The History of San Jose Hospital By Michael Shea, MD Leon P. Fox Medical History Committee On May 25, 1921, 43 physicians signed a statement of intent to found a new hospital in San Jose. This was done in response to the merger of Columbia and East Columbia Hospitals, effectively reducing the number of hospital beds in San Jose. The cost was $450,000, raised by community subscription. The location was known as the Joseph Lee home site, on the north side of east Santa Clara Street between 14th and 15th Streets. The main item of landscaping was a giant redwood tree that Lee brought down from the Santa Cruz mountains and planted in front of his house in 1860. The grand opening was June 4, 1923. This was the third major hospital in San Jose (the first was Santa Clara County Hospital and the second, O’Connor Hospital). The three-story 36 | THE BULLETIN | MAY / JUNE 2016
structure sat on a spacious lawn with a basement and a penthouse, which housed the surgical suite. The construction material was reinforced concrete in order to resist earthquakes and fire. There were 44 private rooms and nine four-bed wards, plus a nursery. The private rooms were plush with carpet and drapes, color schemes, telephone, and a silent signal system connected to the nurse’s station. There also was a lavatory in each room. The penthouse surgical suite had five operating rooms and two solariums, landscaped with gardens. The basement housed the x-ray and fluoroscopy unit, lab, emergency room, pharmacy, morgue, linens, bake shop, kitchen, and two cafeterias (one for the doctors and one for the nurses). It was described as the first truly modern hospital in the country. The hospital had a board of directors, a medical staff, and an administration. The first president of the medical staff was
Thomas L. Blanchard. Doctors paid a membership fee of $100 and annual dues were six dollars. There was no departmentalization at that time. Two thirds of admissions were for surgery – mainly T&A’s, hysterectomies, and appendectomies. One third of admissions were for medical indications such as nonsurgical orthopedic problems and childbirth. Quality assurance was accomplished by monthly staff meetings. Surgical mortality was very good. Obstetrical maternal mortality was not so good. The rate was 1.5% and newborn mortality was 4%. These both changed for the better after Dr. Alson Shufelt (the first obstetrician in San Jose) began his practice at this time. In 1925, 40% of deliveries were done in the hospital. By 1929, that figure had changed to 75% and most of these were done at San Jose Hospital. The first administrator was Henry J. Bost-