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Railroad Hospitals
By 1869, the small, doctor-owned hospitals were decreasing in number. In February 1870, the Central Pacific RailroadHospital movedfromtheformerProtestantOrphan Asylum it had occupied at 13th and D to a new four-story facilityat 13th and C Streets. Thefirsthospital in the world devoted entirely to railroad employees, it cost $64,000 to build, covered 65-by-35-feet with abasement, verandas, two 35-by-52-foot wings, and a kitchen 24-feet square a few feet fromthemainbuilding. Thehospitalaccommodated 125beds
Central Pacific Railroad Hospital, 13th and C, 1870-1877. Courtesy Dr. J. B. Harris slide collection.
in 6 wardsand 8 private rooms.TheCentral Pacific’s prepaid medical plan was the first in California, beginning in 1867 and lasting until 1975. 40 The first employees, except the Chinese, paid fifty cents per month for coverage. This premium covered current expenses and the interest on the original loan for the building.
Accordingtothe Pacific Tourist —Adams and Bishop’s IllustratedTranscontinentalGuide ofTravelfrom theAtlantic to the Pacific Ocean —the Central PacificRailroadhospitalcontained“allmodemimprovementsforlighting,heating, ventilation and drainage, and a library of 1200 volumes. It can accommodate 200 patients. No other railroad had made such generous provisions for its faithful employees.”41
Beside the doctorin charge, there were 4 malenurses, 2 fordaysand 2fornights. Under Dr.ThomasW. Huntington, ChiefSurgeonforthe railroad, many innovativemedical and surgical practices were introduced, including the first antiseptic operating room on the West Coast (1882), the first
Southern Pacific Railroad Hospital, F between 7th and 8th, 1901. Formerly Charles Crocker home. Courtesy Dr. J. B. Harris slide collection.

operation for appendicitis in California (1891), and radical surgery for tuberculosis ofjoints and bones.
Dr. Huntington had attended Harvard Medical School and served several years on the staffatMassachusetts General Hospital. He went to Nevada to take over a relative’s practiceandbecameconnected withsurgeryfortheSouthern Pacific Railroad. He moved to Sacramento and later to San Francisco. Hemaintainedhisinterestintherailroadformost ofhis life, even after becoming Professor of Surgery at the University ofCalifornia, San Francisco, Medical School.
This and later railroad hospitals were planned with economyinmind. Surgical andmedicalwardsherecontained 8 to 15 beds and usually had a nursing station in close proximity. Thenursewasabletosee all thepatientsquickly, and ambulatory patients helped those who were bedridden. “Ahospital could thusbe operatedwithbutone employee per patient and this enabled the railroad employee to obtain hospital and medical care startingatless than two cents per day.” «
In 1887,thisestablishmentbecametheSouthernPacific RailroadHospitaland, afterashortstayattheCrockerHome

Railroad Car Hospital, Sunset Magazine, Vol. 16, No. 1, November 1905, p. 97. Courtesy California State Library.
at13thandFStreets,itsactivitiesweremoved,in 1898,tothe Southern Pacific General Hospital in San Francisco.
AftertheSan Franciscoearthquakeandfireof1906, the patients were movedback to Sacramento. Bedpatients were taken out ofwhatremained ofthe hospital in San Francisco and placed on mattresses and cots. With the help ofnurses and ambulatory patients, they were shifted to horse cars which transported them to the railway station at 3rd and Townsend. There being considerable confusion, ChiefSurgeon Ainsworth, who had worked for the railroad before becoming a doctor, commandeered an engine and made up a hospital train ofbaggage cars forbed patients andchair cars for theambulatory. Thetrain stopped overnightin Redwood City and then went on, via San Jose, to Sacramento where quarters were already beingbuilt. These quarters became a permanent, three-story building which was operated until 1921.
Other 1906 earthquake victims were taken to Camp Sutter's Fort where they came under the jurisdiction ofthe StateBoardofHealth,James H. Parkinson, M.D., President This camp became a sort of combination outpatient clinic, hospital,home forthedestitute, and employmentbureau. At first,thenumberhereranto60andmore,*but,byJune 15,had droppedto 11. Theirmedicalconditions includedexhaustion, rheumatism, gastritis, abscesses, sprained ankle, cystitis, scabies, malaria, tuberculosis, morphine habit and puerperium. Some were sent to the county hospital, some secured employment, some returned to San Francisco, and a few enlisted in the U.S. Army.43

The “final” Southern Pacific Hospital in Sacramento was built in 1912 at 2nd and H Streets, but its use was “primarily as an emergency hospital and clinic-dispensary” for Southern Pacific employees.
The railroad also designed a hospital car in 1905 with specialsprings,anoperatingtable,andbunks. Itwasusedfor emergencies for workers and passengers alike, and had its own engine.
In 1910, Dr. John L. White, son ofDr. George A. White, openeda60-bedhospital at29th andJStreetsforthemedical careofprivatepatients,railroademployeesandcharitycases. Thishospital(nameunknown)wasusedbymanySacramento doctors. It cost $90,000, had 7 four-bed wards, 30 private rooms,andanurses’ trainingschool. Itfunctioneduntil 1924.
The White Hospital, 29th and J, built by Dr. G. A. White and son, Dr. John White. Courtesy Mary Hulse, a White Hospital nursing graduate.
