page_title: Donald Guthrie (physician)
section_title: Building a group practice
hierarchical_section_title: Donald Guthrie (physician) / Building a group practice
caption_attribution_description: English: Located in Howard Elmer Park in Sayre.
context_page_description: Donald Guthrie was an American surgeon, best known for establishing Guthrie Clinic in Sayre, Pennsylvania in 1910. One of nation's earliest multi-specialty group medical practices, Guthrie based the formation of the clinic that bears his name on the principles he learned while a surgical resident at Mayo Clinic, Rochester, Minnesota.
context_section_description: One of Guthrie's first acts at the small hospital was to appoint an associate and an x-ray technician, to join an intern already on staff. He established the Ear, Eye Nose and Throat department in 1912, followed in 1913 by the Pathological department, and later the Urological and Medical departments. For the first few years Guthrie was also responsible for all of the non-medical activities of the hospital, including collecting money, paying wages, and ordering food. In 1912 Howard E. Bishop was appointed as hospital Superintendent, relieving Guthrie of those duties.
  In Guthrie's report to the hospital Board of Directors in 1912, he stated, "The board has been wise to increase the size of the staff, I hope in the future, and I am confident that it will be but a short time, before we will be prepared to give the patient the benefit of a grouped diagnosis. The sciences of medicine and surgery are far too broad for any one man to master." The number of private rooms grew when an annex was added to the hospital in 1914, and in 1915 a new operating pavilion, children's ward and additional private rooms were added.
  Guthrie's efforts to build a group practice associated with a well-regarded hospital continued to be successful, even through difficult and stressful times. During World War I, Guthrie had been given a commission in Base Hospital No. 26 - the Mayo Unit - but the Robert Packer Hospital Board of Trustees asked he be deferred so he could stay to treat patients at their facility. Five other physicians and many nurses did go abroad.
  As WW I was ending, Sayre, like many other communities across the country, was impacted by the 1918 flu pandemic. Despite the fact that a number of physicians and nurses were ill, the staff carried on admirably. According to the 1919 Hospital Annual Report, "During the 1918 epidemic of influenza, the Hospital did splendid work caring for over 300 cases of the disease."
  The hospital also suffered a devastating fire in 1933, which destroyed an entire wing. No lives were lost and the hospital continued to function, caring for all its displaced patients. The hospital Board of Trustees met the following day and voted to start construction of a new facility. The new seven-story building opened the next year.
  None of these obstacles stood in the way of Guthrie's plans to provide the medical care to the people of the region. By the mid-1920s patient demand and numbers of staff had grown to the point that current facilities were inadequate. As the hospital grew, Guthrie also led numerous efforts to develop the facilities he felt his staff required to provide the best patient care, including a new nurses' residence, built in 1926. In 1928 the hospital constructed a physician office building for the growing staff, and named it Guthrie Clinic in honor of Guthrie. The following decades saw continued growth as the reputations of Guthrie, his staff and the hospital gained regional and national attention.
  By the time of his death in 1958, Guthrie's accomplishments were extensive. The small hospital in a small rural town had been transformed into a medical campus with a growing multi-specialty group practice of 42 physicians and surgeons, 26 residents and fellows, a research foundation, and a hospital of 340 beds with internship and residency programs.
  In recognition of his contributions to the health and well-being of those he served, Guthrie was honored by the Sayre Borough Council when it named the four streets surrounding Howard Elmer Park "Guthrie Square," referring to Guthrie as Sayre's "first citizen."
caption: Guthrie was honored by the Sayre Borough Council. Plaque located at Howard Elmer Park in Sayre.