A Century of Caring: The Health Sciences at the University of Iowa, 1850-1950: University Hospitals
Introduction
| The first fully autonomous University Hospital opened in 1898 in the building now called Seashore Hall. Patients and medical students in the 65-bed hospital were expected to conform to Victorian rules of conduct-no gossiping or leaving wards without permission-and it was common practice to turn away patients with "offensive" diseases like syphilis. However, the building's "H" shape, which kept patients segregated in separate wings, was evidence that modern ideas about disease transmission were beginning to inform medical science in Iowa. |
20. University Hospitals, 1920, courtesy of the University of Iowa Archives |
An extensive review of North American hospitals in 1909, including Iowa City's University Hospital, disclosed many deficiencies including barely adequate laboratory and clinical instruction, low admissions standards and lack of full-time faculty. In response to the criticisms, University and community leaders launched an improvement campaign. Indigent care laws passed in 1915 and 1919 increased the flow of patients to Iowa City, and in 1919 a Children's Hospital opened on the west side of the river. This building was the first in a new west-side medical complex, and its opening was marked by an official name change from "University Hospital" to "University Hospitals."
A 60-bed Psychopathic Hospital was added in 1921 and, with matching funds from the Rockefeller Foundation, a new, modern General Hospital was opened in 1928. Indigent admissions to the new building climbed to such dramatic levels in the 1930s that only emergency cases could be admitted. The Hospitals solved this problem with a quota plan that admitted a certain number of people per county and referred the rest to local hospitals. |
The rise of antibiotics and public health programs in the 1940s caused a shift in University Hospitals' caseload, from victims of infectious disease to chronic illness cases. As the Hospitals entered their second half-century, a trend towards older patients with lingering, difficult-to-treat illnesses emerged. |
21. Polio patients at University Hospital, c. 1950, courtesy of the University of Iowa Photographic Service |
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