Nostalgia & History > RR Hospitals

How many railroads operated their own hospitals and when did they go away? One that comes to mind was the IC's in Chicago.

When I got sick in 1984 in LA, Ca. they sent me to the Santa Fe Hospital. I was working for Amtrak!

SP Hospital on Baker St., in San Francisco was still run by the railroad into the 1960s IIRC. Building is still standing by the way.

filmteknik Wrote:
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> How many railroads operated their own hospitals
> and when did they go away? One that comes to mind
> was the IC's in Chicago.

Can't say how many operated them throughout the years but generally they went away with national health and welfare agreements with the rail unions sometime in the late 1960's or early 1970's. IIRC there is still a pocket or two of separate company hospitals in existence today.

I recall comments made by the old heads that going to the SP hospital in San Francisco was a generally stressfull experience but the services were first rate. At least the old timers were able to live and tell of their ordeal so I guess you could say it was OK.

There was a related thread on this last May regarding surviving RR hospitals. Perhaps some information in that thread may be of interest to readers of this one...

http://www.trainorders.com/discussion/read.php?11,915230,915230#msg-915230

I wonder if anyone has done a scholarly study of the railroad hospitals. When I hired out with SP in 1959 I was sent to the the SP hospital in San Francisco for a physical. I'm guessing that railroad hospitals were an early version of medical insurance, just as railroad retirement was a precursor to social security. The timetables used to list doctors in various towns that presumably had some kind of contract arrangement to deal with sickness and injuries. My guess is there is some interesting industrial benefit history here.

JBW

It may be senility, but I seem to recall reading/hearing that WP had a hospital in Portola?

The SP had a complete hospital department. In large towns they had a hospital. In the smaller towns, they had an SP doctor that you went to for free. In SLO it was Dr. Tredwell. When I took promotion, I had to go and see him before I could work as an engineer. He had 4 swatches of yarn taped to the top of his eye chart. He would say, "well you know what those colors are for out there don't you?" You would say yes and that was it.

In the early 70s the SP wanted to shut down the medical department so they dumped it onto the unions. Well, the unions were not up to operating a hospital, etc. so the outfit went belly up and we joind the national health care agreement. The last time I used it was when we went to the new French Hospital in SLO which would put it about 1975?

Nudge

In the early days I believe SP also had one near the Sacramento Shops, albeit a small one. I seem to recall reading about when the building was demolished. - Tony J.

In the last years the Wabash had three: Decatur, Illinois, Moberly, Missouri and Peru, Indiana. I'm told the Peru hospital closed in 1964 and the Moberly one before that but the Decatur may have been about the same time or a little later. I have photos of the Peru Hospital and it was an old building.

The linked thread mentions the Santa Fe Hospital in Temple, Texas. It remained a railroad hospital until the mid-1960's, and survives to this day as a regular public hospital under the auspices of the Scott & White Hospital System.

http://www.tsha.utexas.edu/handbook/online/articles/SS/sbs15.html

TheButcherofBena Wrote:
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> It may be senility, but I seem to recall
> reading/hearing that WP had a hospital in Portola?


The WP hospital in Portola was donated to/acquired by the FRRS/Portola Railroad Museum a few years ago. It sits on the hill overlooking the museum and the UP.

LarryB @ mp308, UP Canyon Sub

i seem to recall that SP harkness on fell st across from the handle on golden gate park when i hired out in 67 it was first class operation. back in the thirties my dad was treated by a doctor there and had intenseive surgery when he was a teenager. his son is my doctor almost seventy years later small world. bussiness got greedy and shut the operation down becuse they only want profits is what we heard and they took money into new ventures and seperated them from the railroad. we had a aid station in Oakland by bay st and did it smell like alcohal plesant but kind of strange.

stash Wrote:
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> SP Hospital on Baker St., in San Francisco was
> still run by the railroad into the 1960s IIRC.
> Building is still standing by the way.


The SP Hospital in San Francisco was at 1400 Fell Street. I remember when they would take a small amount of money out of my paycheck for hospitalization.

I had to accompany my Dad in 1967 when he was being treated for cancer at the San Francisco Hospital. I think we rode the LARK up the coast. The cost for a roomette was about $11.00 (I think). He also went to the SP Hospital in Tucson.


steamjocky

For what it's worth, the 1950 movie, "D.O.A." shown from time to time on Turner Classic Movies or maybe American Movie Classics and starring Edmund O'Brien, has exterior shots of the SP Hospital in San Francisco.

Missouri Pacific had a hospital in St Louis that was used by MP and TRRA at least, maybe more. I never went there, but my wife did, and reported that they were competent but fairly behind the times in the 60's.