Fromthe1975ArticleintheMenaulHistoricalReview 1

AnHistoryofEmbudoHospitalbyJudithR.Johnson(JudithR.JohnsonisagraduatestudentinhistoryattheUniversityofNewMexico,Albuquerque.)

EmbudoHospitalbeganasasmallclinic in1915.Womenofthe Brooklyn‐Nassau Presbyterial Society responded to the callformedicalservicesinnorthernNewMexicoanddonated$2000to help build a hospital. This effort marked the beginning of alongmedicalmissionaryservice toresidents inan isolatedareathat was far removed from physicians or other public healthfacilities.

Presbyterian missionaries had been active in New Mexicosince 1849 when Reverend William J. Kephart established thefirst Protestant church in the territory. Other ministersorganized missions in the small communities located near theSantaFeTrail,and in1887Rev.S.W.CurtisbeganamissionaryserviceinthevilageofEmbudo.Theresidentsofthecommunitywelcomed this endeavor and responded enthusiastically whenthePresbyterianBoardofHomeMissionsopeneda school thatsameyear.

At first, missionaries devoted their time to meeting thereligiousandeducationalneedsofthevillagers.However,itsoonbecame apparent to the early workers that medical serviceswerealsoneeded.Missionaryteachershadattemptedtoprovidebasichealthcare,buttheseworkershadnospecialtrainingandlacked proper equipment. The scarcity of doctors and the highincidence of disease prompted the Home Mission Board torecruitnursesanddoctors.

Oneof the firstmedicalmissionaries,MissMaryMacKensie,arrived at the small town of Dixon in northern NewMexico inNovember 1914. This nurse supervised the construction of the

BrooklynCottageHospital (namedafter thechurchwheremostofthefundsforconstructionhadbeendonated)whichopenedin1915 as a two bed facility with a well‐equipped dispensary.Residents of the community donated land near a dependablewatersupplyandprovidedadobebricksusedintheconstructionof this facility.After thecompletionof thisbuilding theMissionBoardsentasecondnursetoassistMissMacKensie.

The early medical missionaries found that many people intheareasufferedfromtuberculosis,malaria,andotherparasiticdiseases. Periodic epidemics of typhoid fever, small pox, anddiptheriaadded to thehighdeathrate.Poverty,poordiets, andlocal superstitions in dealing with disease contributed to thelargenumberofdeaths.Thenurses focused theireffortson thecontrol of contagious disease, assisted at childbirths, and heldpublichealthclassestoteachimprovedsanitation.

TheoriginalBrooklynCottageHospital.

Fromthe1975ArticleintheMenaulHistoricalReview 2

ThelargeststaffofnursesatEmbudo,1954‐56:(Itor)NormaCansino,Myrtle Scott, MaryMitchell, CharlotteMaisch,Mary Carpenter, AgnesWalker,FrancesSanchez,andCarolLejperMartinez.

The first yearswere difficult ones for themedicalworkers.

The hospital lacked electricity and running water,communication with other towns was limited and hostility tooutsiders was evident within the communities. However, thededicated missionaries continued their work and received aboostwhenNewMexicoestablishedastatedepartmentofhealthin1919.

Thenewboardrecognizedtheeffortsof themissionariesatDixonandofficiallyrequestedthattheycontinue.Thenursesmet

the requirements for registrationby the state andwereable toassist the health department by vaccinating all school childrenagainstsmallpoxwhenthisbecamealaw.Themissionariesalsoassisted by reporting contagious diseases and helping toestablish quarantines.When an epidemic of diptheria occurredin 1923 the county health officials appointed the Presbyteriannurses deputy health officers who then administered theantitoxinthatbroughttheepidemicundercontrol.

Other changes occurred during the 1920s. The nursestreated patients at the Brooklyn Cottage Hospital, held weeklyclinicsinothertownswithavolunteerphysicianfromEspanola,andbeganaprogramofhealtheducationatthemissionschools.Young girls from Dixon helped in the care of patients at thehospital and accompanied the nurses on home visits.Presbyterians from all over the United States continued theirfinancialsupportofthismission.Newroomswereaddedtotheoriginal structure so that by 1926, the hospital contained twolarge rooms for patients, a living and sleeping area for thenurses, dining room, kitchen, and a small utility room that alsoservedasalaundryfacility.

