Ptmlic Health and Social Welfare Work
ment of the Sisters, it established a reputation as a medical and surgical center for the entire Panhandle area. In 1902 Father Dunn became the first resident pastor in Amarillo. This brought great comfort and conso- lation to the Sisters. Under his guidance and spiritual ministration the Hospital began to make rapid progress after two years of trials and tribulations. A new, larger, and modernly equipped unit that cost $100,000 was added in 1909. It now was in a position to offer the best, up-to-date facilities in caring for medical, surgical, and obstetrical cases. Complete X-ray and laboratory departments were added and equipped; the oper- ating room had every known appliance for asceptic surgery. In keeping with its growth and development, the St. Anthony's Hos- pital School for Nurses was organized in 1911. Two years later the first class was graduated. It included among its members Sister M. Thaddeus and Sister M. Susanna. The oil boom of the early twenties in North Texas brought an influx of people to Amarillo and the Panhandle. St. Anthony's Hospital needed additional facilities to care efficiently for the sick and the suffering. Most Reverend R. A. Gerken, first Bishop of the recently erected Diocese of Amarillo, broke ground for the Greater St. Anthony Hospital on July 18, 1927. The erection of the diocese was itself an eloquent tribute to the growth and development of the entire Panhandle. With his char- acteristic discernment, Bishop Gerken in his remarks on this occasion pointed out that the history of Amarillo and its progress, prosperity and expansion were intimately related and most adequately reflected in St. Anthony's Hospital. In the spirit of Christ dedicated Sisters had come to the once forlorn and hopeless land to minister to the suffering and the ill regardless of creed or race. Greater St. Anthony rose from the humble ten bed unit to the most modem and best equipped hospital in the entire Panhandle within a quarter of a century. Its complete equipment made it stand foremost among similar institutions of its kind in cities the size of Amarillo, making it one of the finest in the Southwest. It was the first to be recog- nized in West Texas as Class A by the American College of Surgeons. Reverend B. O'Brien, its chaplain, objectively appraised its accomplish- ments, success, and development in these words on the eve of the Texas Centennial: "The city of Amarillo and the Panhandle of Texas, Oklahoma, and New Mexico point with pride to the hospital. It was not erected for
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