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Show March 22. 1995 Salina SunGunnison Valiev News Page 3 C ENTENNIAL 1996 Founder sells & by Anita Lyons Celebrating Utah's Centennial Gunnison Hospital to city for $1 in 1949 what gave the hospital the good reputation it enjoys today, both Dot and Celia answered instantly. The doctors were outstanding. They had lots of patients. The hospital was well known for the nursing and the care the patients got, commented Dot. Dr. Rees was stretched thin making ' house calls in all the valley towns, keeping his office practice going, and caring for his patients in the Salina So he started a hospital in hospital. ;(, Gunnison. It was my hospital," he said, I owned it for several years. Hell yeah, -I owned it. I found out 1 couldnt support a family on it. ' In 1940, he and his nursewife. Ford (Frances) bought a large house on Center street in Gunnison (cur-j- T rently Dr. Pratts office), moved into part of it and made the rest of it an office and a hospital. In 1949, Rees went to the Gunnison city officials and said, I cant run a hospital and keep living, what ' do you want me to do? The community bought the building for one dollar with the understanding that it : would continue as a hospital. A created which was board ' hospital very many minutes for them to get there. I think they slept with their We slippers on. she continued. had good equipment in the old hospital. We didnt have anything that was shabby for those days. Gertruede Beck, Gunnison resident, agreed, f consistedofanappointedrepresenta-tiv- e from each community in the val- -' ley. ' Dr. Rees built a new home next to . the old one and kept his offices in the old hospital. The hospital was remodeled in 1951, Dr. Stewart added himself to the staff in 1955, and the two doctors and the small hospital staff took care of the valleys medical needs without addi- tional help until 1979, when Dr. Pratt joined the team of doctors. , During the first years of the hospital, people were used to dealing with illness at home. We had to work to get the people willing to come to the hospital to have babies. said Celia ; Jensen, a nurse who worked there But by the time the from 1952-197- 7. hospital moved to its new location in 1970, We had a patient in every bed and one in the labor room, commented Dot Jensen, bookkeeperfrom A photograph of the old Gunnison Valley Hospital. Celia explained more about the excellent nursing, We took good care of our patients, she said. In medical days past, patients were kept in bed long days after surgery. Woodrow Beck remembers staying in bed for 10 days after an appendix operation, You couldnt even hang your feet down the side, he says. Women were kept in bed for 10 , Accord- daysafterdeliveringababy. ing to Celia, hernia patients were spoon fed, they were not allowed to move a finger. Cataract operation patients were also spoon fed. For 48 hours after the operation a patient had sandbags on each side of his head, We (nurses) had to sit there and make sure they didnt need one thing so theyd need to turn their head, says Celia. Both doctors (Rees and Stewart) were very good to come if we needed them at night. We didnt have to wait 1961-198- 3. Sobegan a legacy of good medicine in Gunnison Valley. When asked I cant say I did enjoy every day, says Celia. One night while working at the hospital, she and just one patient who was in an oxygen tent were the only ones there. She heard something downstairs and called down asking who was there. A man appeared at the foot of the stairs and asked, Can you tell me where so and so lives? At that point, the man in the oxygen tent, who was too weak to move, said, Celia, if you need help let me know. The man at the bottom of the stairs ran. Celia believes he was looking for drugs. Dot Jensen whose bookkeeping office was right inside the front door reported, They used the operating room as an emergency room. Theyd bring accidents in the front door, right under my nose. It was quite an experience. It was a challenge, Dot continued. I think we did really well for all those problems we had there. At the old hospital, the job descriptions were not as specific as they are today. Dot revealed other jobs that Frank Peterson, the hospital administrator, took care of. When I first started, Frank was doing all the and part of the lab work. Weve never had to take a second seat to other hospitals. Wevekcptup with the latest technology. Nedra Stewart, Dr. Stewarts wife, agrees that Gunnisons good medical Myrtle Jensen, affectionately reputation started with good serv ice, known as Myrt, and who was with I feel like it started right with Dr the hospital from the start, took on the roles of housekeeper, cook, launRees and my husband. They were dress, and kind of took care of the compatible and w orked well together. The ones (doctors) w ho have come in patientsthat came, says Celia. Many have followed the same pattern, she former hospital patients remember her as a nurse, even though she was comments. ' never licensed as one. But the old hospital was inconveThere were just three nurses while nient. All the patient rooms were Celia worked there. If one wanted a to We had upstairs. keep running up the steps and down the steps, says day off the other two had to work ' Celia. l . i "every other shift until the vacationer ' ' i After the old house was renovated, got back. Of course the doctors were well we had an elevator. . . sometimes it would work and sometimes it worked. SaysNedra Stewart, When the two of them were just there they wouldnt, she adds. All the patients were so close. If were busy, busy. They would work all a person was dying in one room, they night and then go right to the office. knew it all over the hospital. Woodrow Beck comments, "In tv" k'lons Ap ' " 608 in favor and 23 against. The move to the new hospital saw are more concerned with the paper work than taking care of the patients lots of change. If something needed to be lations, said Dot, We had lots more done then, they just did it, without forms and different things to fill out. worrying about being sued." Many people were added to the differDot Jensen pointed out the staff; nurses, janitors, lab technicians. In the new hospital it is a little ence in how hospitals receive pay- ....... 