The efforts of the nurses helped improve the health of theresidents in this area, but theneed for aphysician still existed.Mostof thepeople livedat least25miles fromadoctor. ltwasnot unusual for a physician to charge $1.00 permile to visit apatient,whichplacedthisservicebutofthereachofmostpeoplein thisarea.TheHomeMissionBoardrecognized thisneedandresponded by assigning Dr. Sarah Bowen to Brooklyn CottageHospitalin1932.

Dr.Bowenbeganherworkbyconductingasurveyofmedicalneeds inDixonandthesurroundingarea.Dr.Bowenfoundthatinfunt mortality was twice that of the state in general, thatmalnutritionwasaconstantproblem,andthatsuperstitionsandhome remedies remained the first choice of treatment against

Fromthe1975ArticleintheMenaulHistoricalReview 3

disease for most inhabitants. With these factors in mind, thedoctor and nurses launched an intensive campaign in healtheducationwithanemphasisonmaternalandchildcare.

More improvements were made at the hospital during the1930s.Thewomenof theBrooklyn‐NassauPresbyterialSocietyagainprovideddonationstoaddanotherroom.EquipmentfromaPresbyterianhospitalinNorthCarolinathathadclosedgreatlyincreased the capacity formedical treatment at Dixon. In 1934Dr.Bowenand thenursesreported to theHomeMissionBoardthey had held weekly clinics in nine communities, 28 schoolhealthprograms, twocommunitypublichealthclasses,andhadgivenannualphysicalexaminationsinfourschools.

Demands for medical care had increased during the GreatDepression.Althoughdonationshadfalleninnumber,theHomeMissionBoardwasable tobeginplans for theconstructionofalarge hospital by 1938. A site on the highway in Embudo,approximately three miles north from Dixon, was purchased.Residentsfromnearbytownsandvillagesdonatedtheirlabortohelp in the construction of this new building, which wascompleted and dedicated in 1940. At the same time, the Boardauthorized the expenditure of funds to bring electricity to thehospitalandtownofDixonfromEspanola.Tohelpwiththecareof the expanded number of patients, the National YouthAdministration, an agency of Franklin Delano Roosevelt's NewDeal,placedtenyoungwomeninthehospitaltotrainasnurses'aides.

WorldWarIIcreatedshortagesatEmbudoHospitalasinallareasofthecountry,buttheneedforhealthcarecontinued.Dr.EdithMillican,whohadplannedtoserveinChinawhenthewarinterfered, accepted a temporary assignment at Embudo. By1944 Dr. Bowen estimated that the hospital and clinics wereserving an area equal to the size of the state ofMassachusettswithapopulationcloseto36,000.

Dr.BloughandDr.Fergusontalkwithayoungpatient,Juanita

Fromthe1975ArticleintheMenaulHistoricalReview 4

The1950s sawamarked improvement in thepublichealth

andeconomyoftheentirearea.Thehospitalwasabletoincreaseits staff and facilities, while the male members of thesurrounding territory found employment with the federalgovernmentatLosAlamoslaboratories.

Admissions to Embudo Hospital increased until the mid1960s, when the number of patients began to decline. Thegrowth of nearby population centers,with the resultant rise inthenumberofdoctorsandhealthservices,andincreasedcountyandstatefacilities,contributedtothisdecline.

At the same time,medical costswere rising.Throughout itsexistence, this hospital and the original Brooklyn CottageHospital had always received some form of payment by thepatients, either in services, food contributions, or labor. But inthe late 1960s it was impossible to cover expenses in thismannerwhendonationsonthenationallevelweredecreasing.

Photo:EmbudoPresbyterianHospital.

Because of these factors, surgical care was eliminated in

1971. Later in 1974 Presbyterian Medical Services, which hadassumedcontrolofEmbudoHospitalinthe196Os,decidedtheycould no longermaintain this facility. The hospital was turnedover to theresidentswhohad formedanon‐profit corporation.The Embudo Valley Health Facility assumed administrativeresponsibilities and continues to provide primarymedical caretothenearbytowns.

With this transfer came the end of a long Presbyterianinvolvement inmedicalmissions in northern NewMexico. Theeffortsof thesededicatedworkers contributed to the improvedhealthof those in thecommunities inwhich theyserved.ThesemissionariestooktheinitiativeandprovidedservicesbeforethestateofNewMexicohadthefacilitiesorbureaucraticmachinerytomeettheneedsof isolatedresidents.Inadditiontoprovidingspiritual and educational services, Presbyterian Missionarieswere instrumental in reducing the death rate from infectiousdiseases, improving the public health andpaving theway for ahigher standard of living for those residents in northern NewMexico.