TAMC celebrates
centennial anniversary in Star City
PRESQUE ISLE — In 1912, a stamp cost two cents. The “unsinkable” Titanic hit an iceberg and sunk. And on April 8, Presque Isle’s first hospital opened.
In the late 1800s and early 1900s, Presque Isle had two private hospitals in residents’ homes. The Connick Hospital on Dudley Street was operated by Mrs. Milton Connick, a nurse, while the St. Margaret’s Hospital on Third Street was run by Mrs. Charlotte Scott Fitzgerald. It had a four-bed male ward and a four-bed female ward.
Photo courtesy of The Aroostook Medical Center
PRESQUE ISLE’S first hospital, located on Second Street next to what is now City Hall, opened April 8, 1912. During its first year of operation, the hospital served 359 patients.
Medical care in those days was limited. Operations were performed on kitchen tables and babies were born at home. The flammable anesthetic ether was routinely used during surgery, which sometimes led to dangerous situations when doctors worked near lamps with open flames.
Presque Isle was a growing community in the early 1900s. By 1908, the community identified a need for a larger, centrally located hospital. Attorney Frank White began raising money for the cause in 1908. He visited outlying farms and surrounding towns by horse and wagon, collecting donations large and small. Progress was slow.
In 1909, the son of local farmer Charles Hussey became sick with an ear infection. After seeing several doctors and undergoing two operations, Hussey’s son was still sick. In July, two doctors from Portland arrived to examine the 6-year old boy. The doctors made a diagnosis of lateral sinus infection, which can be cured by antibiotics today, but was nearly always fatal in the early 1900s.
Surgery was performed on the kitchen table, and the child survived. As a result of his son’s health care problems, Hussey became passionate about raising money for the new hospital. Hussey joined White in making the case for the hospital in the community, and after much difficulty, $2,500 was raised.
Photo courtesy of The Aroostook Medical Center
THE A.R. GOULD MEDICAL STAFF in the 1950s included, from left, front row: Harry M. Helfrich, Thomas V. Brennan, Storer W. Boone, Raymond G. Giberson and Robert Wilson. Back row: Eugene B. Griffiths, Robert B. Somerville, Arthur P. Reynolds, Gerald H. Donahue and George F. Higgins.
Presque Isle’s first public hospital was built on Second Street. The sunny building had a seven-bed ward, operating room, and a nursing residence. The community supported the hospital by donating money, furniture, toys, potatoes, jam and bread. The first patient was 27-year-old Norman Miller. He was admitted by Dr. Fred Bennett on April 30 with a diagnosis of typhoid fever, and he was discharged on May 21 as cured.
The hospital’s operating expenses for the first year were $291.81, but the income was only $238.65. Doctors treated 359 patients. Although the small hospital soon outgrew its space, it set the foundation for organized health care in Presque Isle.
Just a few years later, in response to a growing need for health care services, local leaders again turned to the community for support. In 1919, a 50-bed hospital was built next to the first hospital on Second Street at a cost of $40,000. The building is now City Hall. The new hospital was technologically advanced, featuring a full operating room and a patient call system.
In the 1930s and ‘40s, the hospital added a dietitian, night nursing supervisor, and X-ray and lab technicians. The first tumor clinic and children’s health care clinic were added in 1947.
By 1952, the hospital was overcrowded. The hospital’s board of trustees attempted to secure federal funding to expand the hospital, and after failing, they recommended that the community build a new hospital. Building on a new site had an added advantage: hospital patients would no longer be bothered by the piercing sound of the fire whistle that came from the fire station right next door.
Photo courtesy of The Aroostook Medical Center
GATHERED IN THIS 1923 PHOTO are physicians, nursing supervisors, and student nurses at Presque Isle General Hospital. Physicians were Drs. Dobson, Kilburn and Graves. Registered nurses were Marian Hanson and Margaret Cowan, at left, and Corabelle Jewett, right. Student nurses included Lillian McManus, Dorothy Riley, Ruby Kelley, Carrie Campbell, Mary Haley, Astrid Lund, Ruth Soderstrom, Sarah Butler, Freda Johnson, and Verna Jardine.
Due to the generous support of Sen. Arthur Gould’s family and many other donors, A.R. Gould Memorial Hospital opened Feb. 16, 1960 on farmland owned by the Deeves family on Academy Street. In 1962, the hospital became the first in the state to have an advanced type of cobalt therapy machine for cancer treatment. Expansion in the 1960s and ‘70s brought new capabilities in the areas of cancer care and cardiology.
In 1981, Aroostook Health Center in Mars Hill and A.R. Gould Memorial Hospital combined to form The Aroostook Medical Center (TAMC). Community General Hospital joined TAMC in 1982.
With strong support from the community, TAMC has continued to grow over the past three decades. TAMC’s role as a regional provider of health care services has grown with the addition of hemodialysis, sleep medicine, cardiac catheterization, and other services. TAMC joined Eastern Maine Healthcare Systems (EMHS) in 1999, which brought the strength of Maine’s second-largest health care system to Aroostook County.
Health care has certainly changed since 1912, but one thing remains the same: the best local health care is provided when medical professionals and the community work together as partners. TAMC will celebrate 100 years of health care in Presque Isle in 2012 by remembering the rich history of local health care and telling the stories of the people and events that shaped medicine in Aroostook County.
For a complete list of events planned for the year, visit www.tamc.org.
