Eventually the site returned to its medical origins and became the Trover Clinic and Regional Medical Center. Since the closure of the hospital, the building was repurposed to serve as a government office building. The Madisonville Tuberculosis Hospital closed in the 1970s as did many other facilities like it around the world. With these developments, patients were able to live and receive treatments within their own homes, eliminating the need for sanatoriums. A combination of three to four drugs - isoniazid (1951), pyrazinamide (1952), ethambutol (1961), rifampin (1966)- have been found effective in treating tuberculosis since the discovery of antibiotics and are still in use today. With the discover of antibiotics in 1943, huge steps were taken toward effective treatments for patients with bacterial illnesses like tuberculosis. From 1904 to 1953 the number of sanatoriums in the United States grew from 115 to 839 as both government funded and private sanatoriums were built. The world’s first sanatorium had actually been built in Asheville, North Carolina 1875, prior to Koch’s discovery, but the practice only became widespread after the medical community accepted Koch’s findings. This belief had meant that patients with tuberculosis kept living with their families and increased the risk of spreading the bacteria to them. Prior to Koch’s discovery, tuberculosis was largely believed to be a genetic disease due to the frequency of transmission to family members. Robert Koch’s 1882 discovery of the Mycobacterium tuberculosis which causes the disease. Sanatoriums became popular in the United States and Europe after Dr. They also kept patients from spreading the illness to their family members. Surgeries were also used as treatment but were largely ineffective and dangerous, especially as there were no antibiotics during this time. The goal of a sanatorium was to slow the progression of tuberculosis with fresh air, sunshine, and good quality food.

Sanatoriums like this one were popular in the first half of the 20th century as a means of caring for tuberculosis patients. While the hospital was open, it paired with a local radio broadcaster to produce an educational public health radio show where staff from the hospital would discuss tuberculosis treatment and prevention methods. There were no private rooms in the hospital and all patients stayed in either a two or four-person room. Many of these outbuildings are still standing today. Occupying a 31-acre plot, the hospital complex featured a main building, housing for medical staff, laundry sites, and maintenance buildings. The hospital was a state-run facility intended to help stem the growing number of tuberculosis cases in Kentucky by separating sick patients from others. The Madisonville Tuberculosis Hospital, alternatively known as the District One Tuberculosis Sanatorium, opened in 1950 after four years of construction and planning.

Kentucky sanitarium