100th anniversary book
DESCRIPTION
coffee table book celebrating 100 years of the Hospital of Saint RaphaelTRANSCRIPT
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nswering the call to care formore than100years.A
T H E H O S P I T A L O F S A I N T R A P H A E L
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Hospital ofSaint RaphaelA member of the Saint Raphael Healthcare System
SPONSORED BY:
WWW.SRHS.ORG
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Answering thecall to care
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100 years of hope and healing at
the hospital of saint raphael
Hospital ofSaint RaphaelA member of the Saint Raphael Healthcare System
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MISSION OF THE SAINT RAPHAELHEALTHCARE SYSTEM
The mission of the Saint Raphael Healthcare System, sponsored by
the Sisters of Charity of Saint Elizabeth, is to care for and improve
the health of our patients, with compassion and with a special
concern for the underserved, poor and elderly.
MISSION OF THE HOSPITAL OF SAINT RAPHAEL
The Hospital is a community teaching hospital and health care
resource sponsored and guided by the values of the Sisters of Charity
of Saint Elizabeth and of the Roman Catholic Church. Our mission is
to witness, share in and promote excellence in the healing ministry of
Jesus Christ. We are committed to preserving the dignity and well-
being of each individual, and to assuring that every person is treated
according to the principles of charity and justice. We accept the
Gospel challenge that prompted our founders of the sponsoring
congregation, Saint Vincent DePaul, Saint Elizabeth Ann Seton and
Mother Mary Xavier Mehegan, by pledging every loving service in our
power to reach out to those in need of our services.
THE MISSION VALUES ON WHICH WERE FOUNDED AND THAT GUIDE ALL DECISIONS AND ACTIONS
Charity Justice Service StewardshipDignity Excellence Integrity
Our Mission
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edicated to past and present Sisters of Charity of Saint Elizabeth, employees, physicians, trustees,
volunteers and Auxilians. Each of our first 100 years of excellence is because of you, and we commit to
carrying on your legacy.
This book is based on information and recollections from many sources. These include wonderful old
scrapbooks, memorabilia, reports and other materials from Saint Raphaels archives, materials and
photographs from the archives of the Sisters of Charity of Saint Elizabeth, taped oral histories of persons
now deceased, and countless interviews. Every effort has been made to validate dates and other facts,
some of which vary by source.
EDITORS NOTE
Working on this book has had special significance. I joined Saint
Raphaels in late 1981 to help plan its 75th birthday observance, never
thinking I would celebrate the 100th as well! But my roots are deeper
than that. While working on the 75th, I organized years of accumulated
materials into what evolved as Saint Raphaels archives. In the
process, I learned that the New Haven archi tectural firm of Brown &
von Beren, led by my great-grandfather and then grandfather, designed
the hospitals first new construction, the Saint Marys Building. It is an
honor and privilege to be part of this organization, to have learned
from the Sisters of Charity of Saint Elizabeth, and to have worked side
by side with extraordinary colleagues.
Published 2008
Editor: Cindy von Beren, vice president/Corporate Affairs
A special thanks to the many individuals who were part of the
research, writing, editing, fact-checking and production of this
history, with particular gratitude to:
Patricia Mich, art director
Jennifer Duarte, graphic designer
Michael Dabbraccio, staff photographer
Christine Mora, director, Public Relations & Marketing
Pat Wales, director, Health Sciences Library
And to contributing writer Alix Boyle and contributing writer/editor
Cynthia Wolfe Boynton.
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INTRODUCTION
CHAPTER 1 Beginningsa hospital is born
CHAPTER 2 William Francis Verdi, M.D.
CHAPTER 3 The first 30 years
CHAPTER 4 Saint Raphael School of Nursing
CHAPTER 5 World War II
CHAPTER 6 The 1940s and 1950s
CHAPTER 7 Sister Louise Anthony Geronemo
CHAPTER 8 Saint Raphael Auxiliary and volunteers
CHAPTER 9 1960s and 1970s
CHAPTER 10 1980s and 1990s
CHAPTER 11 Sister Anne Virginie Grimes
CHAPTER 12 Advancing the science and art of medicine
CHAPTER 13 Entering the new millennium
CHAPTER 14 2007: A milestone anniversary to remember
CHAPTER 15 The Sisters of Charity of Saint Elizabeth
Contentsanswering the Call to Care
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1If Saint Raphael s future is anything like its history, great things are ahead for all of us.
Saint RaphaelHealthcare SystemPresident and CEO David W. Benfer, FACHE
Sisters of Charity of Saint Elizabeth General Superior SisterMaureen Shaughnessy,chairperson of the Saint RaphaelHealthcare System Board of Trustees.
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2Introduction100 years of Caring
W hen the Sisters of Charity of Saint Elizabeth and Catholic HospitalAssociation agreed on January 30, 1907, to join forces and found
Saint Raphaels, their goal was to create a hospital that all members
of the community could call their own. It was to be a place where
every patientregardless of race, religion, ethnicity or income
levelreceived the best care, with the most compassionate touch.
A century later, this caring mission still guides Saint Raphaels, and
is what our physicians, nurses and other professionals strive to give
patients every day. Our long history of medical excellence, and the
roots weve established in Greater New Haven, made us proud and
excited to celebrate Saint Raphaels 100th birthday in 2007.
Thank you for opening this book and celebrating this milestone
with us. Within these pages, youll find great old photo graphs, facts
and memories about both the hospital and its place in the Greater
New Haven community. Its a community that has embraced and
supported Saint Raphaels for each of these 100 years. And for this,
we are most grateful.
Youll see in Chapter 1 that at the same time the Hospital of Saint
Raphael opened its doors, both the community and the field of
medicine were changing. Most people at the start of the 20th century
received medical care in their homes from family doctors. Family
members were expected to take care of loved ones. Hospitals at that
time were said to be for the poor and the friendless.
Yet as medicine advanced in the early 1900sthe beginnings of
modern surgery; the development of vaccines; an understanding of
how germs spread and the need for safe public health practices
people came to realize that hospitals were the best and safest places for
the delivery of increasingly sophisticated medical care.
Ready to meet that new demand for hospital care in New Haven
was Saint Raphaels. A 1913 New Haven Union newspaper article
praised Saint Raphaels for offering the best scientific medical
treatment available, calling the hospital a pioneer.
One hundred-plus years later, these phrases still describe
Saint Raphaels.
As you go through this book, youll see stories and photo graphs
showing how Saint Raphaels has grown to match advances in
medicine; how Saint Raphael physicians were among the first to
perform many breakthrough procedures; how compassion, dignity
and respect for patients have always made the Saint Raphael
difference; and how Saint Raphaels has formed an enduring
partnership with the community.
We wish it had been possible to include the names of every
person, department, treatment and procedure thats made a
difference over our first century. For that, however, wed need a
book this size for each of the hospitals 100 years. Instead, weve
done our best to cull stories, memories and photographs that best
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3The invitation to thecorner-stone placementfor the Saint MarysBuilding, and relatednews coverage.
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4represent the spirit and achieve ments of
both our hospital and health providers.
Please read on and enjoy.
Caring for the sick is a divine trust, said
the Sisters who started and continue to
sponsor Saint Raphaels. As a faith-based
organization and one of four Catholic-
sponsored acute care hospitals in Connect i -
cut, Saint Raphaels holds firm to this belief,
which will un doubtedly con tinue for the
next 100 yearsand beyond.
Thank you for your belief, support and
trust in us.
If Saint Raphaels future is anything like
its history, great things are ahead for all of us.
Early patient ward.
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On behalf of theCatholic HospitalAssociation, urologistFrancis H. Reilly, M.D.,wrote to the Sisters of Charity of SaintElizabeth, requestingtheir help.
The silver trowel used to lay the cornerstone for the Saint MarysBuilding (below).
In Hebrew, Raphe means heal and El means God . Thus together, Rapha-el means God heals.
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6Chapter 1ll over the United States, the early 1900s was a time of new
beginnings. New Haven was no different, as Italian, Irish and other
immigrants came to work for local factories and start new lives.
Downtown New Haven was bustling with tradesmen, trolleys and
tenements, and on every street corner were new accents, voices
and dreams.
Not everyone, however, embraced this changing, more colorful
community. Institutions begun by white, Protestant menthose who
founded the citywerent always eager to welcome those with
different faiths, faces and cultures. Doctors of Irish, Catholic, Jewish
and Italian descent quickly discovered that because of their faith or
nationality, they werent welcomed to practice at New Havens two
existing hospitals, Grace and New Haven (today Yale-New Haven).
Many of New Havens new, diverse residents found the same
unwelcoming attitude for themselves and loved ones when
professional medical care was needed.
BOTH GROUPS NEEDED A HOSPITAL TO CALL THEIR OWN
This need prompted William Francis Verdi, M.D., and 13 other
physicians to form the Catholic Hospital Association. Not all 14 men
in the group were Catholic. But they all had a vision to create a faith-
based hospital where any doctor could offer careand any person
be cared forregardless of race, religion, culture or financial status.
