History of Chittenden County, Vermont, with illustrations and biographical sketches of some of its prominent men and pioneers, Part 30

Author: Rann, W. S. (William S.)
Publication date: 1886
Publisher: Syracuse, N.Y. : D. Mason & Co.
Number of Pages: 1054

USA > Vermont > Chittenden County > History of Chittenden County, Vermont, with illustrations and biographical sketches of some of its prominent men and pioneers > Part 30

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The first organization of the board of directors was as follows : Dr. Walter Carpenter, president ; Rev. M. H. Buckham, vice-president ; Hon. Torrey E. Wales, treasurer; Rev. L. G. Ware, secretary ; Walter Carpenter, S. M. Pope, and M. H. Buckham, executive committee. The medical and surgical staff at first consisted of Prof. Walter Carpenter, physician-in-chief; Prof. A. F. A. King, Dr. O. F. Fassett, Prof. A. T. Woodward, consulting physicians ; Prof. A. P. Grinnell, Dr. J. H. Richardson, Dr. H. H. Atwater, attending physicians ; Prof. J. L. Little, surgeon-in-chief; Prof. S. W. Thayer, Prof. H. D. Holton, Dr. S. J. Allen, consulting surgeons ; and Dr. J. O. Cramton, Dr. L. M. Bing- ham, Dr. W. B. Lund, attending surgeons. The house management was under the care of Dr. A. W. Warden, house surgeon ; John L. Livock, steward ; Mrs. E. M. Hopkins, matron, and Miss F. E. Dodds, assistant.

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HISTORY OF CHITTENDEN COUNTY.

The grounds purchased for the location of the buildings are on Colchester avenue and immediately adjoin those of the university. They comprised at first about thirty-five acres of choice land with highly cultivated gardens, orchards, extensive lawns, and groves of various kinds of forest trees. The buildings are situated upon the highest portion of the grounds, and command in all directions scenery of great beauty and variety, as far as the eye can reach, such as is not surpassed anywhere in all its loveliness. The site too has extraordinary merit in its sanitary aspect. The winds from every quarter sweep freely over it, quickly dissipating noxious vapors, and the healthful sunlight has unobstructed access to all parts of the buildings. The situation is far enough from the city to secure perfect quiet, and yet ready of access. The buildings, at the elevation at which they stand, present a stately and imposing appearance, and the natural beauties of the spot, and the unequaled prospect to be obtained, render the locality one of ideal excellence. The access to the hospital is from Colchester avenue by a winding road, with a hedge of evergreen on one side and a row of shade trees upon the other. The architecture of the main build- ing is very beautiful, with its stately portico, massive portals, generous windows, and tower surmounting all. It has a frontage of eighty feet, and is four stories. in height, including the high basement. The distance from the foot of the en- trance steps to the weather vane on the tower is eighty-four feet. The struc- ture is built of red brick with a row of black brick above and below all the windows. At the right of the main building, and a little to the rear, and con- nected with it by a long wooden corridor is another brick building for the amphitheatre. This has a frontage of about thirty-eight feet and a depth of forty-six feet, has one lofty story, and corresponds architecturally with the main building. The amphitheatre has a capacity for seating two hundred per- sons, and has opening into it anæsthetizing and recovery rooms. There is also in a separate building a pathological room, capable of accommodating one hundred students, in which post-mortem examinations are made in their pres- ence. Midway in the corridor there is an entrance door opening into another cross corridor, which leads to the male ward. This is a one-story brick build- ing twenty-eight feet in width and seventy-six feet in length, and is in the rear of the main building and amphitheatre.

On the first floor of the administrative building are commodious rooms for the directors, superintendent, house physician, and visitors, and three ward rooms. On the second floor, reached by a broad flight of stairs, are seven rooms at the front and four at the back for patients, separated by a broad hall, extending the whole length of the building, with large windows at either ex- tremity. Two of these rooms are fifteen by eighteen feet, and the rest nine by sixteen feet. Another room at the back is used as a kitchen for minor cooking purposes, to economize time and labor, and avoid the trouble of running up and down stairs. The list of apartments in completed by the linen room,

