Changes

Hospital care has improved greatly over earlier times due to the work of [[Louis Pasteur]] on germ theory and [[Joseph Lister]] who implemented [[antiseptic]] cleaning.

Hospital care has improved greatly over earlier times due to the work of [[Louis Pasteur]] on germ theory and [[Joseph Lister]] who implemented [[antiseptic]] cleaning.

==Early American hospitals==

==Early American hospitals==

In 1639, three Augustinian nuns from Dieppe, France, established North America's first hospital, the Hôtel-Dieu in Quebec City.  

In 1639, three Augustinian nuns from Dieppe, France, established North America's first hospital, the Hôtel-Dieu in Quebec City.  

During the Ciivl War the U.S. Army created a very large network of hospitals. Mower General Hospital, constructed by the US Army in the Chestnut Hill district of Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, was the largest general hospital created to serve Northern wounded during the Civil War. Built in 1862, the hospital was demolished in 1865. Three military hospitals built in the small Vermont cities of Brattleboro, Burlington, and Montpelier during the Civil War. They represent the expansion of general hospitals, as opposed to post hospitals that cared for soldiers near the battlefield, and the growing number of these hospitals in "remote" locations, away from Washington, D.C. Illustrations show their vast size and capacity. These hospitals provided rehabilitation and long-term care for physically and emotionally wounded soldiers and helped return them to active duty as soon as possible - which was particularly important when military strength dwindled in the latter years of the war.<ref>Nancy E. Boone and Michael Sherman, "Designed to Cure: Civil War Hospitals in Vermont". ''Vermont History'' 2001 69(1-2): 173-200. 0042-4161 </ref>  

During the Ciivl War the U.S. Army created a very large network of hospitals. Mower General Hospital, constructed by the US Army in the Chestnut Hill district of Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, was the largest general hospital created to serve Northern wounded during the Civil War. Built in 1862, the hospital was demolished in 1865. Three military hospitals built in the small Vermont cities of Brattleboro, Burlington, and Montpelier during the Civil War. They represent the expansion of general hospitals, as opposed to post hospitals that cared for soldiers near the battlefield, and the growing number of these hospitals in "remote" locations, away from Washington, D.C. Illustrations show their vast size and capacity. These hospitals provided rehabilitation and long-term care for physically and emotionally wounded soldiers and helped return them to active duty as soon as possible - which was particularly important when military strength dwindled in the latter years of the war.<ref>Nancy E. Boone and Michael Sherman, "Designed to Cure: Civil War Hospitals in Vermont". ''Vermont History'' 2001 69(1-2): 173-200. 0042-4161 </ref>  

About 21,000 women served in Union hospitals. One in ten was black; they worked as laundresses and cooks (rather than as nurses or matrons). Most Union hospitals were built in cities. Confederates used mostly makeshift facilities in private residences, and were operated by upper class women "matrons." For example, Juliet Opie Hopkins, the wife of a wealthy Alabama businessman, organized and ran three hospitals in Richmond, Virginia, despite chronic shortages of medicine and other necessary supplies.  Despite the local nature of their service, Southern women generally met with more resistance than Northern ones from men who thought hospital work to be inappropriate for "ladies." It took the image of English woman [[Florence Nightengale]] and American [[Clara Barton]] to change make the role of the woman nurse generally acceptable.

About 21,000 women served in Union hospitals. One in ten was black; they worked as laundresses and cooks (rather than as nurses or matrons). Most Union hospitals were built in cities. Confederates used mostly makeshift facilities in private residences, and were operated by upper class women "matrons." For example, Juliet Opie Hopkins, the wife of a wealthy Alabama businessman, organized and ran three hospitals in Richmond, Virginia, despite chronic shortages of medicine and other necessary supplies.  Despite the local nature of their service, Southern women generally met with more resistance than Northern ones from men who thought hospital work to be inappropriate for "ladies." It took the image of English woman [[Florence Nightengale]] and American [[Clara Barton]] to change make the role of the woman nurse generally acceptable.

For three decades, the Taborian Hospital and the Friendship Clinic in Mound Bayou, Mississippi, provided quality medical care to thousands of poor blacks, without help from either the federal or state governments. Fraternal orders established both clinics in the 1940s as an alternative to [[Jim Crow]] humiliations. Ironically, segregation helped these establishments prosper by providing a ready market. By the 1960s, however, a combination of circumstances made this kind of "self-help" care unviable. Medicare and Medicaid, along with the demise of segregation, made it possible for poor Delta residents to choose health care facilities with more modern equipment. State regulations also became too burdensome for small, underfinanced facilities. Migration took its toll as well, as black families left the Delta for better opportunity in Memphis and Chicago.<ref>David T.  Beito, "Black Fraternal Hospitals in the Mississippi Delta, 1942-1967". ''Journal of Southern History'' 1999 65(1): 109-140. 0022-4642 </ref>  