Knowing they could not take on such an enormous task alone, the
doctors approached the Sisters of Charity of Saint Elizabeth. At the
time, the Sisters were already running Saint John the Evangelist
School in New Haven. Renowned for their charitable work in both
education and health care, their home base was in Convent Station,
N.J., and they operated schools, hos pitals and orphanages in New
York, New Jersey and Massachusetts. That the Sisters took on
helping build a new hospital despite many other commitments is
testament to the intrepid faith and far-reaching vision of 81-year-old
Reverend Mother Mary Xavier Mehegan.
Not only did Mother Xavier agree to manage and help staff the
hospital, but she mortgaged the Sisters of Charity Motherhouse in
New Jersey for much-needed funds.
The Catholic Hospital Association had already purchased the Barnes
residence, a stately home at 1442 Chapel St., with $23,000 in donations
raised from local individuals, organizations and clergy. But more was
needed to convert the home into a hospital, plus build a new structure
on adjoining property. Initial estimates indicated it would cost $125,000
to $135,000 to construct the new building.
ABEGINNINGS
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7It was a huge sum for the time, but small
compared to the grandness of what they
hoped to accomplish. Mother Xavier
believed that if the Sisters held the deed to
the property and were in a position of
financial control, they would never be
forced to compromise their mission. This
mission, the Sisters and doctors agreed,
would be to receive and care for all
patients without regard to race, creed or
color; to extend charity to the sick, the poor
and the needy, as required; and to open to all
members of the medical profession an
institution in which they could administer to
their own patients.
To make this happen, four Sisters arrived in
New Haven on Feb. 2, 1907. Sisters Mary
Irmina McDonough, Mary Eustelle Kivlehan,
Rose Ulrica Farley and Alice Veronica Flynn
were charged with taking the first steps to
create the new hospital, which the
Corporation of the Sisters of Charity of Saint
Elizabeth had already decided would be
named Saint Raphaels.
Its not documented exactly why the
Sisters chose this name. But its speculated
that Saint Raphael refers to the Archangel
Raphael, who is the Catholic patron saint of
healing. Theres also meaning within the
word Raphael. In Hebrew, Raphe means
heal, and El means God. Thus together,
Raphael means God heals. By giving this
name to the new hospital, the Sisters
acknow ledged their belief that God heals
through medicine, and that caring for the
sick is a divine trust.
WORK BEGINS IN EARNEST
With faith and funds in hand, work to get the
Hospital of Saint Raphael up and running
began almost immediately upon the Sisters
arrival, and took two paths.
On July 28, 2007, ground was broken for
the five-story Saint Marys Building, which
would not be ready for two years. So to
accommodate patients in the meantime, the
Sisters focused on the Barnes residence.
Bedrooms in the Barnes home were
turned into nursing wards, and the front
parlor converted to a chapel. The kitchen
and other parts of the building were left to
perform their regular functions, and in less
than a year the 12-bed hospital was ready
to open.
Mrs. Winifred Dugan, 70, was admitted as
Saint Raphaels first patient on Jan. 10, 1908. In
large, elegant script, the hospitals first ledger
lists patients names, ages, countries of origin,
occupations, diagnoses, physicians and out -
comes. Mrs. Dugan, from Ireland, was ad -
mitted for apoplexy, cared for by James Flynn,
M.D., and died in the hospital on May 28. The Saint Marys Building.
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Barnes residence(foreground) with the Saint Marys Building in the background.
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However, according to the
ledger, she had the facility to
herself for more than a month.
This was probably because
during the 19th and early 20th
centuries, most doctors made
house calls, and ill family
members were generally cared
for at home. Hospitals were
reserved for the indigent,
seriously ill, or those who did not have
loved ones to care for them. However, when a fire broke out on Feb.
28, 1908, at nearby Grace Hospital, 39 patients were carried from the
flaming structure to Saint Raphaels.
Newspaper reports called the fire a providential happen ing, with
Saint Raphaels response helping win community acceptance and
dispelling any prejudices against a Catholic-sponsored facility. The
people of New Haven were blessed and fortunate to have a new
hospital open in its hour of need. If not for Saint Raphaels, surely
more patients would have died, newspaper reports claimed.
At the same time renovations were going on at the Barnes
residence, ground was being broken on land next door for a larger,
more suitable building.
A 1913 tribute to Saint Raphaels published in The New Haven
Union looked back at the time:
Prior to 1906, the hospitals of New Haven maintained a
position bordering on a closed corporation. For once a
patient entered a hospital here, the relatives whose presence
and sympathy would have aided in their recovery were
debarred from visiting. These detriments were realized
and often protested against, but without avail until 1907
Though the Sisters of Charity assigned
to start Saint Raphaels exemplified
the noble ideals of self-denial and
charity, they were down-to-earth
and pragmatic when it came to
accomplishing their goals.
Before Saint Raphaels ever opened
its doors, the Sisters sought financial aid
from the State of Connecticut. They
must have made a compelling argument
on the need for the hospital, because
the Connecticut General Assembly
appropriated $2,500 to Saint Raphaels.
The provisions were that the hospital
have a competent staff of physicians
and surgeons and be in operation
for at least three months. It was the
first of many significant state grants
over the years that would help Saint
Raphaels grow.
At left, a newspaperclipping about earlyfundraising activities.
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SaINt RaphaEl fIRStS
First buildingBarnes residence at 1442 Chapel St. It consisted of 12 beds, a pharmacy, laboratoryand an operating room and was staffed by16 employees.
First patient70-year-old Winifred Dugan admitted forapoplexy on Jan. 10, 1908. She stayedhospitalized until she died of the conditionon May 28.
First surgeryCesarean sectiona difficult and dangerousoperation, a newspaper reportedperformed by William Verdi, M.D., on Mrs. JohnLadino of Palmer Street. Mother and child didsplendidly, the newspaper announced.
First ambulancesThere were twoone horse-drawn, one electric.
First administratorSister Mary Irmina McDonough
Among the donations listed in the first annual report (1910) A total of $1,050 donated by1,050 people. Each gave $1.
Ten turkeys Crate of oranges Three cases of lemon soda A Bermuda lily Ten gallons of ice cream
when Saint Raphaels became the pioneer in that new
curative methodcombining the best scientific medical
treatment, while allowing each patient to have his or her
own physician. Confidence in the minds of those they know
helps the invalids. Clergymen of their own faith and the
frequent presence of friends is always a consolation to the
sick. Then why deprive them of it? So a new era in the
management of hospitals born of a humanitarian regard for
the feelings of patients, as well as for the professional
treatment of their bodies, was established in this city when
Saint Raphaels hospital was built.
Perhaps the writer of this piece had been allowed to look at Saint
Raphaels patient ledger, and had seen the multiethnic, multicultural
population turning to the new hospital for care. Almost one-third of
the patients admitted to Saint Raphaels by 1910 were foreign-born
immigrants, with Sweden, England, Ireland, Germany and Italy some
of the many native countries listed. Patient occupations included
laundress, stenographer, baseball player, blacksmith, butler,
tinsmith, farmer, box maker, school boy and housewife, with
conditions as equally variedhernia, cesarean section, tongue
cancer, alcoholism, appendicitis, gunshot wound, breast cancer,
apoplexy, chronic diarrhea and goiter among them.
By many standards, it was a humble clientele. Yet the founding
Sisters and physicians were determined to make Saint Raphaels
anything but ordinary. The new Saint Marys Building, opened on
Feb. 22, 1909, was hailed in newspaper reports as a splendid
structure, and one of the most complete in New England. This
state-of-the-art facility boasted such new and modern features as an
electric elevator, electric lighting and a telephone on each floor. And
its latest sanitary appointments included one that attracted national
attention: All walls and ceilings have rounded corners to make them
perfectly sanitary in every respect.
The brick building set a standard for medical excellence that
would continue throughout all of Saint Raphaels first 100 years.
Even at this early date, Saint Raphaels patient rooms and technology
were designed to not just offer the most advanced care, but the
safest and most comfortable care, too.
The Saint Marys building boasted between 125 and 135 beds
(accounts vary) in nursing wards and a handful of private rooms.
Staying in the public wards cost $7 per week. Private rooms included
the first nurse call buttons which, when pushed, would cause a small
red flag to rise outside the patients door. Each floor also had two
toilet rooms with large bath apartments, a large kitchen connected
to a dumb waiter, and a linen room.
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Saint Raphaels two-room operating
department was termed one of the most
up-to-date and modern of its kind in the
country and the most perfect in every
detail in this country or abroad. The main
operating room was well-lighted with a
large glass roof, tile walls and marble
floors. There was also a room where
patients were etherized, a room for
instrumental sterilization, and two padded
cells for delirious patients.
Also revolutionary was that the entire
building was fireproof with concrete floors,
iron stairs and well-planned and arranged
fire escapes, newspapers wrote. The
basement contained a small, brick-lined
morgue, a boiler room, laundry and cooking
department, plus nurses and doctors
dining rooms.
