Some Hospital History
Standing as a five-floor, 343,374-square foot edifice, Sunland was originally opened as the W.T. Edwards Tuberculosis Hospital in 1952. The hospital shut down when a cure for tuberculosis was discovered, but re-opened as Sunland in 1968 as a facility for the mentally handicapped. The doors were closed forever in 1983 when the building was deemed a "fire trap" for the many patients who couldn't walk, and because it was not properly equipped to care for its patients, according to HRS health inspectors.