Haunted Michigan: Ascension Borgess Hospital in Kalamazoo

 

Ascension Borgess Hospital in Kalamazoo - Photo from the Kalamazoo Library Postcard Collection

There is something about hospitals that makes everyone a little nervous. Patients who stay at the Ascension Borgess Hospital in Kalamazoo have even more worries on their minds because it's one of the city's most haunted spots.

Near the turn of the 20^th century, Kalamazoo was without a hospital, ironic given that the Michigan city was home to the Academy of Medicine. Both the doctors and nurses living in the area traveled far just to get to work. Reverend Frank O'Brien believed the city and its residents deserved more. In 1888, he found himself visiting a man in the hospital wing of the local jail. The man was not a criminal but was dying in jail because there was simply nowhere else for him to go.

O'Brien was far from the first to call for construction of a new hospital. When smallpox made its way across the country during a massive outbreak in the early 1880s, Kalamazoo bought and set up two large tents to create a temporary hospital. Fortunately, the disease didn't hit the city as hard as it did others. O'Brien wanted a real hospital this time, not just a tent.

In 1888, O'Brien held a sermon at St. Augustine Church where he talked about the needs of the community. He encouraged parishioners to donate and announced a $5,000 donation from Bishop Borgess who previously worked in Detroit. Things were far from easy though. Not only did the project's cost jump to $15,000, but the Mayor of Kalamazoo declined to help, basically stating the hospital had nothing to do with the government.

O'Brien secured another $5,000 donation and saw his parishioners hold a bazaar to raise another 3K. On December 8, 1889, Ascension Borgess Hospital finally opened. The Sisters of St. Joseph in Watertown, New York sent eleven sisters to run the hospital and help patients. By 1901, the hospital had space for 100 patients. Known as Borgess Hospital, it became the Borgess Medical Center in 1979. It is now Ascension Borgess Hospital and continues serving the needs of locals.

Most of the stories about this haunted hospital seem to come from the same few websites. Many talk about seeing either strange red lights or glowing red eyes. Even those simply driving or walking by at night occasionally see odd red lights moving through the building. The same red lights are also seen near one of the nurse's stations.

Over at 1 North is the area where most children stay. They often call the nurses to complain about someone watching them. Though they never see anyone, they can feel eyes on them. Young patients have also woken in the middle of the night and spotted someone standing in their room. When they looked closer, the figure disappeared.

Maybe these figures relate to some of the ghostly nuns also seen in the hospital. Sisters from New York staffed the hospital for years and were a common sight. A few visitors reported seeing women in old fashioned habits in the halls and in patient rooms. People tend to notice as workers now wear modern clothing. As a bonus. Patients claim they feel sick when they look at or get close to the nearby cemetery.

Ascension Borgess Hospital is at 1521 Gull Road in Kalamazoo, Michigan. Check in but don't be surprised if you have an unusual experience.