![]() On June 6, 1908, the neighboring Prest-O-Lite Factory had a massive explosion, the third and most powerful of the year. The wisdom of their choice was quickly confirmed. In early 1908, the Sisters were granted approval to purchase land on which to build a new hospital. Unfortunately, this was also where many of the railroads were located, thus preventing a “peaceful” convalescence. In 1889, the hospital moved to an industrial area in downtown Indianapolis. “In addition to tending their patients, they scrubbed floors, repaired mattresses, made linens, milked cows, churned butter, gathered eggs, gardened, cooked, shopped, and raised money.” 6 Many of the skills taught reflected the times. Marsee was hired as the first house physician at $25 per month.” 5 In 1896 the hospital opened the St. Surgery was done at the bedside or on tables behind partitions.” 4 By 1885 “the number of infirmary beds was fifty, and Dr. “The original infirmary had no operating room. In 1884, their facility was legally incorporated as St. Their mission was “to serve those who are poor and vulnerable.” 3 Neither the patients’ religious affiliation nor their lack of income would play a role in their care. Amidst the protests of many residents who feared that a hospital would breed disease, the Sisters quickly transformed the seminary into an infirmary. In addition to their $34.77 stake in the project, the Daughters of Charity supplied the first nursing staff consisting of “… Sisters Mary Theresa O’Connor, Oswald Spaulding, Albertine Ott and Magdalen Kelleher.” 2 By the time the Sisters arrived in Indianapolis, Chatard was caring for patients in an empty seminary building near St. Chartard contributed $50 towards creating an infirmary. He requested the assistance of the Daughters of Charity, who had a relationship with Chatard’s alma mater. ![]() Indianapolis’s only hospital had opened in 1866 and could not meet the needs of the growing population, many of whose members could not afford medical care.Ĭhatard’s vision was to treat the spiritual as well as the physical needs of the community. There Chatard saw a population desperately in need of medical care. In 1878 he was appointed Bishop of the Diocese of Vincennes, but insisted on living in Indianapolis. Mary’s College with a doctorate in medicine, but in 1862 answered a stronger call, the priesthood. Chatard had been born in 1834 in Baltimore and his initial calling was medicine. What in the United States could be purchased with $87.44 in 1881? In that year Bishop Francis Silas Marean Chatard and four Daughters of Charity 1 took that sum and funded the first Catholic hospital in Indianapolis.
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