Medical

In the early 1960s, the River Valley Local School District built its middle school, its high school and its athletic fields in the former Marion Engineer Depot. During World War II, the depot had used the land for heavy equipment rehab, military artillery practice, materials storage, burial of construction debris and burning of waste materials and fuels. In 1997, a River Valley High School nurse grew concerned about the high rate of leukemia and other cancers in graduates. Then a stunning news report announcing a 122 percent increase in death rates over thirty years in the Marion area sparked an investigation. Was the land to blame? The question of what may have been known about the contaminates on the school grounds sent shock waves through the community that still linger today.

Northern Michigan Asylum, which opened in 1885, was known during most of its years as Traverse City State Hospital. More than 200 photographs and images are provided, including many of the features and buildings long gone.

It was run during its first decades by Dr. James Decker Munson, who left his legacy in the landscaped grounds and the medical center that today bears his name. Traverse City State Hospital served the mental health needs of a large part of Michigan for 104 years until its closure in 1989, housing a population as large as 3,000 in its many buildings.This book traces the history of this great institution, from the local and mental health context in which it was founded, through its growth, development, and decline, and finally to its renovation and preservation as a vital part of the Traverse City community.

Using historical images and recollections, Evanston Hospital School of Nursing: 1898–1984 highlights the marketing, education, curriculum, and values of EHSN as well as the students’ experience and dormitory life.

Evanston Hospital was founded in 1891, followed by the school of nursing seven years later. Evanston Hospital School of Nursing (EHSN) provided education at a reasonable cost while the students provided care to patients in between studies. In its first 50 years, the school graduated 1,157 nurses, with the first class of two graduating in 1901. EHSN, like other diploma programs, flourished until educational cost escalated, technology boomed, training methods evolved, and a conversation about where and how nurses should be educated began. After 86 years of training nurses, EHSN closed.

Carolyn Hope Smeltzer and Barbara Ann McQuillan, 1972 EHSN graduates, are proud of their education and realize the historical value of the program. Having graduated 50 years ago, they are passionate about preserving the school’s history and capturing classmates’ memories. Their desire to keep alive EHSN history enables past generations of diploma graduates to cherish their own memories and future generations of nurses to look back on past teaching practices. This book will elicit familiar fond memories for all who attended or taught in any diploma school of nursing.

Eloise, which started out as a poorhouse, later became known as Wayne County General Hospital. Today, all that remains are five buildings and a smokestack.

From only 35 residents on 280 acres in 1839, the complex grew dramatically after the Civil War until the total land involved was 902 acres and the total number of patients was about 10,000. Only one of them, the Kay Beard Building, is currently used.In Eloise: Poorhouse, Farm, Asylum, and Hospital, 1839-1984, this institution and medical center that cared for thousands of people over the years, is brought back to life. The book, in over 220 historic photographs, follows the facility's roots, from its beginnings as a poorhouse, to the founding of its psychiatric division and general hospital. The reader will also be able to trace the changing face of psychiatric care over the years. The book effectively captures what it was like to live, work, and play on Eloise's expansive grounds.

In 1849, a steamship named after President James Monroe headed from St. Louis to Council Bluffs, Iowa. The passengers were members of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints from Philadelphia. At St. Louis, they were joined with a group of California gold diggers from Jeffersonville, Indiana. But their trip was interrupted when cholera broke out on board. Local fourteen-year-old James McHenry discovered the steamship after it landed at Jefferson City and observed the dead and dying victims along the riverbank. Author Gary Elliott details the history of the outbreak in the city and its far-reaching effects.

The Toledo State Hospital opened in 1888, and its design and healing approach were revolutionary for the time. First in the country built entirely on the "cottage model," its plan was intended to create a homelike atmosphere in a beautifully manicured landscape. Treatment methods were based on the "moral treatment" philosophy, the belief that calming surroundings with nutritious food, productive work, and diversion would help the disturbed mind to heal. Over the years, facilities were expanded to serve a burgeoning patient population, and medications and treatments evolved. In the 1950s, however, the population began a steady decline due to the advent of services in the community and to advances in psychotropic drugs. As the old buildings were emptied, they were demolished, and all were gone by 1981.

