Tuberculosis treatment in Colorado Springs
In the 19th century, a movement for tuberculosis treatment in hospital-like facilities called sanatoriums became prominent, especially in Europe and North America.
Thus people sought tuberculosis treatment in Colorado Springs because of its dry climate and fresh mountain air.
Union Printers Home and the Modern Woodmen Tuberculosis Sanatorium, now Mount Saint Francis, are going concerns with skilled nursing care.
National Methodist Sanatorium evolved into a building for the Ent Air Force Base and its site is now part of the United States Olympic Training Center.
"[2]: 40 [3] Starting in the 1860s, when tuberculosis (TB) was a worldwide problem, physicians in the eastern United States recommended that their patients go to Colorado to regain their health.
[2]: 40 As a result, the number of people with tuberculosis, called "lungers", in the state grew substantially[2]: 40 and without the services or facilities to support their needs.
Some of the famous individuals who came to the area to treat their tuberculosis include novelist Helen Hunt Jackson, railroad executive James J. Hagerman, author Marshall Sprague, and noted potter Artus Van Briggle.
[9] Cynthia Stout, a history scholar, asserted that by 1900 "one-third of Colorado's population were residents of the state because of tuberculosis.
[12] The sanatoriums in Colorado Springs adopted a European tuberculosis treatment approach, including rest, open-air, and "disciplined gluttony".
[14][15]: 17 [16] In 1940, four sanatoria remained: Cragmor, Glockner, National Methodist, St. Francis, Sunnyrest, and Modern Woodmen Sanatorium.
[10] The Battle Creek Sanitarium at 230 North Cascade Avenue[18] was a branch of the Michigan facility that had been at 320 N. Tejon in 1903 and at that time was managed by Frank W. Patterson and K. E. McMillen.
[19]: 126, 235 Colorado Springs Sanitarium was located downtown in a mansion one block from Acacia and Monument Valley Parks and the Carnegie Library in 1905.
[21]: 4 Dr. Charles R. Knox was the superintendent of the facility at 126 North Cascade in 1907, one that's principles were in keeping with the Battle Creek Sanitarium.
[26]: 235 Dr. Frank M. Houck, a House Manager at Cragmor, came to Colorado Springs in 1915 to treat his tuberculosis after receiving his medical degree from Johns Hopkins University.
[30][c] Cragmor was a place where millionaires, musicians, artists, dancers, and poets came to get well and was known for its luxury, easy rules, parties, and sexual affairs among patients.
[24] In 1893, Marie Gwynne Glockner gave the sanatorium to the Sisters of Charity of Cincinnati, who were brought in for their care-giving and professional skills.
He hired brothers Archie and Angus Gillis to design the building, and was involved in the detailed planning meetings.
The offered good food, clean lodging, and care to patients who were not very seriously ill and by 1896 taught music lessons.
[1]: 352 The National Methodist Sanatorium was a 1926 building on a 29-acre (12 ha) tract east of the "Nurse's Home" of the Beth-El General Hospital's medical complex.
[32] The Nordrach Ranch Sanitarium was Colorado's first open-air sanatorium in which patients stayed in tents on the grounds of the facility.
Sisters from the St. Francis of Perpetual Adoration of Lafayette, Indiana, came to Colorado Springs to provide medical aid to the new city.
[1]: 319 In October 1887, the Sisters purchased the land and had a larger hospital built for $20,000 (equivalent to $678,222 in 2023) at Pikes Peak Avenue and Institute Street in early 1888.
[1]: 328 It administered care to employees of the Chicago and Rock Island Railroad and the Atchison, Topeka and Santa Fe Railway and provided medical services to the greater public.
[45] A crematorium was located near the Colorado School for the Deaf and Blind for the dead bodies of people who died of tuberculosis.
[47] The ITU established the facility in 1892, and maintained the property until the union's merger with the Communications Workers of America (CWA) in 1986.
[49] Over the next few decades, the Home grew to approximately 300 acres, with numerous buildings for resident care, one of the largest dairy farms in the state, and various other agricultural ventures.
[1]: 378 With the decline of the printing trade in the 1960s and '70s, the ITU began to sell off portions of the property in order to stay afloat.
[58] Woodmen Road, a major east–west arterial starts near the original sanatorium and runs for 15 miles through the northern suburbs of Colorado Springs.
[10] Reverend William R. Stephens from the People's Methodist Episcopal Church of Colorado Springs was a trustee for a sanatorium in Calhan.
They had worked the land for fourteen years and wished to have a tuberculosis sanatorium built for African Americans and other races.
