CommunityNews
“Springfield’s new Mercy Hospital, now in full operation, is a stately, monumental expression of the dedication of the Sisters of Mercy and the medical profession to the cause of alleviating human illness and suffering.”
— Special newspaper section of May 28, 1950
SPRINGFIELD — The opening of the new Mercy Hospital on Fountain Boulevard in the city’s Ridgewood area coincided with the opening of the second half of the 20th century.
And in a special newspaper section on May 28, 1950, Sister Mary Cecilia Barnett, the supervisor of the new facility, touched on the facility’s location, both in place and time.
“During the 50 years that have just passed into eternity,” she wrote, “the Knights of Pythias Orphanage stood as a symbol of security and hope to many parents. Those buildings, which manifest the love and foresight which provided their beautiful surroundings and spacious construction, still afford a haven of rest for aging persons and others in need of a home.
“With the dawn of this coming half century on this hallowed spot,” she continued, “Mercy Hospital appears as a glorious beacon of light to the citizens of Springfield and Clark County” — a place she said would be dedicated to “excellent service for the love of God and mankind.”
For decades known as Mercy Medical Center and more recently as Springfield Regional Medical Center Fountain Boulevard Campus, the 60-year history of the building as a hospital will end March 29 when emergency room services are consolidated at the medical center’s High Street Campus.
The former Community Hospital will operate until the Regional Medical Center opens in 2012.
The baby boom
A brief history of Mercy assembled at its golden anniversary in 2000 said its construction “culminated several years of work, interrupted by World War II, to meet the growing Springfield and Clark County population’s need for additional hospital services.
“Multiple factors contributed to the need for a new hospital: a quickly growing area population that topped 135,000, heightened public awareness of the value of hospital care in treating illness and injury, and scientific advances that made a wider range of medical care possible,” the history said.
The tone of the campaign material has a more urgent tone.
Under the subheading “facts we must face — now,” a brochure said: “Today, the hospital facilities of Clark County are 40 percent below the recognized national standard. This situation endangers the lives of our citizens.
“Mercy Hospital,” it concluded, “is projected as a vital, urgent necessity to augment present inadequate hospital service.”
Noting that Clark County’s ratio of beds per thousand population stood at 2.8, well below the national standard of 4.5, the booklet said the hospital was to be built on “the spacious, quiet and inspiring site of the former Knights of Pythias Orphanage.
“In this first post-war countywide building effort, we must all unite,” it added, “for all thinking citizens agree that the hospital situation in Clark County now approaches a crisis.”
The campaign slogan was: Mercy Hospital — Vital and urgent, let’s give enough to build it right.
The campaign brochure carried a letter of endorsement from two key figures: the president of the board and executive director of what was then called Springfield City Hospital.
Sister acts
The Sisters of Mercy had had a presence in Springfield since 1923, when they came to serve St. Mary’s Parish and school on the city’s west side.
In 1944, they bought the ornate buildings of the former Knights of Pythias home and in 1945 reopened some of the facilities as Mercycrest, a home for the elderly.
The hospital fundraising campaign headed by prominent Springfield Catholic Joseph C. Shouvlin set a minimum goal of $1 million, for which the Sisters of Mercy, who operated 92 hospitals and sanitariums, estimated the community could build a 200-bed general hospital.
Those interested in making memorial donations could have their names or the names of loved ones attached to the maternity floor for a donation of $200,000; to the surgical department for a donation of $100,000; to an elevator of the snack shop and lounge for $20,000; or to the children’s formula room for $10,000.
The campaign was going when ground was broken in April 1947 and generated $1.7 million, including 700 pennies from children who raised their money during a neighborhood festival.
The cornerstone was laid on June 6, 1948 — four years to the day after the Allied forces had landed on the beaches of Normandy.
Costing a total of $6 million, the hospital ultimately had 319 beds and 60 bassinets and was visited by 25,000 people during community open houses.
Why the Ys?
A brief piece on the top of the special section of May 28, 1950, said “the simplicity and harmony of its modern architecture aptly represent contemporary progress in medical science.”
In a separate piece in the section, John L. Cashin, public relations director for the hospital, highlighted the more practical aspects of the structure:
• The building is constructed in the shape of a double Y, affording all patients’ rooms an outside exposure.
• It is of steel and concrete construction, making it as fireproof as possible.
• Acoustical ceilings and rubber tile floors in a patient areas lessen noises.
• Piped oxygen eliminates the wheeling of cylinders to the patients’ rooms, making it readily available for instant use.
• Air conditioning and ultraviolet ray lights in the surgery suite, labor and delivery suites, nursery and allergy rooms allow even temperature and maintain these areas free from bacteria.
Something about Marys
Aside from information about the bricks and mortar of the hospital, the special section offered a glimpse at its administration and staff, most of whom wore habits.
In what today seems almost comic, a photo on the front page of the section carries the images of 16 sisters on the Mercy staff — all named Sister Mary.
Sister Mary Matilda, was assistant office manager; Sister Mary Gregory, the new administrator of Mercycrest; Sister Mary Vianni, a nurse; Sister Mary Amabilis, a laboratory technician; Sister Mary Leah, a dietitian; Sister Mary Angeline, medical supervisor; Sister Mary Cyprian, a night supervisor; Sister Mary Bernita, the business manager; Sister Mary Cecilia, the administrator; Sister Mary Camille, director of nursing service; Sister Mary Olivian, obstetrical supervisor; Sister Mary Pierre, surgical supervisor; Sister Mary Valeria, psychiatric supervisor; Sister Mary La Salete, central service supervisor; Sister Mary Ann, assistant dietitian; and Sister Mary Florentius, building construction bookkeeper.
Appropriately enough, all these Marys had praised heaped on them by a Joseph — Joseph Shouvlin.
“Springfield and Clark County owe a deep debt of gratitude to the Sisters of Mercy for the undertaking of this great humanitarian project,” Shouvlin said. “We must remember that the Sisters of Mercy have had the vision to plan, the courage to undertake and the devotion to complete Mercy Hospital. We citizens can do no less than aid the sisters with our financial support.”
Other faces around the hospital showed up in photos through the section: Chef Fred Beloat stood in the kitchen; head nurse Emily Brindle fluffed a pillow on a labor room bed; nurse Catherine Hanagan prepared baby formula; and nurse Constance Halloran Murphy was on duty in the delivery room.
Connie Murphy, as many knew her, was involved in Mercy’s practical nurse education program, forerunner of the Clark Technical College and later Clark State Community College School of Nursing, which she led.
In the first 10 years of operations, Mercy graduated 300 nurses from the program.
A poetic touch
The special Mercy newspaper section had one other notable touch in an article written by Cecilia Healy, parliamentarian of the Mercy Hospital Women’s Auxiliary.
“There’s nothing new about women organizing,” she wrote. “But the mushroom growth and activity of the Mercy Hospital Women’s Auxiliary proves that when a handful of women with an idea get together, things are bound to happen.”
Healy’s enthusiasm is reflective of the attitude of so many women who, over the years, were part of the hospital’s auxiliaries.
And Healy shows a touch of cleverness as well.
Alluding to William Shakespeare’s line about the quality of mercy with a small “m” being twice blessed, she called the effort of the Mercy auxiliary “thrice blessed ... service to the hospital, to the community and to each other,” something she said “is bound to be felt in Springfield in the years ahead.”
As it turned out, it would be 60 years.
Contact this reporter at (937) 328-0368 or tstafford@coxohio.com.
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