 | Faye Graves, a native Wichitan, attended school at Friends and Wichita State, concluding at Midwestern Theological Seminary. He has been active in media for many years with Channel 12, KIRL, KFDI, KOOO AM & FM (Omaha), KFRM & KICT 95, as an owner, manager, producer, director and announcer. He has served as President of the Haysville Board of Education. He has also served on several national boards of the Southern Baptist Convention. Faye currently serves as Executive Pastor and Director of Administration and Education at Immanuel Baptist Church, 1415 S. Topeka, Wichita. You may contact Faye by e-mail fmgraves@amenibc.org, or by phone at (316) 262-1452. |
Nostalgia
2010-09-01 13:38:00
Remember...
Do you remember the hospitals and medical treatments of the past?
Answer: We’ve never had those questions before..and they’re some good ones. I almost have to think about both of your questions simultaneously. When I think about the flu season, allergies and colds that most all of us contend with at this time of the year, I remember the old County Hospital that used to be located on West Douglas, where the street jogs by St. Paul Street. Then I think about the Osteopathic Hospital, later called Riverside. It was located at the corner of Central and McLean Blvd. The old Wichita Hospital was located at the corner of Douglas and Seneca. My wife had her first job there, preparing food trays in the diet kitchen for the patients. The St. Francis (now Via Christi), St. Joseph (now Via Christi St. Joseph) and Wesley Hospitals are still in the same locations. The Veteran’s Hospital is also still in the same location on East Kellogg.
More than anything, I remember the distinct smell that the old hospitals had when you walked through the door. It was the anesthetic used at that time called ether. The odor was immediate, but to me, it always made things smell clean. That, together with all of the nurses dressed in white and wearing the familiar nurses’ white hat, always made me feel like I might be sick or hurt, but I was going to get better soon. The doctors were mostly attired in suits, not the white coats you see today.
Believe it or not, many of the old hospitals had the operating rooms on the roof to allow sunlight to aid the artificial light during surgeries and visiting hours were strictly enforced.
It seemed like all of the hospitals were strategically located to provide service to all areas of Wichita. You have to remember, that was back in the days when getting all the way across town wasn’t done in 15 minutes like it is today.
When you were sick, you didn’t go to an emergency room. Instead, you called your family doctor. Almost all of them made house calls. They carried so much stuff in their little black bags, they could make calls for days. They would carry a stethoscope, the old familiar tongue depressant, cotton and alcohol for sterilization before an injection, a scalpel, pills and lots of other stuff. If the situation called for hospitalization, you would be sent to the medical facility of the doctor’s choice.
As with everything…times change, don’t they? We all certainly appreciate the new methods of treatment and medical care of today.
