[1][2] Before the introduction of antibiotics, sanatoria were used to isolate tuberculosis patients from the general public and provide them with a supportive environment in which to recover.

The building featured large porches facing the lake, as fresh air was considered the best treatment for tuberculosis at the time.

By 1934 that extra capacity was needed and the Board of Supervisors approved money to build the Dormitory for Help to house staff.

This construction was supported by Works Progress Administration funds, and freed up 25 beds in the main building for patients.

[3] As antibiotics made sanatoria increasingly obsolete from the 1940s onward, use of the facility declined until it closed in the 1960s; the building is now used by the Dane County Department of Human Services.