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Show IB THE GREEN SHUT This clinic remained open until but it was not used by the local populace due to an attitude of mistrust of the medical profession Second of a series v: which may still exist here today. MURRAY. Given the A growing evil in our midst, of medical science when the first Brigham Young had said only a pioneers arrived in Utah, the train- short time before. It will be so in a ing of early physicians here may little time that not a woman in all have been questionable at best. Israel will dare to have a baby But that was all that was available unless she can have a doctor by and people here did get sick. her. It was statements such as this Brigham Young himself was atreportedly suffering from moun- which created an tain fever when he made his titude which grew into a commonly famous pronouncement that this is held mistrust of medical practice the place on July 24, 1847. which slowed the growth of medicine The first medical facility in the in Utah for some time. area, however, did not open its doors Combined with Utahs relative until 1851 - a good four years after isolation from East Coast medical the first pioneers arrived. It was a advances, it took several years seven room adobe house which stood before orthodox medicine gained Where the west wing of the LDS a foothold here. .Church Office Building now stands Dr. Williams patients were :on the corner of State Street and primarily transients on their way to ; North the California gold fields. Primarily Temple. SDr. Ezra Williams built the struc- offering treatments for mountain ture as a home, but soon moved his fever - which may have been what : log house so we now call Rocky Mountain Spotfamily to a that he could serve patients there. ted Fever - cemetery records at by Ralph H. Goff Green Sheet Staff Writer 1853, . . . ; m call was made "... a the state to appoint throughout three women from each LDS ward to study hygiene, nursing and midwifery in the East." ... of Deseret Hospital included, front from left, Jane meline B. Wells; middle, Phoebe Woodruff, Isavelle M. Horne, Eliza R. Snow, Zina D. Young, S. Richards, Em- baby the time list quite a number whom Dr. Williams was unable to help. While Dr. Williams clinic holds claim to the title of first medical facility in Utah, the first hospital in the valley was created to serve the growing mining and smelting industry. Though Brigham Young counselled against mining, with the opening of the railroad in 1869, mining began to boom. On April 30, 1872, Major Edmund Wilkes, vestryman of St. Marks (Episcopal) Cathedral and mining and smelting tycoon, led the founding of the first general medicine hospital in Utah. On May 13, 1872, St. Marks hospital opened in a rented adobe house on the corner of 400 South and 500 East. It was organized to care for industrial casualties from the mines and smelters. Miners had $1 a week held out of their pay for the privilege of medical care at the facility. St. Marks soon liberalized its policy to permit treatment of private citizens. In 1875, Catholic miners and smelter workers requested Rev. Lawrence Scanlan, who later became the first Bishop of Salt Lake, to organize a hospital for them. He petitioned the Sisters of the Holy anti-doct- OF DIRECTORS not a woman "... will dare to have a unless she can have a doctor by her." state-of-the-a- BOARD - Attitude Prevailed In Utah's Early Days Anti-doct- or ; Marinda N. Hyde; back. Dr. Ellis R. Shipp, Bathsheba W. Smith, Ellzobeth howard, Dr. Romania B. Pratt Penrose. Hospital was open 12 years. CUT YOUR WN fORK IN E ALF! An inexpensive. Unique Concrete Edging That Is Installed By Our Professionals In Any Shape YOU IS, 1985 iiffesftylle Slowed Growth Of Medicine In State one-roo- Thursday, August Desire... Saves hours of edging, trimming and weeding time Creative curves, contours, and to your specCURB ifications. Circles as small as 20" radius. STYLE Affordable, safe, and durable with no mess to other edgings. superior Fast, clean and efficient installation without costly form work. MOWER STYLE CALL FOR FREE ESTIMATES 'UnnriAtt r7 SALT LAKE 265-C3S- 2 OGDEN 025-240- 4 Cross to open a hospital and two sisters were sent to undertake the nn work. Originally known as St. Marys hospital, this hospital, too, opened on 500 East in a converted barn. In 1882, Bishop Scanlon purchased an entire city block of 10 acres at 1000 E. 100 South and began