Norfolk Community Hospital was founded on April 15, 1915 by the Tidewater Colored Hospital Association as a 12-bed Tidewater Hospital. It was incorporated to maintain a hospital in Norfolk by Charles S. Morris, J. Albert Handy, Wilbur A. Drake, George W. Gordon, W. I. Moone, S. F Coppage, P. B. Young, Sr., J. J. Corprew, and Robert E. Kindred. The hospital was initially built on land donated by Dr. and Mrs. Drake on 32nd St in the Lamberts Point section of the city. In 1930 it was renamed Drake Memorial Hospital after the death of one of its founders.
It was finally renamed Norfolk Community Hospital in 1932 after expanding to a 30-bed facility on Rugby Street. The hospital operated in conjunction with the Tidewater Colored Graduate Nurses Association, establishing a maternity ward in its facility.
A Public Works Act grant allowed it to move to a new 65-bed facility on Corprew Avenue in 1939. Associated with Howard University College of Medicine, Norfolk State College and Hampton Institute, Norfolk Community Hospital received approval from the American College of Surgeons in 1939 as an accredited institution. It continued its progress in the 1950s becoming the first hospital in the city to appoint a medical director and a recovery room.e city to appoint a medical director and a recovery room.
It also operated a successful outpatient clinic. A new 88-bed addition was added on May 13, 1967. Because of changes in the Medicare and Medicaid programs and competition with local hospitals, the Norfolk Community Hospital financial troubles climaxed, forcing it to close its doors as a hospital in 1998.