Difference between revisions of "Portal:Featured Article Of The Week"

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|Title= Norwich State Hospital
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|Title= Battle Mountain Sanitarium
|Image= Nsh.jpg
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|Image= BATTLE MOUNTAIN SANITARIUM South Dakota 4.jpg
 
|Width= 150px
 
|Width= 150px
|Body= Experts in the psychological field would never have predicted we would medicate people rather than have them in controlled environments. The Norwich State Hospital opened its doors in 1904 to the insane with ninety-five patients in one building on over 100 acres.
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|Body= Battle Mountain Sanitarium (now part of the Veterans Affairs Black Hills Health Care System) was part of the National Home for Disabled Volunteer Soldiers, which provided care for Union veterans after the Civil War. It was the first and only National Home for Disabled Volunteer Soldiers built solely as a short-term sanitarium for veterans with lung or respiratory problems, not as a long-term home. Unlike the other National Home branches, veterans went to Battle Mountain Sanitarium for brief intensive treatment. Upon completion of their treatment, they were transferred to another National Home branch. Battle Mountain Sanitarium opened in 1907, offering veterans a complete array of services including plunge baths and an amusement hall. Located in the town of Hot Springs, South Dakota, the Sanitarium, made from local pink sandstone, rises above the town on a bluff to the northeast of the resort section of the town at an elevation of 3400 feet. A majority of the buildings predate 1930, and many of them are still used for their original purposes. The curving road system that winds through the facility is also original. The National Cemetery is located in the eastern section of the campus.
  
One of the hospital’s first superintendents believed that mechanical restraint of patients was preferable to medication and believed in hydrotherapy as a treatment measure. The Board of the hospital quickly realized the population was exceeding what was safe. In 1905, two patient buildings were built with a third opening in 1907.
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Founded in the 1880s as a warm water mineral springs health resort, the town of Hot Springs became a popular destination for regional health seekers by 1900. Tourists enjoyed the benefits of the waters and the mountain scenery. The local effort to build a National Home branch began in the 1890s. The possibility became likely after an inspector for the National Home for Disabled Volunteer Soldiers inspected a State Soldier’s Home in the area and stated that he was impressed with the therapeutic qualities of the water. After this, 30 veterans from the Western Branch went to the State facility, and the treatments improved their health. In 1898, the Grand Army of the Republic formed a committee to convince Congress to locate a National Home branch in Hot Springs. In 1902, Congress passed legislation authorizing the new facility; the bill allocated $150,000 for the construction of buildings and $20,000 for equipment. Battle Mountain Sanitarium opened in 1907 for its first patient, Charles Wilbert, from the Marion Branch. [[Battle Mountain Sanitarium|Click here for more...]]
 
 
Thirteen buildings were erected for patients during the next eight years and in 1913 with a population of 998, an administration building, three cottages for physicians, a carpenter and maintenance shop, a main kitchen, garage, laboratory, staff house, and an employees’ club house had been erected and the inebriate farm and the Colony had been established.
 
 
 
Seven new buildings were built between 1920 and 1930 and another building was purchased for patients’ use. In 1929, the hospital peaked with 1,115 patients while in 1930 the average daily census reached 2,422. At this point, in addition to new patient facilities, two more cottages were erected for physicians, a female employees’ home, a paint shop, a greenhouse, a superintendent’s residence, and two garages were built.
 
 
 
Tubercular patients were housed between 1931 and 1939 in one patient building called Seymour which led to the closure of the “Pines” buildings. Two more cottages for physicians, male employees’ home, and a nurse’s home were also built. World War II had impact on the staff at Norwich State Hospital with the nursing staff being reduced by more than 57 percent, a loss of 30 nurses, and 146 aides. Nursing employees for the first time only made up 44 percent of the total staff. [[Norwich State Hospital|Click here for more...]]
 
 
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Revision as of 04:30, 13 February 2012

Featured Article Of The Week

Battle Mountain Sanitarium


BATTLE MOUNTAIN SANITARIUM South Dakota 4.jpg

Battle Mountain Sanitarium (now part of the Veterans Affairs Black Hills Health Care System) was part of the National Home for Disabled Volunteer Soldiers, which provided care for Union veterans after the Civil War. It was the first and only National Home for Disabled Volunteer Soldiers built solely as a short-term sanitarium for veterans with lung or respiratory problems, not as a long-term home. Unlike the other National Home branches, veterans went to Battle Mountain Sanitarium for brief intensive treatment. Upon completion of their treatment, they were transferred to another National Home branch. Battle Mountain Sanitarium opened in 1907, offering veterans a complete array of services including plunge baths and an amusement hall. Located in the town of Hot Springs, South Dakota, the Sanitarium, made from local pink sandstone, rises above the town on a bluff to the northeast of the resort section of the town at an elevation of 3400 feet. A majority of the buildings predate 1930, and many of them are still used for their original purposes. The curving road system that winds through the facility is also original. The National Cemetery is located in the eastern section of the campus.

Founded in the 1880s as a warm water mineral springs health resort, the town of Hot Springs became a popular destination for regional health seekers by 1900. Tourists enjoyed the benefits of the waters and the mountain scenery. The local effort to build a National Home branch began in the 1890s. The possibility became likely after an inspector for the National Home for Disabled Volunteer Soldiers inspected a State Soldier’s Home in the area and stated that he was impressed with the therapeutic qualities of the water. After this, 30 veterans from the Western Branch went to the State facility, and the treatments improved their health. In 1898, the Grand Army of the Republic formed a committee to convince Congress to locate a National Home branch in Hot Springs. In 1902, Congress passed legislation authorizing the new facility; the bill allocated $150,000 for the construction of buildings and $20,000 for equipment. Battle Mountain Sanitarium opened in 1907 for its first patient, Charles Wilbert, from the Marion Branch. Click here for more...