In 1886, the state-of-the-art surgery room of Truman W. Miller, MD, in Chicago's first children's hospital had no electric lights, no antibiotics, limited equipment, and only the most rudimentary anesthesia. This renowned surgeon served on a voluntary basis as president of an all-volunteer medical staff from 1882 to 1900. The hospital opened in 1882 as an eight-bed cottage in Lincoln Park, when pediatrics was in its infancy. It was at the forefront then, and it continues to be among the country's best. For over a century, it was called Children's Memorial Hospital, and it was renamed Ann & Robert H. Lurie Children's Hospital of Chicago in 2012, when it moved to a 288-bed facility in the heart of the city. The hospital's history reflects the steady advances in pediatrics, propelled by visionary individuals, pioneering clinicians, and the community--all dedicated to the care and well-being of children.

The Lapeer State Home has been a large part of the history of Lapeer County since its beginnings in 1895. After starting with three buildings and housing for 200 patients, the facility grew to encompass several hundred acres and, at its peak, accommodating over 4,000 patients. The history of the home includes a variety of memories from staff members, patients, and visitors who once walked its halls. Images of America: Oakdale: The Lapeer State Home provides a journey of this historic institution and attempts to bring some clarity to questions that remain about the home and its past.

The modern hospital evolved from both military garrisons and poorhouses. It wasn't until the mid-19th century that facilities with a wider purpose were founded in Detroit to combat diseases like cholera, tuberculosis, and mental illness. Religious institutions and benevolent societies established homes and treatment centers for the ill and abandoned, while public institutions were created for the very first time. This fascinating pictorial history of health care in the Detroit area features over 200 photographs and postcards of early hospitals, sanitariums, and orphanages, and the kindhearted people who staffed them. From St. Mary's, founded in 1845 and later known as Detroit Memorial Hospital, to Henry Ford Hospital, founded in 1915, this book documents the variety of institutions that sought to relieve or cure medical conditions. Most of these historic facilities no longer exist, and are known only by the photographs that preserve them. The images provide a rare glimpse of what health care was like at the turn of the century.

As the country sought healing and peace after the Civil War, Wisconsin citizens took up Pres. Abraham Lincoln's challenge "to care for him who shall have borne the battle." Their efforts paved the way for the establishment in Milwaukee of one of the original three branches of the National Asylum for Disabled Volunteer Soldiers. In May 1867, the first 60 veterans, including a musician from the War of 1812, moved to a single building on 400 rolling acres west of Milwaukee. By the end of the 19th century, the bustling campus boasted its own hospital, chapel, library, theater, and recreation hall, in addition to the grand main building. Subsequent wars and military conflicts created a need for additional buildings and services. Designated a National Historic Landmark in 2011, the campus continues to offer a healing environment for today's patients and stands as a testimony to advances in veteran health care.

In 1883, a group of women, concerned about conditions for children in Cincinnati's hospitals, proposed establishing a hospital for children. The hospital was incorporated in November 1883 and opened a few months later in a rented three-bedroom house. The hospital admitted 38 children in its first year, and Episcopal bishop Thomas Jaggar, president of the board of trustees, reported that it offered its young patients "the best medical and surgical treatment" as well as "the tenderest care"--a description as true today as it was 125 years ago. From its modest beginnings, Cincinnati Children's Hospital Medical Center has become one of the nation's most distinguished centers for pediatric care, research, and education. It is a trusted resource in Greater Cincinnati and a national and international referral center. Scientists at Cincinnati Children's have made research contributions that have advanced pediatric medicine at home and around the world.

Jack and Eldora Vetter began Vetter Health Services (VHS) in 1975 with the belief that elderly people deserve dignity in life. Forty years later, what began as the couple's personal mission has grown to include more than 30 award-winning senior-care facilities home to 2,200 residents and patients who are cared for by 3,500 team members. Based in Elkhorn, Nebraska, VHS is recognized as a national leader in providing safe, comfortable, and happy senior living centers. Each facility is built around the individual needs of residents and the community; every aspect of care and operation is shaped by the VHS mission, vision, and values. Support and expertise are always available from administrators and team members who share Jack and Eldora Vetter's heart for service and passion for excellence. Together, they are changing the view of long-term care for senior citizens.

Explore the delightful history of Rochester

Best known for the world-renowned Mayo Clinic, Rochester's rich history holds so much more beyond medical excellence. But why was the world's greatest medical center built virtually in the middle of a corn field in the first place? What happened to the Native Americans in the area? Were there ever bears in Bear Creek? Why are there so many geese at Silver Lake, and how did the Zumbro River get its name? What do the extinction of the dinosaurs and the passenger pigeon have to do with Rochester?

Retired Mayo Clinic doctor and Rochester native Paul Scanlon answers these questions and more in this collection of historic tales from Med City.