St. Paul daily globe. [volume] (Saint Paul, Minn.) 1884-1896, 1896-04-05
THE GLORIOUS HOSPITAL WHICH
THE SISTERS OF ST. JOSEPH,S
HAVE FINISHED.
1T WILL BE OPEN THURSDAY.
FERING HUMANITY AND A SAN
ITARY TRIUMPH.
The Sisters Now Have, Perhaps, the
Finest Hospital in the North
western Region.

The commodious new hospital building of
the sisters of St. Joseph will be opened Thurs
day and Friday afternoon with public recep-
TONS 1t is without doubt the best
equipped institution of its kind in the North
west.
The hospital was founded by the sisters in
1854 in small stone building to which
number of additions have since been made.
The original building has finally been torn
down to make room for the modern triumph.
When one enters the new building there is
no room TO regret that the old one is gone,
only admiration for the beauty of the new
for here utility and convenience have been
brought to such perfection that it is in truth
beauty.
The new building, which is now the main
| building, like the old one connects the two
wings, but there the similarity ends. Now
the floor levels are the same and you find
yourself going from one building into another
only conscious of the change by the furnish
1ngs. This uniform floor level has the ad
vantage that now patients may be brought
up in the elevator in the new building and
rolled to any room desired. The elevator
itself is automatically closed, so that it can
only be opened from the inside, obviating
every possibility of accident.
The little vestibule of the main entrance
opens into a wide, short hall. On the left,
opening from the hall through a wide arch Is
the Office, fitted with a neat counter sur
mounted by brass railing, bank fashion, be-
hind which the sister, who is the accountant
and fnancier Of the hospital, will preside. A
corresponding arch on the right opens into the
sisters reception rooms
The short entrance hall is crossed by long
and wide hall, dividing the entire length of
the building. which is 147 feet. The width
being only 81 feet gives it maximum expo
sure to the sunlight, most desirable thing in
hospital. dark corner is an impossibility.
The halls of the main floor are tiled in soft
red and cream and the tint of the walls is
blending of the two tints so that the effect
OF light and airiness is emphasized without
the glare of dead white. The furnishings are
hardwood throughout the building, and by
the way, the finishing are the only wood in
the building, which is built fireproof through
out, the floors and partitions being of fire.
brick, and the staircases and supports of iron.
The staircases are all overlaid with rubber
deadening every football
On the main floor, which will naturally be
the executive center of the building are also
the drug room, a number of closets, and a
large storage room fitted with an immense
refrigerator.
there are a. few private rooms, some with
private bathrooms, and large general bath
and toilet room. The plumbing is all skeleton,
after the latest hygienic principles, and it is
noticeable that there is not an angle in the
building, to lodge dirt and germs or worry
the cleaner. The marble floors of the bath
rooms, the sterilizng and the operating rooms,
all have convex Jennings to the marble wains-
ceilings, while hardwood base boards are
joined to the floors with convex strip. And
so all through the building the Jennings
convex, or concave, as is best, but never an
angle
On the basement floor are the dining room
for the lay nurses and that for the sisters,
also a large, padded room for dangerous
patients. The kitchen is removed from the
nursing departments of the buildings, and,
possible, an entirely separate building
will be constructed for cooking purposes.
In the basement proper are the furnace, and
the large ventilating fans, which force con-
tjnual even current of pure air to every part
OF the building. The second floor is dupli-
cate of the main floor in construction, with
the difference that the space taken up by the
entrance hall below is here an open and sunny
longing room, with beautiful tiled fireplace,
designed for the convalescents.
The third floor is the most interesting of the
entire building. On this floor is the operating
room, which is as perfect as the latest inven-
tions can make it. The floor wainscoting and
bowls are all white marble, giving it a pleas
ing sense of immaculate cleanliness The
students auditorium is on the inner SIDE
where the polished hard wood seats rise in six
rows, giving perfect view of every part of
the room below. This room will also prob
ably be used for the nurses lectures.
Next is the sterilizing room, also in white
marble. and a second operating room is espe-
cially designed for laparotomy, abdominal
operations.
AS in the other operating room, the floor
wainscoting and fixtures are in white mar
bic. The distinguishing feature is it's light
ing. In addition to the windows there is
skylight, that there is not the fantest
shadow in the room. Not only is this true in