fears. However, National Health Service officials announced in July 1990 that they were considering closing the hospital (along with nearby Burton Road Hospital, which ultimately closed in December 1993) and relocating services to proposed new buildings at Russells Hall, but the hospital survived another 17 years.