A Century of Caring: The Health Sciences at the University of Iowa, 1850-1950: University Hospitals
Children's Hospital
On passing through the wards of the orthopedic department there may be seen dwarfs and children with curvature of the spine, paralyzed legs and arms, club feet, bow legs and various bone diseases... In spite of their maladies, they raise bright eyes to all who pass by, smile happily when a doctor or nurse stops to talk to them, and the tiniest ones seize the fingers which pat them on the head and cling to them gleefully.
- from, "A Journey Through the State University of Iowa Hospitals," circa 1944
The Childrens' Hospital was built for young patients with paralysis and scoliosis, and other children who were sent to Iowa City under the Perkins Law. Any child whose condition could be improved was eligible, although a waiting list was established soon after the 1919 opening. By the time the adjoining General Hospital opened in 1928, additional wings had been added, bringing the Childrens' Hospital's capacity to 250. |
The brick building's designers eliminated the safety hazards of steps and elevators by housing all the patients in wards on the first floor. Each room adjoined a set of French doors and a concrete patio, and on sunny days the patients' beds were wheeled outside in accordance with a Swiss theory about the healing power of sunshine. |
41. Orthopedic gym, Children's Hospital, 1919, courtesy of the University of Iowa Archives |
The in-house operating rooms, brace shop, and swimming pool allowed the Children's Hospital staff to provide most necessary services under one roof. At least five different diets were prepared daily, and an in-house pasteurizer was used to prepare "every possible modification of milk." Patients were entertained in the wards by storybooks, singing canaries, and weekly "moving picture" shows of animated cartoons. Outdoors, there were swingsets, croquet and the occasional special treats like touring circus troupes and Fourth of July fireworks shows. |
42. Milk lab and formula room, c. 1919, courtesy of the
University of Iowa Archives |
43. Ward room in the Children's Hospital, c. 1921, courtesy of the University of Iowa Archives |
44. John Bixler in a music therapy class, Hospital School, c. 1955, courtesy of the University of Iowa Archives |
|
