The Midwest pioneer, his ills, cures, & doctors - University Library ...

148
Chicago had a number of hospitals and related institutions.
The first hospital arose from the desire of Dr. Nathan
S. Davis for clinical material for his students at Rush
Medical College. Rooms were rented in "The Lake House";
in 1850 the institution became the "Illinois General Hospital
of the Lakes." The next year nursing was placed in
the hands of the Sisters of Mercy, who obtained a charter
for the "Mercy Hospital." When Dr. Davis and his associates
left Rush in 1859, they entered into a contract with
the Sisters to attend patients free of charge in return for
the right to give clinical instruction in the hospital. In
1869 a new building was constructed and Mercy was considered
the "finest hospital west of New York."
The U. S. Marine Hospital No. 5 was established in 1852
on part of the Ft. Dearborn reservation. In 1867 a new
one was constructed midway between Chicago and Evanston.
It was destroyed in the Chicago fire, but was rebuilt
on the same site. It was originally intended for sailors in
the Merchant Marine.
In 1855 a poorhouse was instituted on the Cook County
Farm at Jefferson, about twelve miles from Chicago. The
insane were lodged in a small brick building adjacent to it.
Admirable as was the idea, contemporary descriptions speak
of vermin-infested cells seven by eight feet heated only by
stoves in the corridor, of food passed in through apertures,
and of meager bathing facilities.
The first city hospital was constructed in 1854, especially
for cholera patients. Because of conflict with the
homeopaths the new building was not occupied until 1859.
Rush physicians at that time leased the hospital from the
city and contracted to care for the sick poor at $3 per week
for each patient. In 1862 the United State Government
took it over for military purposes and converted it into
an army hospital, known until 1865 as "Des Marres General
Hospital"; it was used for soldiers suffering from eye and
ear troubles. It became the Cook County Hospital.
The Isolation Hospital of Chicago was established in
1856 as a smallpox hospital for twelve patients in what is