Public Hcalt/1 and Social Welfare Work
Until 1910 the hospital had no modem equipment for sterilizing instru- ments, towels, and things other than the time-honored method of boiling. The rambling nature of the buildings added to the difficulties for more efficient service, yet in spite of all, the hospital was steadily improved and the Sisters were able to carry on so well that in 1923 it was approved by the American College of Surgeons and in 1925 it was admitted to membership in the Catholic Hospital Association. Three years later, on August 2, 1928, the Sisters, staff, and patients moved at long last into the new, modern, and up-to-date building, complete in every detail and entirely free of debt. The Sisters were no more proud of the accomplish- ment than the officers and employees of the Texas and Pacific and their Hospital Association. It marked a new era in the facilities that now could be offered to the sick and the realization of a long dream towards which the Sisters had worked without once faltering in their faith that the Lord would bless their work. 0 Spohn Hospital, Corptes C leristi, I905. There was great need for a general hospital in the old town of Corpus Christi, destined to become within a few years the seat of a diocese. Public spirited citizens and generous persons banded themselves together irrespective of creed to raise the means for the erection of a hospital. Doctor Spohn, a great disciple of medicine, encouraged the move by donating a beautiful location on North Beach on which the hospital was constructed early in 1905. It was intended for the service of the community and its success depended on its proper administration. Dr. Spohn was empowered to make his own selection and he offered it to Most Reverend Peter Verdaguer, Vicar Apostolic of Brownsville, who accepted the gracious gift which gave him the opportunity to do so much good, and immediately invited the Sisters of Charity of the Incarnate Word of San Antonio to assume control. Two conditions were imposed: that the building be always used as a hospital and that it bear the name of Doctor Spohn in grateful memory of his great love for the sick and the suffering. The Sisters glady agreed to the simple terms and took formal possession on July 26, 1905, when the hospital, then called Spohn Sanatorium, was blessed by Bishop Verdaguer and opened to the public. The Sisters amply fulfilled from the beginning the promise of mercy and loving care to ailing humanity. Physicians and citizens combined to make the hospital
' 2 1 bid., 70-7 3.
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