construction of a facility. However, the Catholic sisters were not the only women involved in medicine in this state. With the advent of womens lib, our attitudes may be changing, but few will disagree that the medical profession today is primarily dominated by men. This was not so a century ago. Because of heavy Mormon immigration into the area, communities were springing up throughout the territory. By far the major health problems faced at that time were the hazards of childbirth. Recognizing this growing health care need, in 1873 at the request of Brigham Young, a call was made throughout the state to appoint three women from each LDS ward to study hygiene, nursing and midwifery in the East. It was a cadre of women returning from training in the East and desiring facilities similar to those in Boston, Philadelphia and Baltimore where they had studied, who were responsible for the creation of the next major medical facility in the valley. Romania Bunnell Pratt Penrose, at that time a wife of Parley P. Pratt, was Utahs first homegrown physician, travelling to New for her York and Philadelphia medical training after the death of a son in infancy. Immediately after her graduation in 1877, she returned to Utah to practice medicine. At the request of Zina D. H. Young, one of Brigham Youngs wives, Mrs. Penrose began teaching classes in obstetrics, continuing them every year for many years. Soon, other women also began to study medicine in the East, many of whom were sponsored in their studies by the LDS churchs Relief Society. It was natural, then, that they would turn to that organization to fill their needs. On July 17, 1882, under sponsorship of the Relief Society, Deseret hospital opened its doors in a small building on 500 East between South Temple and 100 South, serving residents of the valley for the next 12 years. John Taylor, who had succeeded Brigham Young as president of the LDS church, dedicated the building and Dr. Romania Pratt (Penrose) was chosen to serve on its first board of directors. 125-be- d Beginning a school of their own to train other women as nurses, midwives and doctors, these courageous women encouraged by Brigham helped change the Young himself the medical protoward hostility fession which seemed prevalent in - - HOMEGROWN DOCTOR . . . Romania Bunnoll Pratt Ponroio, upon tho doath of a ton in infancy, roturnod to tha East to study modicino. Returning to Salt Loko, tho oponod a practico and became the first "home-grown- " doctor in Utah. the valley during the early pioneer days to an acceptance of modern care for the sick. Mary J. P. Ereksen, of what is now known as Murray, was another of these early women doctors. After the death of her two children with scarlet fever, Mrs. Ereksen was determined to study everything she could to find a cure for that disease. She bought the best books on medicine she could find and travelled to Salt Lake on foot to study medicine with the women at Deseret hospital becoming the first professional nurse in Murray. She cured hundreds of people with her remedies during the diphtheria epidemic of 1877, going wherever she was needed in her buggy drawn by two white horses. Her patients were not only in Salt Lake County, but also in Tooele, Lehi and American Fork. Today, Utahns can boast of some of the finest medical facilities in the country. Continuing research at the University of Utah Medical Center has given the world both the artificial heart and the possibility of the development of an artificial hand. Though their buildings have changed remarkably over the years, St. Marks and Holy Cross hospitals continue to flourish in the valley. Including expansion to West Jordans Holy Cross Jordan Valley facility. Pioneer Valley hospital currently serves West Valley City, while the Veterans Administration hospital in Salt Lake is operated by the government to serve Utahs veterans.. Intermountain Health Care, Inc. -it a corporation founded by offers many the LDS church medical facilities througout the Intermountain West, including LDS Hospital and Primary Childrens Medical Center in Salt Lake and Cottonwood and Alta View hospitals in the southern part of the valley. Utah medicine has come a long way from the days of home remedies and Mary Ereksen's horse-draw- n buggy house calls. NEXT WEEK: Pioneer home remedies. non-prof- "Miners had $1 a week held out of their pay for the privilege of medical care at the facility." - blood-lettin- |