Yet more than physical growth was
taking place. To assure the best-trained
nurses were caring for Saint Raphael
patients, the hospital organized and opened
The 14 Catholic and non-Catholic physicians who on May 3, 1906, founded the Catholic Hospital Association and with the Sisters of Charity of
Saint Elizabeth eventually founded Saint Raphaels were:
Leonard Bacon, M.D.
William Butler, M.D.
Jeremiah Cohane, M.D.
James Flynn, M.D.
Norton Hotchkiss, M.D.
John Luby, M.D.
Stephen Maher, M.D.
Edward McCabe, M.D.
Matthew OConnor, M.D.
Francis Reilly, M.D.
William Sheehan, M.D.
John Sullivan, M.D.
William Verdi, M.D.
Frank Whittemore, M.D.
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the Training School for Nurses (Read about the Saint Raphael School
of Nursing in Chapter 4.). To support the hospitals many endeavors,
a Ladies Auxiliary also formed. (Turn to Chapter 8 for more on
the Auxiliary.)
Presiding over these many dramatic changes was Sister Mary
Irminaone of the four original sistersserving as hospital
superintendent. The motto she and the founding physicians adapted
was ad majorem dei gloriamLatin for the greater glory of God. They
had the saying carved into Saint Marys cornerstone to guide them. And
its obvious how all believed in the motto, and clearly saw the need for
the hospital and its caring mission.
What they didnt see, however, was how quickly Saint Raphaels
would grow beyond any of their visions.
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Like the way Mozartlooked at a piano andknew how to play, (Verdi) looked at the humanbody and knew his wayaround it. There is greathonor and nobility in being a physician. To heal and to serve is a real calling. William Verdi had that calling.
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Chapter 2WILLIAM FRANCIS VERDI, M.D.
f the Sisters of Charity of Saint Elizabeth provided the greatest group
influence on the early hospital, the greatest individual influence was
William Francis Verdi, M.D.
Verdi was an internationally renowned surgeon whose patients
ranged from the president of Yale University to his gardeners wife.
For more than half a century, Verdi provided superb medical care to
all who needed him, regardless of their ability to pay. He combined a
dexterous pair of hands with an intuitive gift for knowing what was
wrong, and how to best fix it.
The surgeon is concernedintensely concernedwith the
recovery of the patient, Verdi once wrote. He is interested in
pulling the patient through. And he suffers as the family suffers. A
tragedy is never taken more at heart than by the surgeon. It could not
be otherwise for a good doctor.
Described as a regal and impeccably dressed man, he is
listed as being 5-foot-7, and 165 pounds on a 1917 hunting license. At
the time he was in his 40s, and despite his very public stature within
the community, he was a very private man. He so disliked publicity
that he refused to be interviewed for a 1926 newspaper article about
his surgical accomplishments. He instead referred the reporter to his
brother-in-law, then-Connecticut Secretary of State Francis A.
Pallotti, who provided all the information.
He was most comfortable at work. Old surgical logs show him
performing as many as 10 operations a dayan amazing number by
todays standards. He preferred an operating room with natural light
and demanded silence while he worked. He was also, in every sense
of the term, a general surgeon, operating on just about every part of
the body during his almost 60 pioneering years in the fieldvery
often under extreme or unusually challenging circumstances.
Those who worked with Verdi also remember him being a great
admirer of Saint Raphael nurses for the skill they obtained at the
Saint Raphael School of Nursing and then showed in the operating
room. There, he furthered most of their medical educations, teaching
various nuances about the human body and how it could be healed.
This ability to mentor, coupled with Verdis great skill as a surgeon,
spurred the Yale University School of Medicine to ask Verdi to help
train students at his alma mater.
Eventually, he became involved in almost every aspect of
life in New Haven, from city planning to serving on its school board.
He was also a big supporter of the artsmusic especially. He was
known for the musical parties he and his sister Loretta hosted at
their home. One soiree, held for American Surgical Association
fellows who came to New Haven for a conference, was reported to
include a performance by three renowned operatic voices from the
Metropolitan Opera House and Philadelphia Opera Company.
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According to a newspaper society page, Mayo Clinic founder Charles
Mayo, M.D., and his wife were among Verdis houseguests.
His great-niece Victoria DiSesa, a New Haven attorney and former
Saint Raphael trustee, remembers hearing family stories about Verdis
parties. Her sister Susan owns the piano from the music room. He
served lavish dinners and lived an elegant life, DiSesa recalled.
Above all, however, he was a surgeon, said medical historian
Sherwin Nuland, M.D.: How good was he? He was so gifted that
patients came from everywhere to have him operate on them. Verdi
had more talent than anyone at that time.
EARLY YEARS
William Francis Verdi was born Guglielmo
Francesco Verdi on Nov. 27, 1872, in
Montechiaro Vico Equense, Naples, Italy,
the son of Domenic and Rose Ruggiero
Verdi. Domenic was a sailor in the Italian
navy, and when Verdi was 18 months old,
Domenic decided to bring his family to the
United States. They settled in New Haven, with
Domenic taking a job as a foreman in a rubber
factory. Verdis brother Antonie also made the ocean
trip, with their sisters Rose, Mary and Loretta born in
New Haven in quick succession.
Although Verdi liked school and was a good student, he quit
Hillhouse High School to take a job in a barber shop to help support
his family. It was a move that alarmed school officials, who must
have seen Verdis potential.
Determined to get Verdi to return to high school, the Hillhouse
principal went to Verdis house and refused to leave until Verdi agreed.
It may be said that the world owes the surgical ability and genius of
Verdi to the insistence of Principal James D. Whitmore, wrote the
New Haven Journal-Courier.
In 1891, Verdi became the first native Italian to graduate from
Hillhouse. Fascinated with medicineand because in those days
students did not need to attend college before medical schoolVerdi
went right from Hillhouse to Yale Medical School (todays Yale
University School of Medicine). He paid his tuition by working as an
Italian inter preter in the New Haven Courthouse and teaching English
to immigrants. Records show that when he graduated Yale in 1894, he
considered becoming a priest or a lawyer.
Verdi (far left) at the age of 18 in the barbershop.
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Instead, he enrolled in a surgical intern -
ship, and worked to earn enough money to
travel to Germany and Austria. Physicians
there were performing ad vanced surgical
procedures only talked about in New Haven.
Thus began a series of routine summer visits
to Europe, furthering know ledge of his field.
Yet New Haven was his home and where
he wanted to be. He opened his first
practice at 172 John Street. Quickly, his
reputation as both a skilled and caring
physician began to grow.
Like other physicians of the day, he made
house calls by horse and buggy and
performed surgery atop kitchen tables, or
on his own portable one. Instruments were
sterilized on wood-burning kit chen stoves.
Old receipts show Verdi charged $100 for
an appendectomy. And soon, he was able
to hire a chauffeur. Egisto Cinquini
(known as Gisto), whose drivers license
lists him as 20 in 1910, would work for
Verdi for many years.
The story we were always told
growing up is that Egisto would drive
Verdi to a home in the middle of the
night and then remove one of the head
lamps from the car and hold it up while
Verdi operated, remembered Verdis
great-niece Susan DiSesa Sheeline.
When Verdi was finished, he would say
to Egisto, You can put the lamp down now. And Egisto would reply,
I cant; my arm is stuck.
Despite Verdis John Street office, receipts for both horse shoeing
and automobile parts suggest Verdi must have been constantly on the
road and at work. Indeed, historian Nuland believed part of Verdis
reason for starting a hospital was weariness of traveling: He wanted
easy access to a hospital of his own.
THE RIGHT TIME FOR A MOVE
At the same time, the idea of hospitals being a more appropriate
setting for medical care was increasingly accepted.
Unfortunately, as an Italian-American and a Catholic, Verdi was
not accepted at New Havens existing hospitals, particularly New
Haven Hospital. Anti-Catholic discrimination was not just common,
but rabid at the time.
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Verdi in the operatingroom, late 1930s.
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As a founding physician, Verdi was a driving force in not just creating the Hospital
of Saint Raphaels physical structure, but in helping create its constitution and bylaws. He
donated $500 of his own money to the new hospital, and was chairman of the group that
raised money to fund the initial construction. Apparently, he was an effective fundraiser. An
old newspaper article noted Verdi was able to convince an anonymous donor to give $4,500
toward building a modern operating room. The donation was a fortune at the time.
In his day-to-day work at Saint Raphaels, Verdi was
surgeon-in-chief. People marveled at his hands, and their
almost mystical ability to diagnose and heal. He had the
lightest touch, says Mary Sexton, a long-time Saint Raphael
nurse who cared for many of Verdis patients. When he
examined you, you could scarcely feel it.
