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Show Hospital Golden Anniversary, Nov. 18, 1987 - Page 3 When doctors made house calls "If Dad walked into the lab today or even the hospital, he would find it hard to believe the hundreds of tests available now," John Linebaugh present director of the Laboratory at American Fork Hospital, said of his Father, Dr. B. C. Linebaugh, an early day physician in the area. Dr. Linebaugh practiced for 50 years, and had "just a few lab tests" to work with - many of which he did himself. "He would draw blood for a pre marital exam and send it off to the State Lab and it might take up to two weeks to get the results back. Now they want it in two hours." Dr. Linebaugh, like other physicians, hailed the discovery of penicillin, calling it a miracle drug -one that saved many patients. John said he recalls his Dad would often pick-up patients to take them to the hospital because there was no ambulance in those early days, and they would have no other way to get there. He also remembers babies being born in their home when the mothers didn't make it to the hospital in time "Dad had his office in the basement of our home, and this meant we had patients come anytime, even on Sunday. "I remember sitting down to dinner and someone ringing the bell downstairs and Dad would get up and go treat them, and we might be in the car going to go someplace and someone would pull in the driveway. We would all climb back out of the car and wait until Dad treated the patient." Although his office hours were 2 to 4 p.m., this didn't mean anything because patients knew he would treat them if they needed him. Dr. Linebaugh made house calls and John recalls going with him while a youth. "I would sit in the car and wait, and even, sometimes go in the house with him." Patients came from all over the county, not just the Pleasant Grove, American Fork, Lehi area. Born Feb. 23, 1884 in Illinois, Dr. Linebaugh graduated from St. Louis Medical School in St. Louis, Mo. in 1904 at the age of 20. He was told that the West was the place to go to set up his medical practice. He first practiced in Moroni and was there for a year before he was allowed to deliver a baby - the women didn't want a 20-year old to deliver their baby, they would rather have a midwife. One night, however, he was called by a midwife because of a complicated com-plicated delivery. He delivered the baby and after that he delivered many babies. He moved to Pleasant Grove in 1920. A look in his daily appointment and activity log shows that he accepted ac-cepted produce, hay, labor and many other items for pay. His 1955 log book shows that he was charging $1 for an office visit, $2 for an office visit and a penicillin shot, and $25 for a confinement (maternity) case. He spent mornings at the American Fork Hospital and making house calls, then went home for office hours. fc- :3 , 1 r 1 !-A, ill 'S ' 1 ' DOCTOR B. C. LINEBAUGH hailed the discovery of penicillin as a miracle drug. Here he examines a youngster The favorite nurse of many babies When Lucy Robinson began her nursing career at the American Fork Hospital in the late 1930's, the facility and equipment were a far cry from today's modern technology. Located on the second floor of the old Co-op building (now the Utah Power & Light building) on Main Street in downtown American Fork, the hospital had approximately 12 beds. Doctors, nurses - and even patients - had to climb 33 stairs to get to the hospital. Eventually a manually-operated elevator was installed to assist those who couldn't walk up the stairs, Lucy remembers. The elevator itself was an ex perience. Someone on the outside had to reach in the shaft and pull a rope to get the elevator to come up or go down. Lucy began nursing after being called down from Salt Lake to 'special" a patient. "At that time, we had one nurse on each shift - and shifts were 12 hours long," Lucy recalls. "We took care of everything from emergencies to deliveries." The nurses received a wage of less than 50 cents an hour. Lucy said she worked part-time and if she was needed at the hospital in the middle of the night, the police would come scratch on her window to wake her up. ihere no X-ray machines or laboratories -- and many of todays' grandmothers can remember they were ordered to stay down in bed for 10 days after their baby was born. The time was even longer if there were complications or if the doctor had performed a Caesarean section. Lucy said when she was nursing all the nurses wore white dresses and caps. "The cap was in vogue at thai time. That was your dignity," she said. She enjoyed working in the hospital because of the closeness the staff members shared. "It was a really cheerful atmosphere. at-mosphere. It was just like a happy family." Lucy worked in the maternity area for 45 years, and is well-known throughout the community for her expertise in this area . "Young mothers still call me and ask for advice," she said. "And every wedding I go to, someone on one of his manv house there remembers me helping out when they had their babies." Early in her career Lucy saw a time when the fathers were allowed in the delivery room. Then there came a period of time when they weren't. Now most hospitals let fathers witness the deliveries. "When they wouldn't let them in, someone must have thought they would faint or get in the way." she said. Lucy also remembers when in 1948 it was decided to build a new hospital at 350 E. 300 North. The new facility, reports said, would provide plenty of room for the present need and also possibility for future expansion. Lucy moved to the new building when it opened in late 1950, and saw it grow as the town grew. Later 26 beds were added on the southwest wing later, and, in 1958, a centralized cen-tralized oxygen system was installed. in-stalled. By 1966, the hospital was reaching capacity again, and plans were made to expand and upgrade it. Finally in 1978, the hospital board of trustees recommended to American Fork City that the hospital be sold to Intermountain calls. Health Care. Groundbreaking for the new facility took place July 31. 1979. and construction began that tall. The new $12 million facility was opened on Nov. 12. 198 1. LUCY ROBINSON t ' W CTc- AfeVV NEC -V |