For three decades, the Taborian Hospital and the Friendship Clinic in Mound Bayou, Mississippi, provided quality medical care to thousands of poor blacks, without help from either the federal or state governments. Fraternal orders established both clinics in the 1940s as an alternative to [[Jim Crow]] humiliations. Ironically, segregation helped these establishments prosper by providing a ready market. By the 1960s, however, a combination of circumstances made this kind of "self-help" care unviable. Medicare and Medicaid, along with the demise of segregation, made it possible for poor Delta residents to choose health care facilities with more modern equipment. State regulations also became too burdensome for small, underfinanced facilities. Migration took its toll as well, as black families left the Delta for better opportunity in Memphis and Chicago.<ref>David T.  Beito, "Black Fraternal Hospitals in the Mississippi Delta, 1942-1967". ''Journal of Southern History'' 1999 65(1): 109-140. 0022-4642 </ref>  

===Childbirth and children===

===Childbirth and children===

Before 1920, many women of all social classes delivered their babies at home. This continued into the 1940s in the rural South, where midwives handled the deliveries. However, as doctors became aware of the problematic spread of bacteria and germs, they realized they could not create a sterile environment in a house and began urging families to go to modern hospitals where they promised the women good treatment, excellent food, pain-free births, and excellent, professional attention from nurses.<ref> Judith Walzer Leavitt,  "'Strange Young Women on Errands': Obstetric Nursing between Two Worlds". ''Nursing History Review'' 1998 6: 3-24. 1062-8061  

Before 1920, many women of all social classes delivered their babies at home. This continued into the 1940s in the rural South, where midwives handled the deliveries. However, as doctors became aware of the problematic spread of bacteria and germs, they realized they could not create a sterile environment in a house and began urging families to go to modern hospitals where they promised the women good treatment, excellent food, pain-free births, and excellent, professional attention from nurses.<ref> Judith Walzer Leavitt,  "'Strange Young Women on Errands': Obstetric Nursing between Two Worlds". ''Nursing History Review'' 1998 6: 3-24. 1062-8061</ref>

The changing ideas about the treatment of children can be explored through the architecture of pediatric hospitals in Montreal and Toronto from 1875 to 2000. Hospital architecture reveals three distinct phases in the structuring of medical care spaces for children as patients. Late-19th- and early-20th-century children's hospitals remained bastions of older spatial attitudes toward health, while the post-World War I hospital was self-consciously modern, with an arrangement more scientific and institutional than its predecessor. Through references to other typologies, the postmodern hospital marks a return to the earlier attitude that children's health is a family affair.<ref> Annmarie Adams and David Theodore, "Designing For 'The Little Convalescents': Children's Hospitals in Toronto and Montreal, 1875-2000." ''Canadian Bulletin of Medical History'' 2002 19(1): 201-243. 0823-2105 </ref>  

The changing ideas about the treatment of children can be explored through the architecture of pediatric hospitals in Montreal and Toronto from 1875 to 2000. Hospital architecture reveals three distinct phases in the structuring of medical care spaces for children as patients. Late-19th- and early-20th-century children's hospitals remained bastions of older spatial attitudes toward health, while the post-World War I hospital was self-consciously modern, with an arrangement more scientific and institutional than its predecessor. Through references to other typologies, the postmodern hospital marks a return to the earlier attitude that children's health is a family affair.<ref> Annmarie Adams and David Theodore, "Designing For 'The Little Convalescents': Children's Hospitals in Toronto and Montreal, 1875-2000." ''Canadian Bulletin of Medical History'' 2002 19(1): 201-243. 0823-2105 </ref>  

==Further reading==

==Further reading==

* Connor, J. T. H. ''Doing Good: The Life of Toronto's General Hospital.'' (2000). 342 pp.

* Connor, J. T. H. ''Doing Good: The Life of Toronto's General Hospital.'' (2000). 342 pp.

* Nelson, Sioban. ''Say Little, Do Much: Nursing, Nuns, and Hospitals in the Nineteenth Century.'' (2001). 240 pp.

* Nelson, Sioban. ''Say Little, Do Much: Nursing, Nuns, and Hospitals in the Nineteenth Century.'' (2001). 240 pp.

* Opdycke, Sandra. ''No One Was Turned Away: The Role of Public

* Opdycke, Sandra. ''No One Was Turned Away: The Role of Public

Hospitals in New York City since 1900.'' (1999). 244 pp.

Hospitals in New York City since 1900.'' (1999). 244 pp.

* Risse, Guenter B. ''Mending Bodies, Saving Souls: A History of

* Risse, Guenter B. ''Mending Bodies, Saving Souls: A History of

Hospitals.'' (1999). 716 pp. standard scholarly history

Hospitals.'' (1999). 716 pp. standard scholarly history