The Knoxville City Hospital was chartered by an Act of the Tennessee General Assembly in 1899.  In 1904, a set of By-Laws, Rules and Regulations was published for the Knoxville General Hospital.

The following text is transcribed from that document:

ARTICLE I. — Name.

The name of the Hospital shall be the Knoxville General Hospital.

ARTICLE II. — Object.

The object of the Hospital shall be to care for persons who may require relief during temporary sickness, but those suffering from contagious, infectious or mental diseases shall not be admitted.  No person, except consumptives in the third stage, shall be admitted whose case is judged to be incurable, unless there be urgent symptoms, which are deemed capable of being relieved; and in no case, except such consumptives, shall a charity patient be cared for longer than ninety (90) days, except in case of such urgent symptoms.  In all cases where, in the opinion of the Board, the circumstances of the patient will warrant it, the whole or a part of the board shall be paid.