The late Mario Garofalo, M.D., Saint Raphaels chief of
anesthesia from 1940 to 1972, was also in awe of Verdis
talent. He was the most versatile surgeon I had ever
known, Garofalo wrote in tribute to Verdi. He did
neurosurgery, chest surgery, abdominal surgery, gynecology,
orthopedics, gastrointestinal surgery, plastic surgery. He
also extracted teeth when it was necessary. He couldnt
understand why (dentists) used so many instruments, while
he got along with one. The only procedure I had never seen
him do was tonsillectomy.
This quirky fact is almost legendary at Saint Raphaels
a bit of did-he-or-didnt-he trivia. Nulands take was it
might have been the only operation Verdi didnt perform.
The reason: At the time, tonsillectomies could lead to
uncontrollableand often fatalbleeding.
In speeches and newspaper articles, Verdi himself attributed
his hands and surgical abilities to his mother, Rose. My mother
gave me a pair of dexterous hands, he was quoted as saying.
That inheritance has been the most valuable possession of
Three of Verdis many honors for medical
achievements came from Italys King
Emmanuele in recognition of his high
standing in the medical profession and
services to Italian soldiers in the interest
of humanity. In 1914, Verdi received the
title of Chevalier of the Order of the
Crown of Italy, and was later raised to the
rank of Commeneatore. In 1929, he was
named Grande Officiale of the Order of
the Crown.
Writings and drawingsfrom Verdis notebooks.
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my life. She could knit, crochet, sewin
fact, do anything with her hands. She gave
me some of her skill.
Verdi honored his mother in 1927 by
donating $10,000 in her name to the Yale
Endowment Fund for a New Haven student
to attend Yale Medical School. He also
donated $10,000 in her name for an organ at
St. Michaels Church. Its still in use today.
Generally, however, it was Verdi being
honored. Connecticut Gov. Simeon Baldwin
named him state sur geon general; he was
consulting surgeon for Choate School in
Wallingford; and, in 1913, he was elected
president of the New Haven Medical Associ -
ation. In 1916, he was admitted to the
prestigious New England Surgical Society
a group exclusive to the 100 best surgeons
in the region.
Verdi was as great as his reputation and
more so. He even operated with Carmalt,
said historian Nuland, referring to former
Yale University School of Medicine Dean
William H. Carmalt. Carmalt was an
excellent leader. But he was not as great a
surgeon as Verdi. They operated together
on Saturday after noons at New Haven
Hospital, even though Verdi didnt have staff
privileges there. They were doing big stuff:
remov ing the stomach or a kidney. Today
these things are fairly routine. But back
then, it was compli cated. The fact that he
was invited into the New England Surgical
Society shows he was held in huge esteem.
He was enormously talented, and his results
were excellent for that time.
As wonderful as these years were,
however, they werent without down times.
For reasons that arent clearly documented
but appear to be over use of the operating
room, Verdi resigned from Saint Raphaels in
July 1910, citing the many disturbances
between the hospital management and the
Medical Board. Thankfully, whatever those
disturbances were, they cleared fairly
quickly. Two years later, Verdi rejoined the
Saint Raphael staff, resumed his old
position as chief surgeon and accepted a
seat on the hospital Board of Trustees. After
this, only service in France from July 1918
Verdi making rounds with his nephew, Orlando Pelliccia, M.D.,and Sister Columba.Circa 1949.
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A LONG, DISTINGUISHED CAREERVerdis dedication to medicine, New Haven and helping people live better, longer lives continued throughout his career. He was
recognized for it many times, in many forums. But his receipt of the Advertising Club of New Havens Sixth Gold Medal Award
in 1940 for outstanding service to humanity is worth noting. More than 600 people attended the dinner to see Connecticut
Gov. Raymond E. Baldwin honor Verdi. But its not these facts that make the event interesting. What makes it stand out is that it
was one of the very few times Verdi spokein typically self-effacing fashionabout his career. The speech was printed in the
New Haven Journal-Courier. An excerpt:
As I thoughtfully review my career, I am impressed by the realization that I have responded to an environment created here in New
Haven many decades ago. It is true that I may have been endowed through inheritance with certain faculties. I constantly recall that my
mother was blessed with extraordinary deftness. Her hands did what her mind willed quickly and without apparent effort. That gift
probably was passed on, and I am grateful for that blessing. However, it has occurred to me frequently that if I had been brought to
On June 20, 1945,medical staff membersgathered outside thehospital after a surpriseparty to honor Verdi. He gave copies of this photograph to all who attended thecelebration, which Verdi called one of the happiest surprisesof my life. Verdi is the 16th man from the left, standing. Hes holding his handsbehind his back.
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21
another community, it is quite possible that I might have become a stone mason, a
street car motorman or a bricklayer.
These are all honorable occupations. I mean no disparagement of them. I wish
only to convey my conviction that it was the environment of this community which
inspired me almost forced me into a profession which is continuously
conspicuous for services to others.
Even as a young boy living in a humble home with Old World parents, I was aware
of the tremendous prestige and influence of one of the worlds greatest
universities. I became aware at an early age of the opportunity which a community
like this affords. But as the sense of opportunity came to me, I was also conscious of
the obligations which accompany such opportunity.
In accepting this honor, I wish to express the ardent hope that the same spirit
of friendliness, the same urge toward improve ment, the same understanding of our
natural interdependence which have characterized this city throughout its history
may continue and be an example among other communities of the best way in
which to live
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to January 1919 during World War I would take him away from Saint
Raphaels. He was there to stay.
VERDIS TRULY GRAND ROUNDS
Back at the job and hospital he loved, Verdi worked seven days a week; rarely
took a vacation; and became famousif not somewhat infamousfor the way
he conducted patient rounds. Garofalo recorded a detailed account of these
truly grand rounds. Wrote Garofalo:
The performance would start at about 9 a.m. Gisto, his chauffeur, would
drive him to the entrance of H.S.R. In walked this tall, very handsome,
well-built man who was impeccably dressed and distin guished looking. As
he walked along, there was an aura of greatness about him.
Sister Columba would meet him at the entrance and put a flower in his
lapel. Then she escorted him, arm in arm, up to (the top floor of the hospital)
Private 6.
In the meantime, Dr. Allen, his ever-faithful and long-time assistant, prepared the
way and made sure that every detail was taken care of. The procession started, and
there followed floor nurses, central supply nurses, interns, residents, referring
physicians, etc. It was quite a spectacle. The entourage moved from one patients room
to another. Then they would descend to the next floor, until all the patients were seen.
Judging by the profound respect and affection Verdis coworkers appeared to have for him,
no one seemed to be put off by these regal displays. Perhaps this is because Verdi was as hard
working as he was gifted.
When emergency surgeries were needed at night, Verdi was often the first to respond. In
his mind, the patient came firstalways. If you didnt treat that patient well, hed go wild,
recalled the late surgeon Mario G. Conte, M.D., during a 1990 interview. If (you didnt follow
his rules) in the operating room, you got hell.
No wonder nurses and staff would shake in their bootsas many accounts recalled
when they saw Verdi coming.
At the outbreak of World War I, 46-year-old
Verdi volunteered his surgical skills to the U.S.
Army and was commissioned a Medical Corps
major. He served units near the front lines as
chief of the Chateau Thierry operating team
and later played an important part in caring
for men wounded uring the Battle of Meuse-
Argonne. While overseas, he helped pioneer
a new lung-chest operation that led to
countless saved lives on the battlefield. For
this and other accomplishments, he was
awarded a Distinguished Service Medal.
22
From left, JeremiahB. Sullivan, M.D.,Verdi, NurseMcKenna and JosephD. Russo, M.D.
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23
Nurse Sexton, who in the 40s took care
of many of Verdis patients, remem bers
Verdi as being immaculate: Whatever he
was doing, he always did it perfectly,
whether it was surgery or his appearance.
He was a perfectionist and would scold
people if they didnt do the right thing.
He also deeply cared for people. Sexton
remembers one time when Verdi thought
she was too skinny and poured her a glass of
milk. When an emergency required surgery
in the middle of the night, Verdi would have
Gisto bring the staff rolls, bread, coffee and
pastries. Dr. Verdi was so good to the
nurses, Sexton said. Surgery and work
were his whole life. It gave him such
pleasure to see patients get well. He
instinctively knew what to do.
Former New Haven City Engineer
William Bolton shared with the New Haven
Evening Register a tale about Verdis
kindness. Bolton recalled how when he was
a former band leader, one of his musicians
needed an operation, but had no money
to pay for it. Verdi successfully operated
on the impoverished musiciana Yale
student named Rudy Valleeand refused
any payment.
Verdi performingsurgery. Circa 1942.
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24
After Vallee became a famous crooner, he tried several times to pay for the operation, but Verdi continually
refused. Determined to pay in some way, Vallee appeared at Saint Raphaels one day and gave a private concert
for Verdis patients.
I am in love with my work, Verdi once remarked. If I had my life to live over again, Id follow the same
path. Friends ask me why I dont retire. Why, I couldnt retire! I love my work so much I want to be at it every
waking moment.
