Worcester County, Massachusetts - Chapter with an unread heading (no. 67 of those read), 1889 (part 2 of 2)

Of the original visiting staff", Drs. E. Warner and G. E. Francis still remain; Drs. J. G. Park and H. Y. Simpson resigned in 1872, Dr. Gage in 1880, Dr. Martin in 1882, Drs. E. Woodward and G. A. Bates in 1883, Drs. Wood and J. N. Eice in 1886, while Drs. H. Clarke and J. N. Bates died while still members, the former in 1880 and the latter in 1883. Vacancies thus occasioned were filled by the appointments of Drs. J. 0. Marble and L. Wheeler in 1872, Drs. J. B. Eich and C. A. Peabody in 1880, Drs. W. H. Workman and Wesley Davis in 1881, Dr. O. H. Everett in 1883, Dr. S. B. Woodward in 1886 and Dr. A. C. Getchell in 1888.

1 In 1850 great efforts were made for the establishment of a county hospital here, but sufflciont money coulii not be secured. Dr. Wilder, of Leominster, first presented the subject at a meeting of the District Medical Society.

January, - one from the Board of Aldermen, two from the Common Council and four from the citizens at large. On this board the medical profession has been represented by Drs. Sargent, Kelly, Gage and Wood.

Private Hospitals. - 1863. - IFe//i»^fo?i Hospital. - From January to October, 1863, Mr. Timothy W. Wellington maintained, at his own expense, on Mason Street, a hospital for sick and disabled soldiers. There were accommodations for thirty persons, and, perhaps, one hundred in all received treatment and care. "Dr." Lunsford Lane, once a slave, was in charge and was assisted by his wife and daughter. Dr. O. Martin, who, as surgeon of the board of enrollment, had charge of everything medical or surgical pertaining to soldiers in this Congressional district, visited the sick as opportunity off'ered, other physicians occasionally assisting.

imi . - Sisters of 31'ercy Hospital - In January, 1867, Eev. John J. Power, pastor of St. Anne's Church, on Shrewsbury Street, opened, in the building next east of that structure, a hospital for the benefit of girls living out in service. To " encourage providence and maintain self-respect," a trifling monthly sum (twenty-five cents) was required by which the payer became entitled to a bed, nursing and medicine in time of sickness. Eighty-three hundred dollars was obtained by a fair held in October, 1866, and the hospital remained in operation until the City Hospital was opened in 1871. About fifteen patients were treated each year; the nursing was done by the Sisters of Mercy. Dr. Peter E. Hubon was in regular attendance, but the institution received visits from other physicians of the city, many of whom offered their services.

1872. - Herbert Hall, a private hospital for mental disease, established by Dr. Merrick Bemis, who still manages it, is situated on Salisbury Street, near the Highland School.

Ig74._ Washburn Free Dispensary. - h^ the will of Ichabod Washburn, who died in 1869, a generous sum was left in the hands of trustees to be expended in the foundation and maintenance of a hospital and dispensary in memory of his deceased daughters. When, in 1873, the bequest became available, the .City Hospital was in operation, and, as another would at that time have been superfluous, it was determined, after ineffectual attempts to consolidate the interests of the two institutions, to open the dispensary only. Accordingly the building on Front Street, just vacated as a hospital, was secured and the dispensary maintained there, and at the building No. 11 Trumbull Street until 1888, when it was transferred to a house fitted up for it, on the grounds of the Memorial Hospital on Belmont Street. Physicians are in attendance daily from 11.30 to 1, Sundays and holidays excepted. Patients unable to come to the dispensary are visited at their homes.

thirty-fiye thousand poor persons have received medical advice and treatment, to whom eighty thousand visits and consultations have been given.

1888. - The Memorial Hospital, incorporated under the will of Ichabod Washburn, April 20, 1871. This hospital was first opened in June, 1888, in the Samuel Davis house on Belmont Street. It is designed exclusively for women and children, and can accommodate eighteen patients. Since it was opened it has been quite constantly full, and additional buildings will evidently be needed in the near future. Miss F. F. Eice is superintendent. The visiting staff of six physicians includes : For women. Dr. L. Wheeler, Dr. O. H. Everett, Dr. S. B. Woodward ; for children. Dr. L. F. Woodward, Dr. G. 0. Ward, Dr. Homer Gage.

Miscellaneous. - 1850. - Worcester Medical Institution (Worcester Medical School, Worcester Botanico-Medical College). - This school, for which the many turreted building on Providence Street now occupied by the Worcester Academy was originally erected in 1850-51, was founded by the efforts of Dr. Calvin Newton, for the instruction of those practitioners of medicine variously known as Thompsonians, Beachites, eclectics and botanic physicians. Courses of lectures had been given in rooms in Waldo block in 1846-47 ; an act of incorporation was obtaiued from the Legislature March 10, 1849; finally suflicient funds were secured to build a school on land given for the purpose by John W. Pond. Instruction was given by a full faculty, and in 1851 a cla-s of fourteen was graduated, while nearly two hundred students had been in attendance since 1846, some from States as remote as Mississippi, Indiana and Tennessee. The school collapsed from want of patronage soon after the death of Dr. Newton, always its leading spirit.

The Worcester Wafer Cure, established by Dr. Seth Rogers in 1851 in a building rented by him of Mr. Edward Earle on Fountain Street, was maintained there with varying success until Dr. Rogers' withdrawal from the city in 1864. (See biographical notice of Dr. Seth Rogers.)

1877. - Board of Health. - This important board, established in accordance with legislative enactment in 1877, consists of three members, of which the city physician is ex officio one. The remaining two are appointed biennially by the mayor andaldermeti. Its duties involve the abatement of nuisances, investigation and regulation of contagious diseases, and general oversight of all that pertains to the health of the city.