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which is liberally provided with shelves and drawers for the storing of linen and bed-clothing. The patients' rooms are admirably adapted to their purpose. The utmost care has been paid to the important matter of ventilation ; and while the whole building is heated by steam, each room also contains a fire-place and grate, thus giving an additional guaranty of purity of atmosphere, and affording a better opportunity for regulating the temperature. The furniture is the same in all of the rooms, and consists of a bureau of ash of choice design, finely polished, with a handsome mirror, a neat iron bedstead with an arrange- ment for a canopy in summer, if needed; an ashen washstand, a commode, and two or three chairs. The furniture is very pretty, and with the neat and handsome pine finish of the rooms, the clean white of the walls, the cheerful fire-places, and the roomy windows, with the accompaniment of abundance of sunlight, the rooms make the pleasantest possible quarters, and are as attractive as one could desire, invalid or not. On the third floor are five rooms, three of them for patients, furnished like the other rooms described, and having all their conveniences and appurtenances. The other two rooms are used for storage purposes. Ascending a short flight of stairs from this story, the ob- servatory is reached. Here, eighty feet from the summit of the grounds, a glorious view is obtained, and one probably unequaled in all its features in the whole country. On a clear day Lake Champlain, replete with historic memo- ries, can be seen for miles upon miles flashing in the sunlight, with villages and settlements dotting its Vermont shores, and with many islands as gems upon its bosom, while on the New York side are visible for a long distance its villages and farm-houses, its hills and valleys, with cultivated fields, and forests, and its Adirondack range of mountains.

To the east the horizon is bounded by the Green Mountains, with its lofty peaks, and nearer by lie the beautiful city of Burlington and the thriving vil- lage of Winooski, with the winding river Winooski running like a silver thread in the landscape. Words are inadequate to express the splendor of the scene, and in no spot could the poet or painter seek higher inspiration. The tower has glass on all sides, and is surmounted by a weather vane in the shape of a scroll, bearing the letters M. F. H. In the south ell, annexed to the main build- ing at the left is the dining-room, an exceedingly cheerful apartment, lighted by five windows and measuring sixteen by eighteen feet. Opening from this is a spacious butler's pantry with a dumb waiter running to the kitchen below. At the right is the dispensary, a very important feature of the hospital. It is provided with all the fixtures and accessories for preparing and dispensing medi- cines, and is admirably situated for securing quiet and preventing interference and distraction of the apothecary's mind while he is preparing the prescriptions. The basement is principally above ground, and is about ten feet between joints, is well-lighted, airy and commodious, with the best of ventilation and sanitary arrangements. It is crossed by two corridors, one long one running east and

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HISTORY OF CHITTENDEN COUNTY.

west, and a shorter one running north and south. At the front are five rooms, and at the rear four, for the steward, assistants and other employees of the hos- pital. In another room is an immense furnace and boiler, by which the build- ing is heated. Another apartment is used for a store-room. At the rear and in the ell is the kitchen, separated from the rest of the basement by double doors some distance apart. This measures about sixteen by eighteen feet and is provided with ranges, sinks, a large refrigerator, spacious closets and pantries, and every possible convenience. In various parts of the building are a large number of bath-rooms and water-closets, so situated as to be of convenient ac- cess for patients and those connected with the institution. There are also upon the grounds suitable buildings for a laundry, ice-house, barns, stables and sheds. Since the purchase of the site the grounds have been greatly improved, and laid out into walks, drives, flower-beds, lawns and shady retreats, and various other devices have been added to make the surroundings as healthful and at- tractive as possible for the patients.

In 1884 Miss Fletcher died at the hospital, in the room set apart for her use during her lifetime, surrounded by the scenes of her benevolence. With an unselfish resolution that the institution that she founded should not suffer by this event, she bequeathed by will another $200,000 for its use. In the aggre- gate, these are by far the largest sums ever donated to any single object, by any single individual, in the State of Vermont. With this fund the trustees contemplate making still further improvements, erecting more buildings, adding new departments, and otherwise enlarging the facilities of the charity under their care. About fifteeen acres of land contiguous to the original grounds have been purchased, making nearly fifty acres of the whole, and sufficient to pro- vide a large proportion of what is required for the sustenance of the patients, and of those who have the immediate care of them, leaving ample grounds for recreation, exercise, adornments and whatever may contribute to their comfort, pleasure, relaxation and speedy restoration to health and vigor. The whole effect of the generous liberality of this philanthropic woman is not confined to its direct bearings upon the welfare of an afflicted class of mankind, but its in- fluence has extended to other persons and associations, to open their hearts, and enable them to see more clearly where good may be wisely bestowed. The founder herself set an example when she endowed a " free bed " in the hospital, in the name and behalf of the First Calvanistic Congregational Church of the city of Burlington, and donated $5,000 for this purpose. This was her last benefaction during life, and on this account is peculiarly touching, and a more impressive example. Since the death of his daughter Julia, Senator Edmunds has donated to the hospital $5,000 for the endowment of a room in her name, which he has also beautifully furnished and adorned. The endowment provides for the support and care continuously of one free woman patient. Mr. George Morton, a citizen of Burlington, has donated a like sum, for a like purpose, in