Nine years after that speech, in 1949, Verdi collapsed in the operating room. Many believe he suffered a
stroke. Sadly, he was unable to work again. In the last few years of his life, he allegedly suffered dementia.
Verdi died on Easter Sunday, April 21, 1957, at the age of 84. Yet it seems that for all of those last years,
Saint Raphaels was rarely out of his thoughts. Doctors, friends, family and community leaders made up a
steady stream of visitors. And the nurse who once cared for his patients, Mary Sexton, became his private
nurse at home.
In a bittersweet memory, Sexton recalled seeing Verdi sitting at the breakfast table during those last
years. He would pick up a butter knife, fork or fountain pen and go through the motions of cutting, suturing
and performing surgery. His hands remembered what his mind did not.
Verdi was absolutely intuitive, said his great-niece Susan DiSesa Sheeline. Like the way Mozart
looked at a piano and knew how to play, my great uncle looked at the human body and knew his way
around it. There is great honor and nobility in being a physician. To heal and to serve is a real calling.
William Verdi had that calling.
Verdi groomed his nephew, Orlando Pelliccia, Jr., M.D., to succeed him as Saint Raphaels surgery chief. Pelliccia took over this job in 1953, after being one
of the first Italian-Americans to attend the prestigious Choate School in Wallingford and then graduate from Yale University and Johns Hopkins Medical
School. Pelliccia was the son of Verdis sister Rose, Verdi Pelliccia, who worked as a bandage washer and surgical assistant during Verdis early years.
Relatives believe Pellicciawho fondly referred to Verdi as Uncle Nineyhad the same inherent gift for medicine as his uncle. And Verdi was
determined to make sure his nephew was a success. Medicine was in his blood, said Mary Pelliccia, M.D., of Madison, Dr. Pelliccias second wife.
(Verdi) adored Orlando, but was harder on him than the other doctors, because he recognized Orlandos potential. He wouldnt let Orlando get away
with anything, and Orlando never stopped being afraid of him.
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the tiny seed sown in 1907 has flourished by God s grace
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26
Chapter 3the first thirty years
ith doctors like William Verdi and a state-of-the-art medical facility,
Saint Raphaels quickly became the hospital of choice for many New
Haven residents. But success brought its own share of problems.
Just five years after opening its doors, the Hospital of Saint Raphael
was already bursting at the seams.
The Saint Marys Building could no longer accommodate the ever-
increasing number of patients turning to Saint Raphaels for care.
The School of Nursing dorm was at capacity with 40 students,
forcing staff to turn away qualified applicants. And the Saint Raphael
chapelessential to the institutionhad become too small to
accommodate the Sisters for daily Mass, let alone physicians, staff
and patients.
DAILY LIFE HAD BECOME A DAILY LOGJAM
The hospitals 1912 annual report shows Saint Raphaels caring for an
amazing 2,136 patients1,386 Catholics, 83 Hebrews, 653
Protestants and 14 of unknown religion. Following the caring
mission the Sisters of Charity established (and Saint Raphaels
continues today), much of this care was delivered free; 5,250 days
of free board and treatment, the report states.
Saint Raphaels was winning the heart of the community, as a
newspaper editorial from the time proves:
Although this hospital is the youngest institution of its
kind in the city, the amount of relief it has afforded those
sick and suffering, and its success from a medical
standpoint, cannot be over-estimated. The amount of free
treatment furnished to those unable to pay reflects
unbounded credit on Saint Raphaels staff and on the
humanitarian spirit of (its) management
No doubt many of the good feelings about the hospital came from
staff members themselves. It was an exciting time; a happy time,
with employees feeling like members of one big family. In the early
1900s, healthcare workers didnt have highly specialized roles as
they do today. There was a formal atmosphere and a rigid chain of
command. But like a family, everyone pitched in as necessary. In
crises, the cooks helped roll bandages. The bookkeeper chipped in
to help move patients. And when high tides and heavy rains made the
sewer system back up, everyone grabbed a mop. Employees worked
long and hard with little vacation and meager compensation. But the
Sisters living and working at the hospital inspired staff members to
give as selflessly as they did.
Although Saint Raphaels founding Sisters left no written account
of these early days, some history has been preserved, passed down
by word of mouth. Former Saint Raphael Administrator Sister Louise
Anthony shared some of these stories before she died in 1997. (Read
W
-
more about Sister Louise in Chapter 7.) On
a cassette recorded for the Saint Raphael
archives, Sister Louise talked about the
original Sisters first few years.
The Sisters lived in a makeshift apart -
ment in the Barnes mansion attic and had
nothing, Sister Louise explained. They sat
on orange crates. They didnt even have a
spoon. If they wanted a cup of coffee, they
had to stir it with a nail.
There was also no time for rest or
relaxation. During the day, the Sisters cared
for patients, plus cleaned and ran the
hospital. At night, they did all the hospital
laundryby hand. They strug gled and
they worked very hard, Sister Louise said.
World events also conspired to com -
pound the challenges Saint Raphaels was
facing. World War I raged from 1914-18, and
many physicians, interns and nurses
enlisted and served for several years. Saint
Raphael nurse Irene Flynn, School of
Nursing Class of 1916, was among the
Americans who died nursing the wounded
in France. In 1918, a virulent influenza
epidemic caused sick and dying patients to
crowd hospitals around the world,
including Saint Raphaels. The hospital
treated 196 cases in three months with 48
patients and two student nurses dying.
Yet with the same faith and gumption
that helped found Saint Raphaels, the hos -
pital continued to grow.Construction began
on a new four-story wing named the Saint
Ritas Pavilion in 1919. It opened in 1921,
increasing hospital capa city to 200
(accounts vary slightly). One of the first
facilities to devote entire floors (the second
and third) to private rooms, it also housed
the X-ray department, laboratory, labor
rooms and, from the mid-40s to mid-60s, the
convent. After the convent was relocated,
these rooms were transformed to deluxe
patient rooms with bathrooms, carpeting
and meals served on fine chinamore like a
hotel than a hospital.
For many patients, the Saint Rita rooms
felt like home. Not only was the dcor
home-like, but some people at this time
stayed hospitalized for several weeks,
months or even years. A newspaper account
in the late 1920s on the death of Charles P.
Bohan, who suffered from paralysis, said he
had been a patient at Saint Raphaels for 17
years! Records show it wasnt uncommon
for homeless residents, or those without
family, to stay for two to three years.
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29
Perhaps the most cherished feature of
Saint Ritas, however, was the spacious
chapel with intricate stained glass win dows.
Everything important happened in the
chapel, remembered Dorothy Scott, a
member of the Saint Raphael School of
Nursing Class of 1948. It was the core of all
our spiritual training. The chaplain gave
classes in religion, the nuns played the organ.
On feast days, the student body would sing.
Some of my classmates got married in the
chapel, they loved it so much.
Looking back at this era, Saint Raphaels
in 1928 published a review of its first 20
years. In 1908, 256 patients were treated at
the hospital. By 1927, that number increased
18-fold to 4,668. These patients reported a
diversity of occupations, ranging from a
candy maker, corsetiere, corset cutter and
pugilist, to gate keepers, hatters, fire men,
physicians, stenographers and teachers.
Their ailments varied, but one report
noted a striking variety of surgical
pathology cases, including an unusual series
of rare tumors of the mouth. One case
apparently showed a secondary tumor of
the ankle, representing the only instance
on record in American liter a ture. Another
very remarkable opera tive specimen
was a resected portion of the esophagus due
to cancer.
The number of physicians more than
doubled in the first two decades, with a
total of 33 on the medical staff. There were
also now four medical school residents;
10 special department tech ni cians;
80 student nurses; and 50 assistants and
hired helpers.
Saint Ritas Chapel circa 1944.
The central portions of the windows were saved and are now displayed in thehospital. (left)
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30
Overseeing these caregivers, other staff
and patients were 12 Sisters of Charity who
lived on-site at the hospital. The score of
years (past) since the founding of Saint
Raphaels has brought its share of trials and
adversities incident to such undertakings,
the 1928 report stated. But the tiny seed
sown in 1907 has flourished by Gods grace,
and its laborers look forward to the
progress that lies ahead, confident that
Divine Guidance will not fail them and that
the blessings they invoke on the friends and
bene factors of the institution will be given
to the hundredfold.
TIME OF TRANSITION
With the stock market crash of 1929, New
Haven and the rest of the nation sank into
the Great Depression. Although there was
an overall economic downturn across the
nation and the world, New Haven was not
hit as hard as many cities. Still, times were
hard, and its not surprising that Saint
Raphaels launched no headline-grabbing
construction during the 30s, erecting only a
laundry facility and small pediatric pavilion.
During this period, the Sisters of
Charity worked tirelessly to meet the
increasing needs of many people in
the community. In September 1933, a clinic
offering pre-natal and post-natal care to
deserving mothers moved to Saint
Raphaels from Saint Anthonys Infant
Home at Prince and Gold streets. Along
with clinic care, patients received six
weeks of home infant care instruc tions,
supported by the Catholic Charity League.
