NORTH ADAMS, Mass. — North Adams (Mass.) Regional Hospital opened March 2, 1884, and closed this day 130 years later.

 

It employed thousands over that long century-plus, leaving a legacy that Dr. Paul Donovan's been working to document over the past three years. 

 

"A lot goes into caring for patients outside of the economics of 'I'm getting paid to take care of patients,'" he said on Thursday during a talk at the Stamford Community Library. "That needs to be said. A number of people dedicated their lives to the hospital. That's where they worked their whole life and that's important."

 

Donovan finished the second part of his three-part self-published volume on the history of NARH last fall. This second part ends at 1955, just as the "new" hospital opened. The first volume covers its establishment up until 1910.

 

The hospital was opened after a tragic train crash two years before. Built for about $20,000 including land, the imposing three-story, brick and limestone "cottage" style structure facing south took 16 months to complete. It had 12 beds and, that first year, had a patient count of 28.

 

As the city grew, so did the hospital, with wings added onto the original building. A nursing school was begun in 1894 that lasted about 40 years and graduated some 300 nurses.

 

"They needed a ready supply of nurses and they needed cheap labor basically," said Donovan. "These nurses were paid about $6 a month as students."

 

The nurses were housed at the hospital and learned their profession through practical nursing, including being sent to places like Massachusetts General, Yale and Bellevue Hospital in New York City to further their education. Many went into the more lucrative private-duty nursing after graduating. 

 

By 1910, the number of beds had increased to 60 and wings were added onto the original building. But hospital was having a financial crisis. 

 

It had been run for 25 years at that point by a group of women married or related to prominent city leaders and operated in part as a charity.

 

"The hospital was always built on the premise that we would never turn anyone away, and that we will always give free care if needed," Donovan explained. "And what they found is that they were giving away a third of their care every year as free care. Now you can imagine the strain on the hospital at the time." 

 

President Mary Hunter Williams recognized that the hospital could not continue operating this way and that someone with a business background needed to come in. 

 

Herbert W. Clark, owner of Clark Biscuit Co. and one of the city's most prominent philanthropist, would replace Williams as president. During is 26-year tenure, an endowment was created, the hospital continued to expand, the Clark House was built and medical care improved. 

 

"Medical care in the 1880s was sort of by the seat of the pants and didn't have a lot of scientific basis. From the late 1880s to the 1890s, X-rays were developed and germ theory took hold," Donovan said. "It was sort of the golden age of medicine at that time."

 

Clark is believed to have donated between $300,000 and $400,000 to the hospital, which Donovan pegged at about $3 million to $4 million in today's dollars. When he died, his son took over for another 22 years. 

 

"When you think about the administration of the hospital, Mrs. Williams was president for 25 years, H.W. Clark was president for the next 26 years and his son took over until 1957, for another 22 years," Donovan said. "So three presidents spanning 75 years, totally unheard of in hospital administration especially when you think of the recent closure of the hospital, where they had four or five presidents over the course of maybe 20 years ... that kind of longevity, I think did well for the hospital."

 

Part II of Donovan's history ends with the construction of the current building directly behind the old hospital, now the location of the current parking lot. The state had recommended another 20 or 30 beds be added and it was determined it would be cheaper to build the new 119-bed hospital than renovate. In fact, most of the funds for the $1.7 million structure was raised by the time it was finished.

 

The hospital was constructed with two wings facing out — the east and west wings — and later the North Wing with 80 beds was added. At its height, it had around 200 beds and its annual census had increased by 1955 from 28 to 3,400. By the time it closed, it had reversed to the point that about 20 beds were open. 

 

Donovan worked at NARH for 22 years and was president of the medical staff before leaving several years before its closure to practice emergency and sports medicine at Southwestern Vermont Medical Center in Bennington. 

 

He decided to break his project into three sections to make it more manageable and allow some breaks in between. 

 

"The material is considerable and to have a long-range outlook on the project, I needed to finish in increments and have a finished project," he said. "I needed to see my work."

 

Plus, he said, "the amount of recorded information has significantly increased with each additional volume ... It's taking longer and more research to get the good information out."

 

He's had help, including from North Adams Historical Society members Justyna and Gene Carlson, retired librarian Robin Martin, who's doing the research for the final volume, and Carol Burch, who's assisted with editing, among others.

 

Each volume is full of photos and facts. There are two sizes, a smaller volume and what Donovan joking calls the coffeetable version. They can be purchased at Berkshire Emporium or the North Adams Museum of History and Science, both in North Adams, or Water Street Books in Williamstown, Mass. 

 

For the third volume, from 1955 to 2014, Donovan said he wants to include a chapter with recollections from the staff about the best times, and worst times. It was the worst time three years ago that prompted this project. 

 

"I never thought the hospital would close, I knew it would downsize and remake itself. That's what hospitals do, continue to remake themselves," he said. While it was fortunate that Berkshire Medical Center took it over, it's closure was still "devastating to the area."  

 

"Having worked there for so long, someone had to recognize it."

 

Comments, questions and historically relevant information about North Adams Regional Hospital can be sent to emsportmed2015@gmail.com.