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memory of his deceased daughter Kate, making three free beds already en- dowed in the institution. A few years since St. Paul's Church, of Burlington, at an annual parish meeting, adopted this resolution : "Resolved, That here- after, the second Sunday in June of each year be designated in this church as ' Hospital Sunday ;' that special collections be made upon that day for the sick poor, and that such collections be donated to the directors of the Mary Fletcher Hospital in this city, in trust for their use in said hospital, until other- wise ordered at an annual meeting of the parish." From that time, liberal do- nations have been made yearly by this church in accordance with the resolu- tion. The Unitarian Church of this city also adopted a "Hospital Sunday," and contributed handsomely for this same purpose, until in lieu thereof it be- gan to raise the sum of $5,000 for the endowment of a free bed in the hospital, believing this form of its charity to be of a more permanent character. The raising of this amount is already nearly completed. At a recent State Congre- gational Convention, likewise, the following resolution was adopted : "To those in our churches whose hearts the Lord may incline to contribute for re- lieving the sick and suffering, we cordially commend the Mary Fletcher Hos- pital at Burlington, as well organized and prepared to use economically any gifts made to this object." Thus does the influence of the hospital and its gen- erous-hearted founder extend itself in all directions.

The directors of the Mary Fletcher Hospital have published the following statement of the field of benevolence occupied by the hospital, and the princi- ples on which it is conducted : " A hospital is essentially a charity. It is an institution whose main object is not the making of money, or the advancement of science, but rather the cure of the sick, the feeble, the injured. It aims to bring the benefits of the most advanced medical science, the most skillful nurs- ing and the most favoring material and moral conditions to the relief of the suffering of all classes. It gives a well-appointed temporary home to those whose own homes lack appliances favorable to recovery, and it adds some ap- pliances which the most luxurious homes cannot furnish. It is thus, we repeat, a public charity, a benefit to all in every class who may need its help. But it is an expensive charity, one of the most expensive known to modern civiliza- tion. The permanent investment in grounds, buildings, furniture, instruments, and all arrangements for securing the most perfect sanitary conditions, is neces- sarily large. The current expenses, even after allowing for the large amount of gratuitous service rendered, are seen to be very heavy when it is remem- bered that the diet must always be choice and often expensive ; that the medi- cines and instruments must be the most effective known to the profession, whatever the cost may be; that the staff of nurses and attendants must be such that whenever, by day or night, any kind of service is required, it must always be at hand, wide-awake, not impaired by fatigue or confused by conflict of duty. Many times in the history of the hospital the directors have found that

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the paid servants outnumbered the patients, without being able to see how any of this large staff could be dispensed with. There have been single patients who have required the entire service of a nurse day and night. In many cases the medicines and special diet of a patient have cost the hospital more per week than the largest sum paid by those who are regarded as paying patients. Now it is obvious that with the space and funds at the command of the hos- pital, it cannot offer its advantages gratuitously to all without discrimination. Nor should this be expected. A hospital does not exist for the purpose of supplanting the regular medical practitioner, or of providing medical service gratuitously for those who are able to pay for it. In the minds of many people a hospital implies unlimited resources which the directors can dispense without stint. As a matter of fact no institutions are more liable to financial straits, because of the natural tendency of hospital directors to extend to suffering hu- manity a larger charity than their means will permit. The revenues of the Mary Fletcher Hospital, though administered with the strictest economy, are every year taxed to their utmost by the legitimate claims of charity; for charity, more or less, every patient receives. It has never been proposed by the directors, it would not be consistent with the liberal views of the founder, that any should be required to pay the full cost of the services rendered. Those who pay most receive fully half they get as a gratuity. But all the sums paid by those who are able to pay anything increase the power of the hospital to extend its benefits to those who are able to pay nothing. It is upon these principles that patients are received. Those who are poor, homeless, friend- less, are understood to have the first claim. Such applicants, when they are fit subjects for hospital treatment, and when there are vacant beds, are never refused. But in order that the largest possible number of such cases may be received, all others are expected to pay on a scale accommodated to their means. We have found that most persons are glad to pay all that could be expected of them. Friends often contribute to the support of those less for- tunate than themselves. Employers, recognizing the value to themselves of such an institution in their neighborhood, in cases of accident or serious sick- ness, willingly pay in part, or in full, for the care of their employees. We trust the time is coming when the railroad corporations, the manufacturing firms, the churches, all who have large numbers of persons in their care to whom they owe charity in times of distress, will endow beds available for their use in cases of need. And we confidently expect that as the needs of the hospital outgrow its means, other liberal hands will enlarge its resources, so that its doors may always be wide enough to admit all the suffering poor of our State, ' without money and without price.'"

