Guide to the Edgecliff Sanatorium Records 1915-1949
Cage 180

Summary Information

Repository
Manuscripts, Archives, and Special Collections, Washington State University Libraries
Creator
Edgecliff Sanatorium
Title
Edgecliff Sanatorium Records
ID
Cage 180
Date [inclusive]
1915-1949
Extent
3.0 containers.
General Physical Description note
1.5 linear feet of shelf space.
Language
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 note

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

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Biographical/Historical note

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 Contents note

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 note

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

Manuscripts, Archives, and Special Collections, Washington State University Libraries © 1973

http://www.wsulibs.wsu.edu/masc
Terrell Library
P.O. Box 645610
Pullman, WA, 99164-5610
509-335-6691
mascref@wsu.edu

Conditions Governing Access note

This collection is open for research use.

Immediate Source of Acquisition note

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

Processing Information note

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 Archival Materials note

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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Controlled Access Headings

Corporate Name(s)

  • Edgecliff Sanatorium. --Archives

Personal Name(s)

  • Miller, Frank Stephenson, 1890-
  • Stuht, Albert Ernest, 1891-

Subject(s)

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

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Collection Inventory

Box-folder

Donor file and inventory, 1964   6.0 items.

 - / A

Series 1: Statistical Reports 
Box-folder

AMA census, 1937-1944   6.0 items.

 1 / 1

Washington State, June 1937-February 1940   21.0 items.

 1 / 2

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Series 2: Administrative Correspondence 
Box-folder

 1917-1921   114.0 items.

 1 / 3

 1922-1927   110.0 items.

 1 / 4

 1928-1933   102.0 items.

 1 / 5

 1934-1937   83.0 items.

 1 / 6

 1938-1949   162.0 items.

 1 / 7

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Series 3: Personnel Correspondence 
Box-folder

Staff, 1919-1944   43.0 items.

 1 / 8

NYA, 1938-1940   24.0 items.

 1 / 9

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Series 4: Purchasing Correspondence 

Hospital Supplies 
Box-folder

 1915-1926   108.0 items.

 2 / 10

 1927-1932   133.0 items.

 2 / 11

 1933-1935   164.0 items.

 2 / 12

 1936-1940   116.0 items.

 2 / 13

 1941-1944   105.0 items.

 2 / 14

Medicine 
Box-folder

 1920-1930   101.0 items.

 2 / 15

 1931-1934   88.0 items.

 2 / 16

 1935-1943   97.0 items.

 3 / 17

Recreational Supplies, 1919-1935   89.0 items.

 3 / 18

Recreational Supplies, 1936-1944   81.0 items.

 3 / 19

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Series 5: Financial Correspondence and Records 
Box-folder

Spokane County, 1919-1941   119.0 items.

 3 / 20

Spokane County, 1942-1946   98.0 items.

 3 / 21

Ledger and Medical Report, 1919-1926   1.0 item.

 3 / 22

Rotary fund, 1918-1919   1.0 item.

 3 / 23

Receipts, 1941   35.0 items.

 3 / 24

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Series 6: Patient Records 
Box-folder

Notices, 1927-1944   82.0 items.

 3 / 25

Narcotics Book, 1921-1922   1.0 item.

 3 / 26

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