Come on a tour of the Page Hospital

(Dr. Ones F. Page erected a new hospital in Sandpoint and opened its doors for business in April 1907. It was a three-story frame building located near Sand Creek. Some people of the area still remember the Page Hospital. I recently talked to Penny Arm-strong, who not only remembered the hospital, she worked there as a volunteer. So sit back, take a minute, and let Penny take you on a tour of Dr. Page’s pride and joy. Next week, Penny will continue her story and Bobbie Brown Huguenin will tell you what happened to the old building.)

“I was introduced to the old Page Hospital when I was in the Girl Scouts. We volunteered there as part of our community service. We carried trays, fed patients, cleaning up, and did everything no one else wanted to do. After our time was up, Loyce Hall joined me in staying for the summer. Loyce left at the end of the summer but I stayed at the hospital; I was hooked. That experience I had as an 11-year-old influenced my decision to become a registered nurse. I loved it from the very beginning.

“You entered the Page by the front door and on the right side was the waiting room. On down the hall, on the left, was where Dr. William Tyler had his office. Across from that, on the right, was the one room surgical suite. If a patient having surgery was able to walk, they had to walk down a flight of stairs and crawl up on the surgical table all by themselves — they would carry the patient back up. The emergency room was on this floor. If a person had an emergency, his/her personal doctor was called. The doctor on call came in for everyone else.

“There were stairs going up to the second floor to the patient’s rooms. These steps were steep and narrow and it took some maneuvering to get the patients up and down them. The OB (obstetrics) ward was in the back part of the second floor and right next to it was the prep-room and delivery room. However, a patient on a stretcher could not get through the door so they were passed through a window.

“A little ramp at the other end of the second floor led to the men’s ward. In those days, some of the patients just stayed there until they died. There was no other place for them to go. When the second floor was full, the overflow was sent to the third floor. There was nothing but patient beds up there.

“The nurse’s station, which was a table about three feet long, was on the second floor. The utility room was on the second floor, and just across the little hall, about three feet away, was where we emptied and cleaned the bedpans with a small hand mop. There were two tubs in this area used for soaking soiled linen in salt water. After soaking, the linen was wrung out and dropped down the laundry chute. Right next to that, about four feet away, was the dumbwaiter where the patient’s food trays came up from the kitchen. We didn’t know any better — we just thought that that was the way it was.

“In the Page Hospital, the kitchen was located in the basement. There was a stove and a big table where the staff ate their meals. I don’t remember too much about the kitchen but I do remember the food was good. I was a volunteer in the Page Hospital and I remember the day the nurses called me down to the kitchen and gave me $25. I thought I was the richest person around. They finally decided that I was not going to go away so they found me a couple of uniforms. That was when the laundry did all the uniforms, they were stiff and starched, and I looked like everyone else.

“When I think back about the physical conditions under which we worked, I can’t help but laugh. The care the patient received in the old Page Hospital was excellent. We were like a dedicated family and there was no animosity.