Of the original directors of the hospital, Paris Fletcher has died and Dr. George H. Peaslee has resigned. The place of Mr. Fletcher was filled by the appointment of Rev. Henry P. Hickok, and upon his death, by the appoint-

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ment of Volney Giles Barbour, a member of the board at the present time. The vacancy caused by the resignation of Dr. Peaslee has not yet been filled. The board of directors hold an annual meeting on the first Wednesday of December in each year, and a regular monthly meeting on the first Monday of each month. All nominations to offices in the hospital are subject to the ap- proval of the directors. Four attending physicians and four attending sur- geons are appointed annually from the physicians of Burlington and vicinity, by the directors. The medical faculty of the University of Vermont nominate four consulting physicians, and four consulting surgeons; and the attending physicians and surgeons the same number; and from the aggregate number the directors appoint annually four consulting physicians and four consulting sur- geons. The attending and consulting physicians and surgeons constitute the medical board, to whom is committed the administration of the hospital in all matters relating to the care and treatment of the patients. Each attending physician and surgeon is on duty three months continuously in each year, and visits the hospital at least three times a week, or oftener if necessary. The an- nual meeting of the medical board is held on the first Wednesday in January, at which time a president, vice-president, secretary and medical committee of three are chosen by ballot. The directors appoint annually a graduate in medicine to be superintendent, who resides at the hospital. It is his duty to enforce all the regulations and orders of the directors, and act as their execu- tive officer, with authority over his assistants and all employees of the hospital, and he is responsible for the good order and discipline of the hospital. The directors appoint annually an assistant physician. He must be in good health, must furnish satisfactory evidence of good character, and must be either a graduate in medicine or eligible for graduation within six months of the time appointed. The directors at their annual meeting choose a board of visitors consisting of twelve persons not otherwise connected with the hospital or the medical college, who are residents of Vermont, and one-half of whom are physicians and cne-half laymen. This board causes the hospital to be visited by a committee of their number as often as its best interests require, and this committee has access to all parts of the hospital and to all its books and prop- erty. The medical and surgical staff of the hospital the present year, 1886, is as follows : Attending physicians, Drs. A. P. Grinnell, J. H. Richardson, L. F. Burdick and H. A. Crandall; attending surgeons, Drs. L. M. Bingham, W. B. Lund and J. B. Wheeler. Consulting physicians, Drs. Walter Carpenter, O. F. Fassett, H. D. Holton and H. H. Atwater; consulting surgeons, Drs. Henry Janes, J. Henry Jackson and H. S. Brown. The organization of the medical board is: President, Walter Carpenter ; vice-president, J. H. Richardson ; sec- retary, W. B. Lund ; and medical committee, Walter Carpenter, H. H. Atwater and J. Henry Jackson. The board of visitors is constituted of the following persons: Mrs. M. C. Wheeler, Mrs. M. B. H. Emerson, Mrs. C. R. Hayward, Dr.

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HISTORY OF CHITTENDEN COUNTY.

J. M. Clarke, G. W. Wales, G. G. Benedict and E. B. Taft, of Burlington ; Dr. A. B. Somers, of Jericho ; Dr. S. S. Clark, of St. Albans; Dr. B. F. Sutton, of Middlebury ; Dr. O. W. Peck, of Winooski, and Dr. C. S. Caverly, of Rutland. Dr. A. J. Willard is superintendent ; Dr. J. W. Berry, assistant physician ; Miss L. Jennie Washburn, head nurse, with a corps of trained assistant nurses, and Ira P. Russell, steward.

