at Will Rogers
78 Will Rogers Drive
Saranac Lake, NY 12983
518-891-7117
Just after the end of World War I, a small group of prominent Vaudeville figures started an association for providing health care to stage performers. This association was known as the National Vaudeville Artists (NVA). In 1925 the NVA acquired a hilltop site at the southern end of Saranac Lake, New York and built a "cottage" there to centralize its healing mission for vaudeville performers needing treatment for tuberculosis. In 1927, the National Variety Artists Fund was established for the purpose of erecting and maintaining a larger hospital on that site. The 100-bed hospital was completed in 1930; its cost, $994,812, was considered staggering for the time. The physical design of the structure was a drastic departure from the average hospital. The Tudor styling of the building, with its high-peaked slate roofs, made it look like an exclusive resort, rather than a specialty hospital. It was the conviction of its founders that healing would be more readily accomplished if patients lived in "a cheery, comfortable and non-institutional atmosphere". The hospital was equipped with the finest medical facilities and scientific equipment available for treating chest diseases.
In the beginning, things went well for the new hospital named the NVA Lodge. The decline in the vaudeville phase of the entertainment industry, coupled with a continuing national depression resulted in the formation of the Will Rogers Memorial Commission.
The Commission was organized following the tragic death of Will Rogers in an airplane crash in Alaska on August 15, 1935. The NVA Lodge was renamed in his memory. The commission enlisted the participation of the motion picture industry for continued financial support into the 1950's.
Will Rogers Hospital not only cared for members of the entertainment industry, it was also a world leader in the effort to cure Tuberculosis. Research done at Will Rogers Hospital by Morris Dworski was instrumental in finding a cure for tuberculosis. The hospital also became famous for sponsoring summer teaching and training programs. Guest researchers shared their projects with groups of students who they instructed in research and development. During the 50s and 60s Will Rogers Hospital set the pace for care, treatment, research and teaching in the field of cardiopulmonary diseases.
The hospital saw a reduction in the number of patients, due primarily to the cure for tuberculosis. In December of 1975 the hospital decided to close its doors.
Since that time, several attempts to convert the hospital have occurred. During the 1980 Winter Olympics at Lake Placid, the building housed Olympic service workers, and for a short while, the building served as a Rehabilitation Center. A developer also tried unsuccessfully to develop resort condominiums in the building. But, for the most part, this treasure of a building sat unused for the past 20 years.
In 1998 Alpine Adirondack Associates, LLC purchased the property and undertook the larger project of bringing together public and private partners to breathe new life into the building while working carefully to preserve its historic character.
In January 2000, the building was re-opened as Saranac Village at Will Rogers. Today we provide one of the finest retirement communities in New York State as a continuing tribute to the founders of Will Rogers Hospital.