Honor or cultural appropriation? Hospital name spurs debate

ST. LOUIS (AP) – While segregation was still casting its ugly shadow over the U.S., the Homer G. Phillips Hospital was providing top-notch medical care to a predominantly African American part of St. Louis.

It was also training some of the world’s best Black doctors and nurses.

The name is still revered, especially in the city’s Black community.

So a white developer’s decision to call a new three-bed medical facility “Homer G. Phillips Memorial Hospital” has been met by a backlash that includes a lawsuit, protests and newspaper editorials alleging cultural appropriation.

But Darryl Piggee, a Black man who serves on the board of directors for the new hospital, says the name seeks to honor Phillips’ legacy, not profit from it.