Guide to the Edgecliff Sanatorium Records 1915-1949
Cage 180

Summary Information

Repository
Washington State University Libraries, Manuscripts, Archives, and Special Collections
Creator
Edgecliff Sanatorium
Title
Edgecliff Sanatorium Records
ID
Cage 180
Date [inclusive]
1915-1949
Extent
3 containers., 1.5 linear feet of shelf space.
Language
Collection materials are in English.
Abstract
Administrative correspondence, primarily of Medical Directors A.E. Stuht and Frank S. Miller, regarding the operation, regulations, rates, purchases and medical practices of the sanatorium. Correspondents include prospective patients, county nurses and welfare boards, equipment and medical supply firms, county officers and administrators, tuberculosis and medical associations and other physicians. Some financial and medical records are included.

Preferred Citation

[Item Description]. Cage 180, Edgecliff Sanatorium Records . Manuscripts, Archives, and Special Collections, Washington State University Libraries, Pullman, WA.

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Biography/History

Edgecliff Sanatorium, a Spokane County tuberculosis hospital, was established in 1914 approximately, at that time, six miles from Spokane, Washington. Opening its doors to patients in 1915, Edgecliff had facilities for 58 adults and 35 children by 1918 when an additional building was under construction. Late in 1919 Dr. Frank Stephenson Miller (b. 1890) succeeded Dr. Albert Ernest Stuht (b. 1871) as Medical Director for the sanatorium. He was able to direct and oversee the growth of the facility in future decades. By 1920 the hospital had 140 beds and three buildings connected by covered runways. These were the hospital proper, ambulatory cottages and the children's pavilion. In 1932 there were an Administration Building, an Infirmary Building, two pavilions for adults, one pavilion for children, separate powerhouse, laundry and garage buildings plus a concrete vault for the storage of x-ray film. Capacity had increased to 165 patients, while full- and part-time staff totaled 55 persons. By 1950 the sanatorium had increased its patient capacity to 200 beds. Dr. Miller retired sometime after 1956.

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Scope and Content

The records of the Edgecliff Sanatorium consist of a small portion of the original files of the hospital. These records are almost entirely correspondence, both incoming and out-going, of the Medical Director with prospective patients, county nurses and welfare boards, equipment supply firms, the Spokane County Commissioners and other officials, tuberculosis and medical associations and other physicians. None of the patient case records or the staff personnel records were received. The collection focuses more on the administrative management of the hospital than on the care and treatment of tuberculosis, though this is naturally reflected in the papers.

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Arrangement

The records are arranged chronologically in consecutively numbered folders in six series: Statistical Reports; Administrative Correspondence; Personnel Correspondence; Purchasing Correspondence; Financial Correspondence and Records; and Patient Records.

The Statistical Reports include brief runs of the annual American Medical Association census reports and the monthly statistical reports on county institutions prepared for the Washington State Department of Social Security.

The Administrative Correspondence is mainly that of the Medical Director concerning hospital policies, treatment, fees, reports, donations, and building additions. Letters were received from other physicians, sanatoriums, prospective patients, the Veterans Administration, Washington State University, as well as tuberculosis and medical associations.

The Personnel file refers in part to the filling of staff positions and salaries and contains a sample employment application form. Two sanatorium patients who received National Youth Administration funds are the subject of a brief file of correspondence and NYA policies and regulations.

The Purchasing Correspondence mainly concerns the buying of hospital supplies such as bedding, furniture, mechanical equipment, food and cleaning supplies. Part of the correspondence pertains to the purchasing of medicine and narcotics, as well as games, books, magazines, newspapers, and motion pictures for the patients' recreational needs, the vocational training of the adults and use in the children's school.

Financial Correspondence and Records deal mainly with the Spokane County offices who handled the disbursements for the Sanatorium. Included in this series are ledgers, accounts and receipts.

The Patient Records consist of notices concerning regulations, policy changes for meals and other schedules and a ledger, entitled "Narcotic Book," which is a daily record of the patients' medication.

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Administrative Information

Publication Information

Washington State University Libraries: Manuscripts, Archives, and Special Collections (MASC) © 1973

http://www.libraries.wsu.edu/masc/

Terrell Library

P.O. Box 645610

Pullman, WA, 99164-5610 USA

509-335-6691

mascref@wsu.edu

Revision Description

 A preliminary inventory of the papers was prepared following their arrival in 1964. This was superseded by the current inventory when the materials were reprocessed in October 1973 by Cathy A. Bancroft.  1973

Restrictions on Access

This collection is open for research use.

Acquisition Information

The records of the Edgecliff Sanatorium were deposited in the Washington State University Library by the sanatorium in 1964.

Processing Information

A preliminary inventory of the papers was prepared following their arrival in 1964. This was superseded when the materials were reprocessed in October 1973 by Cathy A. Bancroft.

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Related Materials

Related Material

This collection does not include records of individual patients or personnel. Some of these are held at the Washington State Archives, as part of the Spokane County Government Records.

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Names and Subjects

Corporate Name(s)

Creator(s) :
  • Edgecliff Sanatorium. --Archives

Personal Name(s)

Subject(s) :
  • Miller, Frank Stephenson, 1890-
  • Stuht, Albert Ernest, 1891-

Subject(s)

  • Hospitals -- Administration--Washington (State)--Spokane
  • Tuberculosis -- Hospitals--Washington (State)--Spokane
  • Medicine and Health
  • Washington (State)

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Detailed Description of Collection

The following section contains a detailed listing of the materials in the collection.

box-folder

Donor file and inventory,  1964  6 items.

 - / A

Series 1: Statistical Reports 
box-folder

AMA census,  1937-1944  6 items.

 1 / 1

Washington State,  June 1937-February 1940  21 items.

 1 / 2

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Series 2: Administrative Correspondence 
box-folder

 1917-1921  114 items.

 1 / 3

 1922-1927  110 items.

 1 / 4

 1928-1933  102 items.

 1 / 5

 1934-1937  83 items.

 1 / 6

 1938-1949  162 items.

 1 / 7

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Series 3: Personnel Correspondence 
box-folder

Staff,  1919-1944  43 items.

 1 / 8

NYA,  1938-1940  24 items.

 1 / 9

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Series 4: Purchasing Correspondence 

Hospital Supplies 
box-folder

 1915-1926  108 items.

 2 / 10

 1927-1932  133 items.

 2 / 11

 1933-1935  164 items.

 2 / 12

 1936-1940  116 items.

 2 / 13

 1941-1944  105 items.

 2 / 14

Medicine 
box-folder

 1920-1930  101 items.

 2 / 15

 1931-1934  88 items.

 2 / 16

 1935-1943  97 items.

 3 / 17

Recreational Supplies,  1919-1935  89 items.

 3 / 18

Recreational Supplies,  1936-1944  81 items.

 3 / 19

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Series 5: Financial Correspondence and Records 
box-folder

Spokane County,  1919-1941  119 items.

 3 / 20

Spokane County,  1942-1946  98 items.

 3 / 21

Ledger and Medical Report,  1919-1926  1 item.

 3 / 22

Rotary fund,  1918-1919  1 item.

 3 / 23

Receipts,  1941  35 items.

 3 / 24

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Series 6: Patient Records 
box-folder

Notices,  1927-1944  82 items.

 3 / 25

Narcotics Book,  1921-1922  1 item.

 3 / 26

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