Dispatches from Home - An Abbreviated history of Hospitals in Humboldt County

I wrote this post up a while back and thought I had posted it. Guess not! Well the timing couldn't be better. Let's talk about the history of Hospitals in Humboldt County. 

Someone could (and should) write a book on this topic, as hospitals in the county, and the medical field in general in Humboldt County, has a really colorful history. You've got household hospitals, traveling doctors, brotherly feuds, nuns, Unions and Union-busting employers, pandemics, early insurance (more interesting than it sounds), evolving medical practices, treatments, and more. Of course, like most aspects of our area's history, it was colored by the fact that we're a rural, hard to get to area.

Here's a taste of that history.

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As Humboldt County’s population continued growing with the industrial boom of turn of the century United States, growing towns needed medical care for a variety of illnesses and unpredictable events that came their way, particularly injuries in the variety of industries here.

It may be surprising, when comparing the hospitals of yesteryear to the hospital of now, that there were, at one point in time, four hospitals operating in the Eureka-Arcata area in the first and second decades of the 20th century. The population of the county in 1900 was around 27,000 individuals, with the number rising to 37,000 by 1920. There were loggers, miners, families, industrialists, and Humboldt county was a bustling place to live. It was also a very dangerous place to live, partially due to it still being a frontier area and the lack of workplace safety regulations.

​Northern California Hospital

Noah Falk, Charles and Curtis' father, is the guy with the impressive white beard on the right side of the photo.

Even though the area was growing, in a place like Humboldt county, you can never get too far without finding a name you recognize. Charles and Curtis Falk of the Falk family known for their lumber operation and a variety of other endeavors, became local doctors who jointly opened a hospital in 1906 called the Northern California Hospital, located at the corner of Trinity and F Streets. They took pride in their hospital stating that it “incorporated all the modern ideas and scientific principles, such as ventilation, sanitation, light and heating” and was open for use by the public and “reputable physicians”. Additionally, it was a training hospital for nurses.  Charles, the eldest, served as the hospitals president and lead surgeon, which Curtis, the youngest, was the hospital’s secretary and assistant surgeon. After five years in this arrangement, however, trouble was brewing between the brothers.

The trouble came to a boiling point while Charles was hosting a surgery with spectators and Curtis claimed that Charles was using the opportunity to brag about his work. Charles replied that Curtis should buy the hospital and he could run things his way- Charles would even come up with a purchase price for his brother. All this happened while there was a patient on the table anesthetized for surgery. I'm sure an anesthesiologist (if there was one) was sweating nearby.

A few weeks later, Charles approached Curtis with a purchase price for his share of the hospital, and Curtis claimed that his brother had settled on that number because he knew it was too high and Curtis would turn it down. Next thing you know, Curtis takes Charles down by grabbing him by the throat and throwing him to the ground and knocks Charles out, sending him to the hospital. Curtis then severs ties with his brother’s hospital.

​A few years later, in 1918, Curtis caught typhoid and his brother, Charles, took care of him in the hospital. Once Curtis had recovered, the two brothers then worked on patients who had caught the famous Spanish Flu, an epidemic that wreaked havoc on Eureka. Charles’ hospital stayed open during the outbreak, and only closed when both Charles and Curtis and the matron and assistant for the hospital signed up to join the US Army Medical Corps in November of 1918 and were sent to France

When the brothers returned after their service, they operated independent practices and did not reopen the Northern California Hospital, which ended up changing hands in 1920.

Union Labor Hospital

​Around the same time that Northern California Hospital had taken root, the Union Labor Hospital opened in 1906, which was the first pre-paid health plan in the United States. There was a movement around this time to unionize loggers and other timber workers by the IWW (International Workers of the World, whose members were oftentimes known as Wobblys). 9 unions came together to open the Union Labor Hospital, initially at 5th and B. The organization was socialist oriented, and part of their movement was to open a hospital for the benefit of workers, initially only open to the 9 unions that founded the hospital but later included all unions. It was a hospital with 50 beds and initially supplied its own hospitals until later decades when it was open to the community- any doctor could bring their patients to the hospital to care for them. Payment was done through a ticket system. An individual would purchase a $10 ticket (which is about $280 in today’s market) that would offer complete coverage for the holder against sickness and accidents at work. Initially, these were only available to men, but eventually women and children could also purchase tickets and be cared for at the hospital. Additionally, the hospital was a nursing school that educated three generations of nurses during its operational days with classes supplemented with in hospital work. Most of these nurses remained at the hospital, ensuring a steady staff of available nurses to join the Hospital with the graduation of each class. The patients they cared for were mostly those affected by workplace accidents and excessive drinking.