But it was a difficult decade as well,
because many of those so instrumental in the
hospitals founding died or retired. Sister
Immaculatas 22-yearadministration came to
an end with her resignation in 1932; she died
four years later. In a tribute, the hospital
administration recognized her unique place in
Saint Raphaels history:
Sister M. Immaculata came to
New Haven to take charge of the
Hospital of Saint Raphael Sister
strong and undismayed by virtue of
her obediencemet and overcame
almost insuperable ob stacles. Her
quiet forcefulness inspired her co-
workers with confi dence, and soon
their energy, and hers was felt in
every department. Her prayer -
fulness, gentleness and strength of
character created an atmosphere of
spirituality, affa bility, and loyalty.
THE WAY IT WAS
Its fairly easy to document, and show the
scope, of Saint Raphaels physical growth in
these early decades. Increases in buildings,
beds, funds, patients and staff can be seen in
black and white. What isnt so easy to
capture is the camaraderie, color and feel of
daily hospital life. But because these years
created the founda tion for what Saint
Raphaels is today, its important to try.
For help, we turn to the recollections of
surgeon Mario Conte, M.D., who came to
Saint Raphaels as an intern in 1935.
Everything was for the patients comfort,
said Conte, who studied medicine in Naples,
Italy. At the time, the hospital was divided
into private rooms, where patients were
attended by their own private physicians,
and wards, where patients were treated by
residents and interns who were supervised
School of Nursing class of 1912. The firstclass in 1911 only had one graduate.
-
by the attending physicians. The average cost of staying on the
public ward was $7 a week.
Everybody got wonderful attention from the attendings, said Conte
of the ward patients, as good as if they were private patients.
He and the other interns lived at Saint Raphaels during
their training and worked a grueling schedule. Like todays interns,
each was assigned to different areas of the hospital on a rotating
basis. Unlike todays interns, who by law cant work more than 80
hours a week, Conte and his colleagues sometimes worked around
the clockeven, when needed, going out on ambulance duty.
If you were in the surgery department, you got up early in the
morning, collected the patients blood and analyzed it. We did all the
lab work and had a couple of nights off a week. But when you
were off at 5 p.m., you had to be back on by 7 a.m. We were also on
call every night.
For this, each intern earned $10 a month plus room, board and
uniforms. When Conte became a resident, his salary was raised to $35 a
month. And after some complaining, we got $50, Conte chuckled.
Because there were no recovery rooms or intensive care units,
interns, residents and nurses had to closely care for surgery patients
32
Working closely with the Sisters, the medical staff guided Saint Raphaels growth by:
1910 Opening a fully equipped pharmacy
1911 Opening of a modern laboratory (beyond the one first established in the Barnes residence)
1919 Establishing a dedicated urology department.
1926 Opening St. Vincents Pediatric Pavilion
1928 Hiring two women for key positions: Helen M. Scoville, M.D., as a part-time pathologist, and Marguerite A. Eichstaedt, R.N., as the hospitals first full-time nurse anesthetist.
1932Hiring Robert Nesbit, M.D., as the first full-time pathologist. He further developed Saint Raphaels clinical laboratories and formed the Pathology Department.
1933 Opening a dental clinic under the direction of Drs. George Fahy, Donald Johnson, and William Flynn.
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33
First three decades of Saint Raphael administrators
19071909: Sister Mary Irmina McDonoughone of the four
founding sisters
19091910: Sister Rose Vincent
19101932: Sister Immaculata
19321937: Sister Catherine Regina
19371939: Sister Elenita
In February 1918, the cost of care at Saint Raphaels was
$1.50 a night for a bed in a multi-person ward
$2 to $5 a night for a private room
$2 for an ambulance call within city limits
$3 to $10 for each X-ray plate
By 1928, the cost of care rose to $17.50 per week in a general ward; $19
per week in a semi-private room (including medical and surgical attendance,
medications, nursing and laundry); and $30-$60 per week in a private room
and monitor conditions. Conte recalled how
Saint Raphael nurses were trained to
demonstrate a type of discipline almost
militaristic by todays standards. In their crisp
white uniforms and caps, nurses were
expected to stop what they were doing and
stand at attention whenever a doctor came
into the roomand they did.
Doctors of the time were rarely sued,
though they still carried malpractice
insurance. A physicians and surgeons
liability policy found in the Saint Raphael
archive for Israel Kleiner, M.D., Frank
McGuire, M.D., and others cost $12.50 a year.
The policy covered up to $10,000 for one
patient, with a $25,000 maximum for multiple
claims in a one-year period.
As simple as the healthcare system was
in the 20s and 30s, many look back on it
with fondness. Everybody cared for every -
body, said former nurse Edna Ribikoff, who
was interviewed in the mid-1990s for the
hospitals 90th anniversary. And although
those in authority de manded respect, they
also showed great kind ness to employees
and patients. One such figure was the head
nurse in obste trics, whom Ribikoff and
many others remember as Ma Ryan.
Her real name was Margaret Connolly
Ryan, and she had emigrated from Ireland as
a young woman. When her husband died in
1923 and left her with a 14-year- old son to
support, she entered Saint Raphaels School
of Nursing, where she picked up the
nickname that would distinguish her in Saint
Raphaels history.
Her son Jimmy Ryan, who served as an
altar boy in the hospitals main chapel for
many years, explained how she got the
nickname: Historically, student nurses
were kids right out of high school. When a
student nurse has a 14-year-old son, theres
a bit of a difference there, and thats where
Ma Ryan came into play.
Ma Ryans career got off to a fast start
when, three days before she graduated as an
R.N. in 1927, an Italian diplomat was shot in
his office and became a patient of Dr. Verdis.
They wanted a mature, good nurse,
Ryan explained, and they allowed my
mother out of training early. Ma Ryan
proved herself eminently capable and soon
became maternity supervisor.
-
We had to tow the line, Ribikoff remembered. There was no
hanky panky with her. It had to be done and done the right way.
At the same time, she was friendly, fun to work with and devoted
to her patients. She used to see when the mashed potatoes came up
from the kitchen downstairs that they had extra butter and extra
cream. She really and truly took care of her patients. Remember,
they used to spend 14 days in the hospital after having a baby.
Like soldiers, nurses and other employees learned to take
a certain amount of sternness from their superiors in stride
and even to expect it. As Ribikoff put it, We were ruled and
ruled properly.
ON PEOPLE AND PERSONALITIES
Like Ma Ryan, there are countless people who made an everlasting
mark on Saint Raphaels. In some cases, entire familieslike the
Flynn familyplayed an important role.
The community was very generous in its support, a commitment that continues today. Among the donations recorded in 1928
2 dozen pairs of window curtains
6 dozen articles of clothing from the Needle Work Guild
of America
Jelly, preserves, vegetables, condiments, ice cream, eggs, andat
Thanksgiving and Christmas12 prime turkeys and 2 geese
30 volumes of fiction for the library from graduate nurses
Down mattress, hair mattress, feather pillows, and linens
Hand-painted china tea set and bon bon dishes
Paschal candle, embroidered chapel linens, sanctuary carpet and chimes
James H. Flynn, M.D., was one of the hospitals founding
physicians and patriarch of a New Haven medical dynasty that
served both Saint Raphaels and the community. His nephew,
Charles T. Flynn, M.D., served as a Saint Raphael attending ear, nose
and throat surgeon for more than 50 years. Always active in civic
affairs, he was a presidential elector for President Franklin D.
Roosevelt and Vice President John N. Garner in 1936. He was also a
licensed pharmacist.
During his years of practice, Charles Flynn saw many unusual
cases. One involved a 3-year old boy who had swallowed a whistle that
became lodged in his vocal chords. Every time the boy breathed out,
he whistled uncontrollably. Fortunately, the doctor was able to
retrieve the whistle with a long pair of forceps.
No photos exist of thehospitals first x-raymachine, installed in 1912. But heres how the technology looked in 1937.
-
Another case was that of Albina Gejea, whose experience of
inhaling a tack made local headlines. She was admitted to Saint
Raphaels, where Charles Flynn performed a 20-minute procedure
using a bronchoscope to dislodge the tack from the mass of tissue that
had formed around it.
Yet the Flynn saga doesnt end with Charles. His younger brother,
William Henry Flynn, became the dentist who started Saint Raphaels
first dental clinic in 1933. In addition, two of Charles Flynns children
became doctors and two became dentists, some of whom practiced
at Saint Raphaels.
There are notable patients, as well. Today, patient confidentiality
is paramount. But back in the early 20th century, injuries, surgery
and illness were routinely covered in local newspapers, including the
New Haven Register.
Back Broken, Dennis Boyle Will Recover was one such Register
headline in May 1911, after the man fell from a building on Crown
Street. Later that month, there was a follow-up story: Lives with
Broken Back, Case of Dennis Boyle Regarded as Wonderful. First in
History of St. Raphaels. His Many Friends Hope Ultimate Recovery.
