Frances Wisebart Jacobs, the wife of a Jewish merchant, roamed the streets of Denver listening for the tell-tale coughing of tuberculosis “lungers.” She treated them until the disease killed her. She helped found what was originally the Frances Wisebart Jacobs Hospital in 1899. Today the hospital, known as National Jewish Health, is America's top respiratory hospital. Initially it admitted both Jews and Gentiles and charged no one for admittance. Jacobs is enshrined in the Colorado State Capitol as the Mother of Charities and one of the founders of what is now United Way, a national model for consolidated charities. (Extra fun fact: The National Jewish Relief Society campus in Lakewood has been replaced by the JCRS Shopping Center and the famed Casa Bonita Restaurant.
--Courtesy Tom “Dr. Colorado” Noel