A General Hospital certificate for medical treatment. Union Labor issued these as well.

Anti-Union sentiment battered the hospital in its early days- and barely a year after the hospital opened, a huge Union labor strike at a local mill led to the deaths of many of the strikers- but it stayed open and continued to serve patients, even in years when Union support waivered. Following the 1907 strike, employers of union workers required fees of $1 per month, which was used to pay into a fund for injured workers and allowed the worker to be treated at hospitals pre-chosen by the company, of which the Union Labor Hospital was excluded. A legal battle ensued, and temporarily the Union Labor Hospital was able to get an injunction to stop companies from charging workers the $1 per month fee, but it was later overturned in 1910. There were many workers, however, who paid the $1 fee required by their employer while also paying the $10 per year ticket for service at Union Labor Hospital and were cared for there rather than at the company- directed hospitals.

When Union support subsided, the hospital teamed up with additional unions to support the hospital and encourage people to be treated there. The board of the hospital opened up to include a union representative from each American Federation of Labor union, which had absorbed smaller local unions like the International Brotherhood of Woodsmen and Sawmill workers.

It was noted as a high quality hospital with knowledgeable staff and clean rooms and was very popular locally. When it sought to build a home for nurses adjacent to the hospital, patients donated $20,000 to the cause.

The hospital, which changed its name to General Hospital sometime around 1954, continued to serve patients through the year 2000, when it was purchased by another operator.

St. Francis Hospital

Across the street from the Humboldt County Historical Society is a unique looking Victorian home- its entryway facing the corner of the city block it sits on. This was the former Ricks house, considered one of the greatest examples of Eastlake architecture in Eureka. The Ricks were a wealthy family, Thomas Ricks was a business and land owner and Eva Ricks was an extensive landowner in her own right. The home was leased to the board of St. Francis Hospital in 1907, and some documents noted as the first privately owned hospital in the County, although it seems that Northern California Hospital may actually have that title. The hospital treated workers from the mills, docks, and factories and operated for three years, during which it conducted an “unprecedented kidney operation” and was widely regarded as a top hospital in the area. Due to poorly managed finances, it merged with Sequoia Hospital, which operated until 1925 when it was closed and the building leased to the Young Women’s Christian Association.

The Crossroads

In 1918, when Curtis and Charles Falk were fighting the Spanish Influenza alongside numerous doctors and nurses, the Sisters of St. Joseph of Orange were chipping in to the cause by opening their Nazareth Academy to house the sick. Even though the sisters did not have medical training, they visited the sick in their homes and did what they could to help.

Once the Influenza epidemic drew to a close along with the Northern California Hospital as the Falks took off for France, Mother Bernard persuaded the city of Eureka to reopen the Northern California hospital. It was purchased for $20,000, which was paid through trading property. The Sisters were sent to medical training in San Francisco and to the Mayo Clinic for their medical training and returned to a reopened Northern California Hospital, whose name had been changed to St. Josephs. The hospital was to also be a training hospital and this location served the community until the Sisters built a new hospital on Dolbeer in 1954.

In 2000, after a little under a century in operation, General Hospital was also purchased by the Sisters of St. Joseph of Orange.

Here's a handy-dandy-low-budget (i.e DIY by me) graphic showing the consolidation of hospitals and healthcare in Eureka/Arcata. Orange boxes note hospitals owned and operated by St. Josephs. You'll notice a hospital at the bottom of the graphic that I haven't mentioned... Stay posted for the story of the Trinity Hospital and Mad River Hospital.