A Brief History of Maple-Bank Hospital

F. D. Brown, M.D.
Maple-Bank
Hobart, New York 13788

Villages surrounding Hobart had dwelling houses converted into hospitals. Maple-Bank was designed and built as a small village hospital for Hobart and its environs where dairying was the chief industry. Construction was begun in October 1938, and in January 1939, the first patient (obstetrical) was admitted. At its closing, 1 July 1942, 1,400 patients had entered Maple-Bank.

The physical setup consisted of a wide entrance and a large waiting room. Leading from one side of the middle of the waiting room was a long hall, and at another side a business-consultation room. The first room to the right as one went down the hall was a kitchen. To its left was a complete X-ray lab and leading off this was the emergency room. Next, on the right, was the bathroom. Opposite this was the laboratory. Two three-bed rooms on each side were then in order. These were followed by two private rooms. Finally, the operating room was on the right and a solarium on the left. For movement purposes, all doors were over-sized.

The maternity division was on the second floor. It consisted of two patient rooms, a labor room, a deliver room and a nursery.

The technical equipment was of the best. Modern operating instruments, a powerful X-ray, etc. represented the types employed. In fact, a new skin grafting machine was just an example of what another hospital borrowed.

Routine procedures, of course, comprised the bulk of admissions. However, dramatic operations were also performed successfully. Some examples were a brain repair for a fractured skull, a six-inch inlay grafted into an unhealed triple fracture of a leg and a tubed skin graft for an old radium burn.

The hospital was open to any doctor in good standing. Besides local physicians, specialists from Oneonta and Albany responded to particular needs.

On 1 July 1942, due to the majority of the medical staff joining the Army during World War II, Maple-Bank was closed. It is felt that its active presence was of great service to the community.