In June 1930, Dr. George H. Bigelow, the state commissioner of public health, pointed out additional inadequacies and further criticized the Holyoke Sanatorium. His lecture was presented in the auditorium of the Home Information Center.
He discussed changes to the state’s health laws, noting that the facility was undersized and that a county facility with 150 beds would better serve tuberculosis patients. He advocated preventive measures, including education and vaccinations, to minimize the number of cases. His speech supported the observations of M. I. T professor Murray P Horwood in his talk with the Holyoke Tuberculosis Association.
On May 11, 1933, the Holyoke Tuberculosis Association appointed a committee to coordinate with the Holyoke Board of Health and the State Department of Health to advise on the extent of the city’s tuberculosis problem.
The committee visited local sanatoriums. The larger Hampshire County Sanatorium had 100 beds, adequate X-ray equipment, and a fluoroscope. The Rutland facility was situated on 350 acres with 375 beds and 200 staff. The farm operated on the hospital property had 100 Holstein cows. Over 200 patients at the facility were receiving lung collapse therapy. Regular visits were made by two thoracic physician specialists from Boston. The fatality rate was lower than that at the Holyoke Sanatorium.
The committee’s recommendations, based on these visits, included open negotiations with the state regarding the care of male patients at the Rutland Sanatorium, seeking temporary accommodations in Springfield for female patients, and closing the Holyoke Sanatorium as soon as alternative patient care could be established and patients transferred.
In February 1934, the mayor, the Holyoke Board of Health, and the state’s commissioner of public health held further discussions concerning the condemnation of the Holyoke Sanatorium. A condemnation would result in an expedited transfer of patients. The long-held criticisms of the operation included a lack of discipline among the patients, a lax environment, and the failure to use up-to-date treatments to treat tuberculosis.
Mayor Henry J. Toepfert sought advice from the Holyoke medical community regarding the facility. One week later, in early February 1934, the committee established by the mayor recommended that the facility be closed. Several reasons, some previously cited in this writing, were used as rationale.
The state commissioner of public health indicated that Holyoke, Chicopee, and Springfield could lose their tuberculosis funding if the antiquated facilities are not closed. He stressed the recommendation of promoting a county facility to handle the cases.
In March 1934, the patients at the Holyoke Sanatorium weighed in, indicating they had not received their pneumothorax medications for two years, and that the Board of Health had denied some needed medications on cost grounds.
On May 12, 1934, the Board of Health, in collaboration with the mayor, announced the shutdown of the Holyoke Sanatorium. Women patients would be sent to the Carpenter Hospital, and men to Hampshire County, Springfield, and the Rutland facilities. In June 1934, 12 female patients were transferred to the nearby Carpenter Hospital, and 11 male patients were transferred to Rutland.
On August 11, 1934, the Board of Health announced that the final patients had been transferred and that the building would likely be boarded up on August 15, 1934.
Several ideas for the property’s use emerged, including the City Home using it as a greenhouse for plants and vegetables and as a summer camp for undernourished children.
The building was repaired in early August 1935 and used as a summer camp that year. Over 20 youngsters attended the summer camp. No further use was discovered for the property in subsequent years, nor could a demolition date for the building be found. In 1937, much of the soil was carted to add to the dike. It was stated that half of the hill where the sanatorium's orchard was located was removed. A late 1940s news article stated that the building had been razed many years earlier.
Citations:
Newspapers.com (paid subscription): Citations: Holyoke (Massachusetts) Transcript & Transcript-Telegram; Springfield (Massachusetts) Republican; publication dates and pages are shown.
Ancestry.com (paid subscription): Price & Lee Holyoke, Massachusetts, City Directories
Richard’s Atlas of Holyoke, Massachusetts (1911)
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