The Hospital
Most people know the name Herman Kiefer from this building. Here is how it got that name, what happened inside, and where things stand today.
A son's tribute
At the turn of the twentieth century Detroit's answer to smallpox and tuberculosis was a "pest house" on the city's northern edge — a few rough buildings where the contagious were sent to be kept away from everyone else. When Dr. Guy L. Kiefer became the city's Health Officer in 1901, he set out to replace it with a real hospital.
His wife Josephine and her friend Martha Baugh spent weeks scrubbing and refitting the old buildings themselves. When the new hospital was ready, the city wanted to name it for Guy. He refused. It opened in 1911 as the Herman Kiefer Hospital, for his father, who died that October. Read the full chapter →
Fresh air, iron lungs and birth certificates
Albert Kahn designed new pavilions and a powerhouse, finished in 1922, and a massive main building followed later that decade. Before antibiotics, the treatment for tuberculosis was rest, fresh air and sunlight, and patients spent hours on open porches and rooftop solariums even in Detroit winters. After the Second World War, Herman Kiefer was the city's center for treating polio.
For generations of Detroiters, Herman Kiefer was also simply the place you went for a birth certificate — the home of the Detroit Health Department. It closed in 2013, during the city's financial crisis.
Today
In 2018 developer Ron Castellano's Herman Kiefer Development LLC bought the 38-acre campus and two neighboring schools for $925,000, with plans for an innovation campus and the restoration of surrounding homes. The project stalled. The company filed for Chapter 11 in June 2025, and in June 2026 it sued the city and the Detroit Land Bank Authority, alleging the city undermined the project; the city wants the property back for unmet obligations. The courts have not yet decided. We check for new filings every week and update this page.
Sources: Crain's Detroit Business (13 Jun 2025; 12 Jun 2026); Detroit Free Press (17 Jun 2015; 16 Jun 2026); Outlier Media Detroit Development Tracker; Historic Detroit; Citizens Research Council of Michigan; JAMA (1941).
The campus
On the news
WXYZ-TV, May 2021
WXYZ-TV, March 2014
Herman Kiefer Hospital FAQ
Who was the Herman Kiefer Hospital named after?
Dr. Herman Kiefer (1825–1911), a German-born physician and veteran of the 1848 revolution who practiced medicine in Detroit for sixty years. His son, Dr. Guy L. Kiefer, was Detroit's Health Officer when the hospital was built. According to Guy's wife, the city wanted to call it the "Guy Kiefer Hospital," but Guy refused and asked that it be named for his father.
When did Herman Kiefer Hospital open and close?
It was a city-owned hospital from 1911 to 2013. It grew out of an older contagious-disease clinic on the site, and later served as the headquarters of the Detroit Health Department.
What did Herman Kiefer Hospital treat?
It was built for contagious diseases — tuberculosis, smallpox, diphtheria, scarlet fever and measles — and after the Second World War it was a center for polio treatment. It also delivered babies: the Journal of the American Medical Association reported 1,010 births there in 1940.
Is Herman Kiefer Hospital still open?
No. The complex closed in 2013 and the buildings stand empty.
Who bought Herman Kiefer Hospital?
In 2018 Herman Kiefer Development LLC, led by New York developer Ron Castellano, bought the campus and two neighboring school buildings from the city for $925,000 under a 2015 redevelopment agreement. The firm filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy in June 2025, and in June 2026 it sued the City of Detroit, which is seeking to take the property back. We follow the case and update this page.
Where is Herman Kiefer Hospital?
1151 Taylor Street, Detroit, Michigan 48202, in the Herman Kiefer / Virginia Park area north of New Center. The neighborhood around it is named Herman Kiefer too.
I was born at Herman Kiefer or got my birth certificate there. How do I get records now?
For decades the Detroit Health Department at Herman Kiefer was where Detroiters went for birth certificates. Today, Detroit birth records are issued by the City of Detroit Health Department's Vital Records office, and certified copies are also available from the State of Michigan (MDHHS Vital Records). Check detroitmi.gov and michigan.gov/mdhhs for current addresses, hours and fees.