Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1904-11-26
A MODEL !: HOSPITAL
II
Composite Based on Observa-
ton and Experience.
DIR. C0RWIN's PLANS
SEVERAL FEATURES THAT, ARE
ORIGINAL AND UNIQUE.
Institution Maintained by the Colorado
Coal and Fuel Company-Other
Benevolent Undertakings.
DIR. C0RWIN'S PLANS
By VIM. E. CURTIS.

oy w AVA. SCAsA~'
Written for The Evening Star and the Chicago
Record Herald.
The model hospital of the United states,
and I am assured it is not surpassed IN
any other country, may be found at
Pueblo. 1t is the achievement or LIT. n.
w. Corwin, surgeon-in-chief OF the Colo
RADIO Fuel and Iron Company, and he bulit
1t with funds furnished by that corpora
| ton. Before making the plans Dr. Corwin
visited all of the famous hospitals In Eu-
rope and this country having features OF
peculiar interest, some of which he ADOPT
ed and others improved upon. Hence the
Pueblo Hospital is a composite created
from observation as well as experience
but several of the arrangements are en-
tirely original and unique.
The group of buildings is not yet COM
plete. There is charming home and cruz
house for the resident physicians, where
they can find diversion and rest, and 1t is
proposed to build similar home for the
nurses. There is amusement hail.
reading room and library for the conVa-
lescents, and 1t is proposed to supply some
sort of a factory in which they may ma
light employment and do something to sup
port their families before they are able 10
return to their work in the shops or the
mines. A dormitory for convalescents is
also proposed, in which they may live en-
tirely separated from the sick, for Dr. COR
win believes that the association Is often
depressing and retards recovery. Religious
services are now held in the amusement
hail. and he wants a chapel. also head
quarters, office rooms, reference library
and other accommodations for the soclo-
logical department of the company, which
is trying to manufacture useful citizens as
well as iron and steel.
The Company and the Methods.
MI nd
like other corpora lions, was organized to
promote the financial welfare of Its stock
holders, but is endeavoring at the same
time to promote the physical, moral and
mental welfare of it's 1900 employees on
the side. That purpose was Born in the
mind of Mr.. Osgood, former president,
and was developed by him to an extent
that has not been reached by any other
corporation 1 know of. Mr.. Osgood does
not control the company any longer. l be-
leve he is entirely out of 1t, and is living
a life Of quiet enjoyment on his ranch In
the Crystal river valley, where he is en-
titled to the satisfaction of knowing that
the good men do often outlives them.
The methods and policy of the company
are not approved by great many people,
and are severely condemned by the leaders
and advocates of organized labor, who have
several times endeavered to change them
by strikes and other means. 1t provides
not only hospitals, but libraries, reading
manual training teachers, gymnasiums,
Fairgrounds and various other educational
institutions and amusements, at Its mills
and mines; but requires the men to pay
their share of the expense
It mines about 100000 worth of coal
and makes about 100000 worth Of coke.
Its Benevolent Work.
1t was not the policy and methods of the
company, however, or the manufacturing
plant that interested me, but the educa-
tional and benevolent work that is being
done under its auspices. The sanitary and
medical service at its mills and mines Is
performed by forty-two salaried surgeons,
and each employe is taxed 81 a month to
pay part of the expense That entities
him and his family to medical attendance
and all the other privileges offered. Last
year S2,S21 patients were treated, but that
Is only small part of the duty of the sur
geons. No man can obtain work in the
mines or the mills of the company until
he has submitted to a physical examina-
ton. and the labor to which he is assigned
will be such as he is physically fitted to
perform. This is not only humane to the
employe, but is of obvious advantage to
the company.
Triumph Of Medical Science.
AS have told you, the hospital is said to
be the most advanced in the world-a tri-
umph of medical science. 1t was built in
1902 at a cost of $25O,O0O, has a capacity Of
21O patients, and the average under treat
ment last year was 125. 1t is built In the
old Spanish mission style of architecture,
with a steel frame and shell of brick, two
stories high, roofs of red tiles overhanging
caves and other architectural features
adapted to the climate. 1t is absolutely
fireproof, with no wood except what is
necessary for doors and windows; no Turk
ing places for microbes, no cracks, for all
the corners are curved in the walls, floor
and ceiling, which are made of a compo-
sition of cement and sawdust. Each room
is entirely water-tight and fireproof, so that
a fire may be built in the middle of the
floor or hose turned in at door or win
dow without anybody outside Of the room
knowing anything about It, All the furnt-
ture is of iron, brass and glass; there are
no stairs or elevators. The upper story is
reached by gentle inclined planes, so that
convalescent can climb them without
fatigue or an invalid can be carried up in
a rolling chair There are no bathtubs,
which DR. Corwin considers barbaric Over
head and side showers are used instead.
A patient can be given bath in his chair,
sitting or lying on cot
There are no large dormitories. The pa
tients are separated in small rooms, ac-
cording to their condition. No room has
more than four beds; most of them have
tient is not disturbed by another. All of
the ventilation is artificial; the air is
changed every three minutes, being thor
oughly filtered and sterilized and Of any
light in any of the rooms: no sunshine or
shadows. If patient needs sun bath
his cot or chair is wheeled into wide
corridor rooted ana walled with glass.
Partitions between. rooms are all sound
proof. Each room sis hung with attractive
ornaments, whichsare changed every few
days, so that the patients have something
new to the eye. and any experienced nurse
will tell you how Important that is.
The diet kitchen and the laundry are said
to be perfect, and the suite Of operating
rooms is unique. There is one for anaes-
thetizing the patient another for keeping
the instruments another for cleaning them,
another for the use Of the patient after the
operation, and bath room, where the sur
geon may go as soon as the operation is
performed. All are lined and f1oored with
lead half an inch thick, which is considered
preferable to marbles Everything else is
glass and porcelain, and all the light comes
DR.. Corwin, thes surgeon in chief was
born at Binghamton,i educated at Cornell
and Michigan universities, and spent two
years In ST. Luke's Hospital in Chicago.
He has half a dozen assistants, group of