The article claimed Boyle was living with a completely severed spinal
column and resting on an air bed.
In June 1911, Operation on Womans Skull Restores Mind was
the title of a story about Mrs. M.M. Bard of Cleveland, Ohio, who was
prone to severe nervous attacks and decided to have surgery at
Saint Raphaels while visiting her sister in New Haven. Morris D.
Slattery, M.D., removed a section of Mrs. Bards skull and brain.
Before the operation, Mrs. Bard had a perfect craze for piano
playing, feared water, feared being at the top of any elevation and
35
-
was subject to shocking nervous attacks, a New Haven newspaper
reported. The operation has effected a complete and marvelous
cure and Mrs. Bard is now a perfectly normal woman.
Around the same time, Frank Steele of Old Saybrook got caught
in a motorized washtub that tore off his clothes and mangled his left
arm. Thankfully, he was successfully treated by a Dr. Crowe (first
name unknown) at Saint Raphaels.
MOVING AHEAD
As these stories colorfully illustrate, life at the young institution was
seldom dull. It also, apparently, was never empty. By the end of the
1930s, overcrowding was again an issue. With insurance and pre-
payment plans making hospitalization more accessible to more
people, the demand for Saint Raphael services (as well as semi-
private and private rooms) was growing. Even with 220 beds, 40
bassinets plus 57 extra beds crowded in, many patients were being
turned away in 1938 for lack of room.
To get needed space, the Sisters negotiated the purchase
of the Arnold College property abutting the hospital. The
$110,000 dealfor land and buildings at what is today the corner of
Chapel Street and Sherman Avenuewould provide the space
needed to expand.
36
The buildings of Arnold College (right),acquired by SaintRaphaels in 1939. Thebuildings were razed tomake way for the newconstruction (below).
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The morality of society depends upon the woman. She is the mother, the teacher and the nurse
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38
Chapter 4SAINT RAPHAEL SCHOOL OF NURSING
hen the School of Nursing graduated 11 students in 1912,
the Right Rev. John Joseph Nilan, archbishop of Hartford, addressed
the graduates. Whether modern readers chuckle or wince at his
sexist humor, the heart of his message was that nursing is a God-
given and noble profession. And perhaps nowhere has that belief
been more closely held than at Saint Raphaels.
There are some things that a woman is unfit for. She cant
throw a stone at a chicken without working harm to
everyone but the chicken. Its possible she has a right to the
ballot, but its probable shell never get it. I wouldnt trust her
with a knife, but if a question of endurance or patience is
concerned, she is preeminently in her place. In doing
everything about the sick room, in soothing the fevered brow,
in bandaging wounds, in lifting the aching limb, excuse me,
doctors, she is your superior.
Nursing, as a profession (requires you to) recognize you are not
dealing with logs or machines, but with the noblest work of God, the
human body. In it is the immortal soul, and you must reverence
that body as the temple of the Holy Ghost. Be faithful to your
physicians and patients, but above all be loyal to the
commandments of God. The morality of society depends upon the
woman. She is the mother, the teacher and the nurse, and she must
not forego any of her womanly prerogatives Nilan said.
From the first nursing student who entered in 1908 to the last class
that graduated in 1977, the Saint Raphael School of Nursing
produced not just some of the most compassionate and dedicated
nurses, but some of the most skilled. The founding physicians and
Sisters of Charity demanded that early nurses meet the highest
standards of professional ability and decorum, and thats what the
School of Nursing produced for all of its 69 years.
HOW IT STARTED
With the Sisters of Charitys expertise as both educators and
caregivers, opening a school of nursing seemed natural. It also
assured a steady stream of superbly trained nurses to staff the new
hospital.
First called the Training School for Nurses, the school opened
with the arrival of its first student, Mary Agnes Smith, in 1908. Like
all future students, she lived on the hospital campus, which provided
total immersion in the field and almost round-the-clock training. She
was also the lone graduate in 1911.
More students quickly followed, and in 1912 the first formal
graduation ceremony was held. Eleven students received diplomas.
The following year, the name was changed to the Saint Raphael
School of Nursing, with more students applying than room allowed.
W
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The class had grown to 40 members,
with the school being praised for the quality
of nurses being produced. Most credited the
mix of practical and class room training for
students success. And apparently, this good
work paid off in many ways.
Saint Raphaels received many com pli -
ments for the great care nurses provided. In
1924, however, it also received a much-
needed financial one. In thanks for the
loving care his wife received at Saint
Raphaels, Waterbury resident Truman S.
Lewis donated the funds to build and
furnish a dedicated School of Nursing
building. With this new building, the school
was able to more than triple enrollment.
For the next 50 years, as many as 150
students could beand wereenrolled at
any given time.
Another milestone in the develop ment of
the schools physical plant came with the
1939 purchase of the Arnold College
gymnasium on the corner of Sherman
Avenue and Chapel Street. The multi-story
brick building was subse quently moved to a
new location on George Street. The sight of
the massive structure inching along on
railroad ties is one that few of the spectators
would forget.
It was a tremendous undertaking and not
one single brick was out of place. It was a
masterpiece, said Mary Crocco, a member of
the School of Nursing class of 1942.
They told us it was the first brick
building that had ever been moved in
Connecticut, Sister Louise Anthony
recalled in an oral history taped years ago.
It was moved manually, not with horses.
Even the piano was still in there.
In its new location, the gym was re named
the Education Building. Al though it did house
classrooms, it also retained some of its
original function. The gym nasium on the
upper floor was retained and used by
nursing students for basketball, roller
skating, archery and other activities. But the
odds-on favorite was basketball.
When I was there, they had basketball
teams, and they had good games, said
former instructor Sister Jean Vincent, who
taught at Saint Raphaels from 1953 to 1960.
One thing I remember was a girl whose
name was Phyllis Fitzgerald. At the same
time we had a doctor who was great at
A $100,000 donation from retired Waterbury
manufacturer Truman S. Lewis created a modern,
four-story brick building for nursing students to
learn and live in. Named after Lewis late wife Selina
M. Lewis in honor of the loving care she received
here, the building still stands today on the George
Street side of the Saint Raphael campus, next to the
Father Michael J. McGivney Center for Cancer Care
parking lot.
When construction was completed in December
1925, newspapers described the building, including a
nursing school office; lecture and demonstration
rooms; 62 private and 27 double bedrooms; basement
laundry and ironing rooms; and an electric elevator
for easy access.
This memorial is no bleak, lifeless monument in
stone, but a spacious, handsome house of dwelling ...
(fit) for those caring for the sick and the injured, the
newspaper extolled.
Today the Selina Lewis building houses
the Saint Raphael Foundation and various
administrative offices.
1927 class ring
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cheerleading, and hed be up in
the balcony and hed say, Go
FitzgeraldDeadeye Fitzgerald!
Sister Louise recalled that on
some nights, she would listen to
the sounds of roller skates and
laughter emanating from the
Education Building as she tried to
fall asleep.
We Sisters were still young
enough to wish that we were over
there, she said.A sing-a-long in theEducation Building.
The Sisters wereknown to join instudent basketballgames.
School of Nursingbasketball team.
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A DAY IN THE LIFE
Judging from many former students recollections, the Saint Raphael
School of Nursing may have been more aptly named Saint Raphaels
Boot Camp for Nurses. Once students completed six months of
classroom training, they were expected to begin supervised, hands-
on training with hospital patients. Many of these young nurses were
no more than 18 years old.
Students followed this schedule for three full years with just two
weeks vacation each year. When not in class or on a nursing floor,
students were expected to study in their rooms.
Class of 1944 member Emily Frances Cavallaro Granata recalls
one of her first hands-on learning experiences at the hospital when
she encountered a young, scared woman who said it was time to
deliver her babyright now. I responded Dont do it now!
Granata wrote in a memoir about the time. Then, she said, doctors
gave her scissors and shoestring. Saint Raphaels had a way of
teaching you so you never forgot.
For all students, curfew was 10 p.m. But on special occasions,
they were given a late night when they could stay out until 11. They
were allowed to go home every other weekend from noon Saturday
to Sunday evening, plus had a half-day off each week.
Additional, specialized training was offered on a rotating basis at:
Connecticut State Hospital in Middletown, psychiatric care
Laurel Heights Sanatorium in Shelton, tuberculosis nursing
McCook Memorial Hospital in Hartford, communicable diseases
Most of our teachers were nuns, so we obeyed them out of
admiration, recalled Mary Sexton, a 1941 graduate. Girls
sometimes sneaked out to meet boys, but you had to take the
consequences if you were caught. They could send you home. We
always lived a little bit in fear, but it made us some of the greatest
nurses ever.
Sexton went on to become a Hospital of Saint Raphael head
nurse, supervisor and School of Nursing teacher. Nurses I
taught who then worked here at the hospital would tell me I was
strict. It was very rewardingseeing those girls progress and
get promoted.
