Making calls by buggy for a year, Dr. Bird bought the first of 35 cars in 1910. Doctors were among the earliest Sandy Springers to make the switch. Dr. Bird's house calls often involved surgery: removing tonsils or appendix, a circumcision.

Dr. Bird's dream is dedicated in 1919, just west of today's Hospital Thrift Shop. Hospital doors opened the next year before completion to treat victims of a flu pandemic.