Morton Plant Hospital

Morton Plant Hospital is a 687 bed hospital at 300 Pinellas Street in Clearwater, Florida. Morton Plant is community-based and provides services in more than fifty specialty areas. This hospital is part of the greater BayCare Health System. Morton Plant celebrated the opening of the Morgan Heart Hospital in 2006.

History
Morton Freeman Plant was the son of Henry Bradley Plant, railroad and shipping magnate and builder of the Tampa Bay Hotel (which later became the University of Tampa). In 1905, Morton F. Plant build a home in a small town on the Gulf of Mexico called Clearwater, Florida. Plant maintained a large mansion in New York City, New York at the corner of Fifth Avenue and 52nd Street and the house in Clearwater, Florida for vacations. In 1918, while on vacation, Plant's son was injured in a car accident and required medical attention. However, there was not a hospital in Clearwater and to get the help, Plant used his railroad connections to have a surgical team brought down by rail from New York along with a special surgical car. Afterwards, Plant pledged money for the building of a hospital in Clearwater, with the city coming up with the other half.

The site chosen was one of the high bluffs, unique for Florida, overlooking Clearwater Bay. The main hospital building faces West and views the intercoastal waterway, the barrier islands of Clearwater Beach and Sand Key and then a clear view of the Gulf of Mexico.

The current main building, known as The Whitt building, was constructed in 1966. Other buildings include The Barnard building, The Adler Building, The Sarah Walker Women's Pavilion, The Roebling Building (demolished in 2005), The Cantonis Building which houses the ER and day surgery, The Ptak Neuroscience building, The Carlisle Imaging building, the Cheek-Powell Heart and Vascular Building and The Ptak Rehabilation Center. The new Morgan Heart Building replaced the Roebling Building.

Trivia

 * In 1917, Mrs. Plant, Mae Caldwell Manwaring, became very fond of a long, rope like string of pearls at Cartier's in New York City. The necklace of perfect pearls was worth $1,000,000.  The Plants wanted to move more "uptown" and Cartier's wanted to expand, so a deal was struck - Mrs. Plant received the pearl necklace and Cartier was paid $100 and the couples New York City mansion on Fifth Avenue.  The Mansion, or La Maison Cartier, is still in the possession of Cartier's and in the late 1990s underwent restoration.  La Maison Cartier was declared a New York City historic site in the 1970s and in 2003, the corner of Fifth Avenue and 52nd Street was named Place de Cartier.


 * Morton Plant Hospital in just blocks from another hotel built by Henry B. Plant, the historic, Victorian style Belleview Biltmore.


 * Many confuse Morton with his father, Henry B. Plant, since so many insituations bear just the last name of Plant.


 * Mae Caldwell Manwaring Plant Hayward Rovensky passed away in July 1957. Part of the large catalog of items for sale was the perfect strand of pearls received in trade for the mansion on Fifth Avenue.  Due to the fact that cultured pearls had been invented after 1917, the $1,000,000 strand only sold for $151,000.

Source/more information

 * Morton Plant Hospital- About Us Feb. 5, 2006.
 * List of hospitals in Florida