In 1951, the school was among the first in the U.S. to be
accredited by the National League of Nursing.
While students were challenged by the rigors of a boot camp,
they also enjoyed the social bonding of a sorority house. Rita
HERE WAS A TYPICAL DAY
6 a.m. or earlier
Breakfast in the basement
coffee and a hard roll.
6:30 a.m.
Mass.
7 a.m.
Serve breakfast trays to patients;
give baths, treatments and
medications.
9 a.m. to 3 p.m.
Classesanatomy and physiology,
medical nursing, pharmacology,
ethics and religion.
3 to 11 p.m. or 11 p.m. to 7 a.m.
Staff medical floors under guidance of registered nurse.
7:30 to 9:30 p.m.
Tuesdays and Thursdays: Participate in athletic program.
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Callahan Hutchinson remembers being indoctrinated into a strict
sisterhood of rules and regulations.
The hem of your uniform had to measure 18 inches from the floor,
Hutchinson said with a laugh. If your shoes were dirty or you didnt
have a hairnet, you got campusedgrounded, so to speak. But we had
such closeness, formed lifelong friendships and had a lot of fun.
Maybeth Creagan Edwards recalled bursting into tears when she
learned nursing students had to work on Christmas Day. I had no
idea, Edwards said. I thought we got holidays off, like any other
school or job.
Edwards must have decided to accept the holiday commit ment,
because she went on to work at Saint Raphaels for 42 years,
eventually become an evening nursing supervisor.
The nurses trained at Saint Raphaels were
industrious and respectful, and they bent over
backward to please, said Paul Goldstein, M.D.,
a pediatrician who served as Saint Raphaels
Ambulatory Services chairman from 1975 to
1995. They were meticulous in patient care,
and in pediatrics very loving of children.
Student nurses were allowed to wear
traditional white, pointed nursing caps
after a six-month pre-clinical probationary
period. The caps marked the students
ability to step away from the classroom
and further their educations with hands-on, bedside
training. This was a privilege and honornow we felt like
responsible, dedicated nurses, wrote Class of 1924 graduate Ruth
Anderson McNamara Durkin.
WHEN NURSES WERE PLENTIFUL!
Despite todays national nursing shortage, there were times
when there were more nurses than opportunities. While student
nurses worked in all hospital areas in the mid-1940s, there
were often no hospital jobs for them after graduation. Many went on
to become visiting nurses, including Gertrude (Luft) Russell whose
comment about being a New Haven visiting nurse in 1932 is included
in Saint Raphaels archives. It says a lot of about the compassion of
Saint Raphael nurses, and the Sisters who worked with them:
I went to a home on Congress Avenue. It was a high rise and
this woman lived on the third floor, and when I got in to her,
all crippled up and in bed, oh, it was awfulno heat. It was
the dead of winter. I got back and met with one of the Sisters
and told her about the woman. She had me give her the name
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According to a recruitment brochure, the Saint
Raphael School of Nursing would help students:
Cultivate character based on religious principles
Teach the art of expert bedside nursing
Develop a sense of personal responsibility
Teach social graces
Learn health maintenance and disease prevention
Above all, it was a place to reinforce the values that Saint
Raphaels founders lived by: Discipline. Team Spirit.
Selflessness. Charity. The Sisters were intent on passing on
not just the mechanics of health care, but the spirit.
As the catalog states: the hospital and the School of Nursing
function under the Catholic ideal of nursing, namely that to
serve suffering humanity is to serve
Christ himself
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and street number and she called right then and there and
had coal delivered to that house.
RESPECTED FOR SKILL AND DIVERSITY
Elaine Hardy and the late Doris Jackson were the schools first African-
American students. Both graduated in 1949, with Hardy recalling a
superb education and very few run-ins regarding her skin color, despite
racial tensions of the day. After graduation, she moved to New York City
to seek advanced training as a nurse anes thetist and earned a bachelors
degree from New York University.
My old-fashioned, three-year training at Saint Raphaels served
me in good stead, Hardy said. They saturated us with knowledge,
so that it was in you forever.
Class yearbooks give clues to the close, spirited relationships
among students. In 1950, the senior class song, entitled The
Smoker, referred to the basement room in the Selina Lewis building
where smoking was permitted. Long before hospitals like Saint
Raphaels became smoke-free, this hazy hideaway was a hub of the
schools social life. Sung to the tune of Ive Been Working on the
Railroad, the songs lyrics are:
Weve been sitting in the smoker
All the livelong day
Were the high and mighty Seniors
Just to pass the time away
How about a little bridge game?
What dya sayYou have to go to class?
Ah, sit down and have a Camel
Thats the way to pass.
Taking a break in theSelina Lewis basement.
At work in theclassroom. Class of1959.
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In the evening, there were often sing-a-longs at the piano, and on
special occasions, the school held dances in the former Arnold Gym.
Sometimes, the students could even squeeze in a few hours for
courting, according to Sister Jean Vincent.
Many of the students would have men flocking at the door
to take them out, she said. The young woman would walk down the
steps into the lobby like a queen, and the young man would
be standing there and would say, Give me your coat. And he would
hold it, and she would slip her arm in. And he would run and open
the door.
GONE, BUT NOT FORGOTTEN
Despite the dedication of students and alumniand Saint Raphaels
devotion to themthe School of Nursing closed in 1977. On April 3,
1974, the seemingly inevitable news was released: The Hospital of
Saint Raphael today announced its board of trustees has voted to
close the hospitals schools of nursing and medical technology
Two factors contributed to the decision. First was a national
trend toward replacing three-year, hospital-based diploma nursing
schools with four-year, college-based degree programs. It was a
change promoted in 1966 by the American Nurses Association,
which the Sisters felt compelled to follow, recalled former Saint
Raphael President Sister Anne Virginie. Saint Raphaels and many
U.S. diploma schools of nursing3,000 at their peak in 1926
closed, with only 311 remaining by 1980.
It was a very traumatic timevery traumatic, Sister Anne said.
The Sisters kept a detailed ledger about nursing students, with
handwritten notes next to each name. Most of these notes are
short and succinct. But they convey a sense of the times and hint
at dramatic stories long forgotten, offering
a personal side of the profession. For example, reasons for nursing
students leaving Saint Raphaels included:
Too delicate for the work.
Very easily discouraged.
Home sick.
Failed exams, became discouraged.
Weak heart, related aches.
Died Oct. 13, 1918 of Spanish influenza.
A good, willing subject, but of too nervous temperament for
nursing.
Sent by the government during war; resigned when hostilities
ceased.
Unable to do class work required.
Married secretly while in training.
(Students were required to be single.)
Sister Louise Anthonywith two nurses. Date unknown.
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In the Selina Lewisbuilding parlor, 1942.
The second factor was increasing pressure from the federal
government for hospitals to reevaluate and cut back on costly
educational efforts, recalled Sister Louise Anthony. And there was no
doubt the school was costly. Even though students were charged
annual tuition, the school was not self-sustaining. Saint Raphaels
absorbed many thousands of dollars of expenses each year.
The School of Nursings incoming freshman class that graduated
in 1977 was its last. At the time of the announcement, 146 students
were enrolled. Sister Louise, herself an alumna, said the following in
a hospital news release: The Hospital of Saint Raphael School of
Nursing has enjoyed a long and proud tradition. I am personally
saddened that the school must close, but the long-range interests of
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School of Nursingoverflow dormitoryon Orchard Street.
Class of 63 alumnae worked across the hall
in the operating room, Dolores Guarino and
Arlene DeLuca Granata.
What makes Saint Raphaels so special
that the five would stay on for so long?
Saint Raphaels was always like a
family, Wnek said. When I got married in
1966, Sister Columba, who was on Private 3
with me, gave me a beautiful hand-carved
statue of the Blessed Virgin Mary that I still
have to this day. It was that kind of warm,
caring place.
Mary Kennedy has worked at Saint
Raphaels since graduating in 1977, mostly
in the Emergency Department (ED) and
mostly nights.
I love working in the ED because you
learn so much, Kennedy said. You see
certain traumas at night that you wouldnt
see on the day shift. We once delivered a
baby in a car just after it pulled into the
driveway of the hospital. Thats a good night
in the ED, when a baby is born.
Kennedy said shes proud to be a Saint
Raphael School of Nursing graduate. The
hands-on training made her immediately
ready after graduation to go to work on a
floor: When the school closed, it was the
end of an era.
both the hospital and nursing education are
best served by this decision.
Today, the spirit of the school is kept
alive in the more than 400 active alumni,
said Alumni Association President Theresa
(Terry) Santore Swan. Many graduates live
in the area and continue to meet regularly.
Its a tradition the groups held since its
founding in 1914.
Joan Kulack Wnek, a member of the Class
of 1963, entered the nursing school when she
was 17 and in 2007 celebrated working at
Saint Raphaels for 44 years. Before retiring,
she worked in Short-Term Surgery with two
of her classmates, Kathy McKiernan Magel
and Karen Zeender McCarthy. Two other
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