30-pl- us into a new building, Dot. The adjustments meant building a whole new hospital. It was a step dren were bom at the old hospital, commented, It was just like being at that many people worked hard to achieve and the community sup- home, theybroughtyouhomecooked meals. I was there during Halloween. ported. The kids brought pumpkins and made it personal. The Utah State Board of Health placed the old hospital on the list. They allowed it to keep running as a hospital on a provisional non-appro- his collection of . ting a place for the paper project were a co.uple of reasons the club recently erected a building. Eventually they will finish the interior and be able to use it as a meeting place, but soon they will start meeting in the park, as is their regular summer practice. A committee ofmembers act as a cooking detail and prepare meals for the meetings. Business and presentations on various topics are conducted while the club members dine. No details are available from the International headquarters or state leadership, but the Salina Lions Club is one of the older clubs in the state. One of the pieces of memorabilia in the new Lions building is a collection of pins from William Fowles, a member who recently passed away and willed the collection to the club. A certificate honoring him for 50 years of service to the organization accompanies the pins. tradition among Lions Clubs and Fowles collection goes Trading pins is a the turn of the century, as well as covering many other clubs to almost back many, many years, ed - - v'-- : : , Celia Jensen noted, It was different after the move, you couldnt yell, Doctor! downstairs if you had an emergency. (Remember the doctors office was on the first floor.) Dot reminisced, Jhe doctors woikedso welltogether,andthestaff. It was smooth working, Weallworked and helped each other with what we had to do. pnHQaaraEanQHnnnDBIlB The Salina Lions Club was chartered April 2, 1924. , anyone who spent much time there. Gertrude Beck, all of whose chil- . William Fowles r - . remembered But the faithful old hospital will always hold a place in the hearts of care. We couldnt have stayed open as a hospital if we hadnt made the adjustments to Medicare. reading It is one of the oldest clubs in Utah. building was nicer, it was quite exciting to move. Its so nice to move In the old hospital the facilities were not approved by Medi- 30-pl- us on-goi- No one can debate that the new and we had to make a lot of adjust- 4-- ,f more insulated, you cant hear every word going on all over the place, added Celia. ments. ' .... We had to start doing things according to government regu- needs. proudly displays Right here, one of the projects fie garnered over 50 years of mem-the- y trajjUg are helping to fund is a seemglicense, while the new hospital was hershfpx the Lfom dub . eye dog training project. The club is, , planned and built. helping a H dog project in throughout the U.S. and beyond. The board received grant money Redmond by funding part of the Another of the accomplsihments of the club is the strength costs. of membership it has been able to maintain. Keeping a roll from the federal government, and in , members of the club of The members throughout the years is a sign of vital a bond election the people in the ects conduct several fund-raisiand active proj club, despite the fact that most of the current valley showed their support of con- and the the members are of the age known best for grey-ha- ir year, including throughout structionofa new hospital by voting Fourth of July concessions, the an- - wrinkles. nual flea market, an paper recycling project, and various oth- ers. our Do You Know someone who would enjoy Housing the clubs float and get- . X " V there is all this paperwork from the government. Sometimes (the doctors) Medicare started in the sixties quietly goes about doing projects here and there. Primarily they are concerned with sight projects and saving vision, even on an intema- - Wfcr appeard more recently after by the people. They paid when they could. It was a job to find payments to pay the nurses and the help. woods and getting about $5000 worth of picnic tables built and installed there is something many of the current Lions wont forget. Mostly,- - the Salina Lions Club lubj Celia Jensen as she appeared as a young nursing graduate about 1952(above) and as she ments. In the old days, Some people had insurance, but most of it was paid the community. Behind the American Legion Hall is a brick barbecue with the Lion plaque on it and the work on the city park with clearing the dead cotton -- . i . " - On April 2, 1924 the Salina Lions Club was officially chartered. Current members of the community service organization will be celebrating the 71st anniversary of that event tonight at their regular meeting. Little is known of the early days of the club, except what may have appeared in the pages of the Salina Sun, but there is evidence of much of the Lions work around CP 'A 1970botow)i ys Lions Club enjoys 71st birthday iunal those days we just about worked them to death here. They were both sharp doctors so they had the people coming from anywhere and everywhere. When she heard the comment that Gunnison doctors today are very busy, Celia Jensen said, They dont know what work is. When asked the differences between medicine in the fifties compared to the nineties, Celia answered, The anesthetics are more sophisticated today. Back then they used ether, chloroform or a gas machine. There was no way for us to monitor how far down we had them (patient). It would take them a long time to come out of it. The earlier drugs were more of a shock to the body shebelieves. I wouldnt dare administer medicine anymore, she added. All those have changed from when I worked. Its a whole new world. Nedra Stewart commented, Now ,B1 Look Back page each month? Send them a Free Gift Subscription! It is easy. Just fill in the information below, mail it in or drop it off, and we will do the rest! We can even notify them of the gift! Do it Name of Recipient Name of gift giver Address City ; Today! State Please send them (circle one) Salina Sun Gunnison Valley News Zip Salina Sun 3 East Main Salina, Utah 84654 la EiEaeioiaeiEaraiE3aKai Address City State Gunnison Valley News P.O.Box 189 Gunnison, Utah 84634 Zip |