In founding the hospital Miss Fletcher, herself a lifelong invalid, in this ap- propriate manner gave expression to her profound sympathy with human suf- fering, and her uppermost thought was to provide means for the relief of those who like herself were afflicted with disease, and who unlike herself were not possessed with the means to secure this for themselves ; but in endowing it this was not all she looked forward to. She had in mind as well the advancement of medical science, that the principal object she had in view might thus be more fully realized and the sufferers receive the most skillful care and treat- ment. This is evident from the fact that with her approval the directors built such a commodious and well-equipped amphitheatre and autopsy room, with all their accessories, and so well adapted for the clinical instruction of medical students in medicine and surgery. It was also a part of her plan from the be- ginning, and another reason for her endowment, that there should be connected with the hospital a training school for nurses, and thus be provided the most intelligent and competent nurses for the patients of the hospital and the community at large. Knowing this and desirous of furthering her wishes the directors, after several conferences with the physicians of Burlington, and cor- respondence with other similar schools already in successful operation in 1882, organized :

The Mary Fletcher Hospital Training School for Nurses .- This school was formally opened in the amphitheatre of the hospital with interesting public ex- ercises on Tuesday, May 2, 1882. Thus was added one more to the institu- tions of Vermont of an educational and charitable character. The object of the school is, primarily, to educate and train women for intelligent and effective service as nurses to the sick and helpless, and by so doing to select and pro- vide a class of skilled nurses, whether for establishments or private families ; and secondarily, to extend and cultivate this needful knowledge among women generally. It is to be understood that the pupils are not in any sense to be fitted here to take the place of the educated physician, but solely to become his enlightened and ready auxiliary. The requisites for admission to the school are that pupils must be between twenty and forty years of age; must bring certificates of sound health and good moral character ; must possess a profi- ciency in reading, penmanship, simple arithmetic and grammatical expression of the English language satisfactory to the managing committee, and must pay in advance a fee of ten dollars for the session. The course of instruction is given during the month of May in each year, and consists of lectures, reci-

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tations, demonstrations and 'practical teaching at the bedside upon all medical and surgical topics necessary to fit the pupils for the proper care as nurses of the sick and helpless. A limited number of pupils are selected to render as- sistance in the hospital, and such persons receive, besides the remission of their tuition fee, lodging and board in the hospital during their term of service. At the close of each session the pupils are examined in all the branches taught, and a record of their proficiency kept for reference. Candidates for graduation are examined at the termination of attendance upon two sessions of the school, and two years' practical experience, including the two sessions, and receive a diploma if all the requirements for graduation are fulfilled. Any woman who desires to get the benefit of the instruction given in the school, without intend- ing to follow the vocation of a nurse, may attend the course by paying the usual fee ; and such persons are not required to pass the examination. The managing committee of the training school act as an employment bureau for the benefit of nurses approved by them and of those who may desire the services of competent nurses.

The corps of instructors is as follows : Dr. A. J. Willard, on emergencies and inspection of discharges from the body ; Dr. H. H. Atwater, on care of lying-in women and of infants; Dr. A. P. Grinnell, on anatomy and physiol- ogy ; Dr. W. B. Lund, on hygiene, administration of remedies and care of the helpless; Dr. L. M. Bingham, on surgical nursing, dressing, cupping, leeching, etc. ; and Miss L. Jennie Washburn hears recitations and gives practical in- struction at the bedside. All the lecturers are members of the medical and surgical staff of the hospital. The managing committee are Drs. Walter Car- penter, A. J. Willard and H. H. Atwater. The number of pupils, during the five years of the existence of the school, has averaged twenty ; fifteen of these have been graduated the last three years. Although the school has been in operation only five years, its success is already established, and it promises to be of decided benefit in improving the qualifications of nurses.

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History of Chittenden County, Vermont, with illustrations and biographical sketches of some of its prominent men and pioneers, Part 30

Author: Rann, W. S. (William S.) Publication date: 1886 Publisher: Syracuse, N.Y. : D. Mason & Co. Number of Pages: 1054

Author: Rann, W. S. (William S.)
Publication date: 1886
Publisher: Syracuse, N.Y. : D. Mason & Co.
Number of Pages: 1054