From the Fort Lauderdale Observer^[1]:

Provident was a general hospital, owned and operated by the black community through a non-profit corporation. It was the hospital for the care of black patients anywhere in South Florida, was operated by an all-black administrative staff and offered medical and surgical care under the standards set by the American Hospital Association.

In 1937, Dr. James Franklin Sistrunk, a black physician in Fort lauderdale, helped Dr. Von D. Mizell, a Dania native, found Provident. The hospital began in a ramshackle building near Sistrunk's office, but the two doctors worked diligently to involve the community in fund-raising efforts. Shortly afterward, the hospital opened on the N.W. 6th Street location. Mizell became the director in 1938.

Honours

From Sun-Sentinel^[2]:

As part of its centennial celebrations, Fort Lauderdale placed a historic marker to commemorate the 1961 desegregation wade-ins at the beach and preserved the home of late civil rights activist Eula Johnson.

Officials are being pressed to now also honor Provident Hospital – the the center of medical care for black Fort Lauderdale in the era of segregation.

Deborah Mizell, part of the family of the late Dr. Von D. Mizell, has written officials making the suggestion. Dr. Mizell, who helped found the local branch of the NAACP, was a black physician who was instrumental in establishing Provident in 1938.

Mizell was the medical director, and Dr. James Sistrunk the chief of staff. Provident closed in the 1960s after local hospitals were forced to integrate.

The 15-bed hospital was located at 1409 Sistrunk Blvd. at what is now the city-owned Mizell Center.

References

1. Fort Lauderdale Observer: Dr. Sistrunk
2. Sun-Sentinel: City Pressed to Commemorate Provident Hospital