In February 1912 , IU acquired property on West Michigan Street , near the Indianapolis City Hospital , to erect the Robert E. Long Hospital . Construction on the new teaching hospital began in 1912 . Although its cornerstone was laid on November 1 , 1912 , the Great Flood of 1913 delayed the building ’s opening until 1914 . Long Hospital was dedicated on June 15 , 1914 , and admitted its first patients the following day . Emerson Hall , another early medical school building , was constructed about northeast of Long Hospital and completed in the fall of 1919 at a cost of $ 257,699 . The cornerstone of the Riley Hospital for Children was laid on October 7 , 1923 , and dedicated on October 7 , 1924 . The hospital , named in honor of Hoosier poet James Whitcomb Riley , was erected north of Long Hospital . The James Whitcomb Riley Association ( later known as the Riley Children 's Foundation ) hoped to raise an initial $ 250,000 in funding to add to the state 's appropriation . By 1923 it had received $ 911,518 in pledges from more than 30,000 citizens , including $ 45,000 in donations from a mass fundraising event . Significant additions to the hospital were built over the years , including three in the 1930s : a Kiwanis Unit , dedicated in 1930 ; a Rotary Unit , dedicated in 1931 ; and a hydrotherapy pool in 1935
Great Flood of 1913
Great Flood of 1913
Indiana University School of Medicine