September 20, 2009

TJ 80 years celebration

Pioneers set hospital’s direction

By JOEL WILSON

GLASGOW — The foresight of a country doctor, the steadfastness of a medical pioneer, and the generosity of a beloved Glasgow businessman are three of the treasured stories associated with the founding of the T.J. Samson Community Hospital.

The hospital observed its 80th anniversary Saturday with a celebration in the facility’s lower parking lot. The public was invited to the free event.

Founding of the hospital was chronicled in the special section in last Sunday’s Glasgow Daily Times. It related how Dr. C.W. Froedge first introduced the idea of a community hospital to Glasgow civic leaders, how noted Glasgow physician and medical pioneer Dr. C.C. Howard championed the idea, and how Glasgow businessman and philanthropist T.J. Samson agreed to bankroll the venture.

These men, whose stories are told here, are just three of the thousands of dedicated individuals who have labored to make the T.J. Community Hospital the remarkable community treasure it has become during the 80 years it has existed.

Dr. C.W. Froedge

Charles Wesley Froedge was born November 13, 1865, in the Metcalfe County community of Subtle.

He graduated from the old Southern Normal School and began a six-year career as a teacher in the county schools. He then decided to enter the medical field and graduated from the University of Louisville Medical School in 1893 at the age of 27.

He immediately began practicing medicine in the Eighty Eight section of Barren County, but his rural practice grew to encompass the outlying area including the community of Summer Shade in Metcalfe County.

Dr. Froedge was highly regarded as an upright Christian gentleman who had great compassion for those he ministered too. An example of that compassion was most evident in a letter he had handwritten to a couple who had lost an infant. The letter is one of a treasured collection of memorabilia kept by one of Dr. Froedge’s granddaughters, Mrs. Emogene Riherd of Glasgow. The words expressed in the poignant letter clearly demonstrated Dr. Froedge’s empathy at the loss of a child.

He was also known for his dedication to his patients, often riding miles in inclement weather at all hours of the day or night on his faithful white horse Dan, to see a sick patient.

He continued to serve the medical needs of that area until his semi-retirement in 1926 even after he had moved to Glasgow in 1919, seeing patients in his home office on East Main Street. Dr. Froedge continued to see patients until the final day of his life. He never drove a car and after moving to town, he depended on other modes of travel including the family of patients who would come fetch him from his home.

It was there around the time of his unofficial retirement that he read an article in a medical journal describing the Commonwealth Fund, which was about the business of financially supporting small rural communities in building hospitals.

Dr. Froedge took the article to the Glasgow Chamber of Commerce, which at the time was trying to raise $25,000 for an addition to Dr. C.C. Howard’s Maplewood Infirmary, Glasgow’s first hospital.

Civic leaders led by the Chamber contacted the Commonwealth Fund and thanks to Dr. Froedge’s foresight, it was the genesis of the hospital we have today.

Dr. Froedge was also a devoted husband and father. He and his wife Sallie Travis Froedge were the parents of five sons, Flava, Evert, Charles Orbin, Orlin Rollin and Hughie Froedge and a daughter, Evelyn Froedge Painter. None of his sons became doctors but three of his grandsons, Dr. Max Painter, Dr. Jerry Froedge, and Dr. Evert Murrel Froedge became doctors. Altogether Dr. Froedge had 10 grandsons and seven granddaughters. In addition to those already mentioned, grandchildren, 10 of whom survive, include Earl Hurt Froedge, Elwood Travis Froedge, Charles Maxwell Froedge, Ferrell June Froedge, Don Travis Froedge, Jack McKee Painter and Billy Follis Painter, Alene Reneau, Leola Crossman, Emogene Riherd, Anita Scott, Joye Nunn, Sallie Woodcock, and Egie Landers.

Dr. Froedge died on August 7, 1938. Funeral services were held at the Beech Grove Baptist Church. His pallbearers included Dr. C.C. Howard, Dr. Clifton Richards, Dr. E.L. Palmore, Dr. J.W. Acton, Dr. Paul York, Dr. A.T. Botts, Dr. Clifton G. Follis and Dr. Oren Beaty.

As pointed out in his obituary, Dr. Froedge championed a hospital he would never himself use, simply because he was a good doctor who wanted the best for his patients.

Dr. C.C. Howard

If ever a community had a patron saint, for Glasgow it would have been Dr. Carl Clifford Howard.

Medically, Dr. Howard was one of the most highly respected physicians and surgeons in the country. As a civic leader, hardly a bit of community progress didn’t have his fingerprints on it.

As a doctor, he ushered modern medicine into a small rural, mostly agricultural town. He was a visionary who had a profound impact on the growth and development of Glasgow and Barren County.

There were so many “firsts” introduced by Dr. Howard it would be almost impossible to list them all here. The honors paid to him over the years are legendary.

Dr. Howard was born in 1888 at Summer Shade in Metcalfe County, son of Dr. Thomas S. and Queen Langford Howard.

After graduation from the University of Louisville College of Medicine, he opened his medical practice in Glasgow in 1912 at the age of 24. He walked to see his patients in the city and rented a buggy when he had to travel outside town. There were no hospitals or nurses in the town and operations were often performed in the home with family members providing the only assistance.

He opened his own hospital, the Maplewood Infirmary on Columbia Avenue with 12 beds in 1914, the same year he was married to his lifetime helpmate, Julia Franklin.

Dr. Howard brought the first medical laboratory to the community and even paid for a young woman to train as a medical technician. He and Dr. C.C. Turner brought the first X-ray equipment to Glasgow.

Dr. Howard closed his practice and the infirmary in 1917 to volunteer for the medical corps in WWI, serving in France. After the war, he resumed his practice and the hospital in Glasgow.

Learning from his experiences in France, he organized an ambulance service for critically ill patients who were carried on cots to his infirmary, often in Model T Fords. In 1921, Dr. Howard began giving blood transfusions and brought the first radium to Glasgow.

He also brought the first insulin and penicillin into the community.

While in the midst of trying to raise funds to enlarge his infirmary, the movement began to establish a community hospital, an idea Dr. Howard enthusiastically endorsed.

On the day in 1929 the Community Hospital opened, Dr. Howard closed the infirmary and moved his patients to the new hospital.

Dr. Howard was recognized statewide for his achievements and in 1934, he was elected president of the Kentucky Medical Society. He also served 25 years on the Kentucky Medical Council, three terms as chairman.

Dr. Howard played a leading role in securing the TB hospital for Glasgow and in 1946, opened the Howard Clinic on Washington Street, present location of the Barren County Health Department.

He also started a scholarship fund for rural medicine and championed the cause of bringing doctors to isolated rural areas. In a recent tribute to Dr. Howard on KET, former governor Ned Breathitt recalled an early morning phone call from Dr. Howard.

“Ned, we need a doctor in Martin County. They don’t have one. If you’ll build an office and a clinic up there, I’ll get a doctor,” Breathitt remembered. “I built that clinic and Dr. Howard got them a doctor.”

Not all of his achievements were in the field of medicine. He also fought for community causes, even serving on the city council in order to get a clean water system for the town. He also was a leader in the effort to bring cheap electric power to the community along with many other civic efforts.

Yet for all his accomplishments, Dr. Howard never sought recognition for himself and it was clear that monetary reward was not a driving force in his life.

Dr. Howard and his wife Julia were the parents of four daughters, Mildred Howard, Lois Howard Gray, Dr. Carolyn Howard McKinley, and Mary Lloyd Howard Lessenberry.

There were two granddaughters and nine grandsons, two who became doctors, Dr. Barrett Lessenberry and Dr. George Franklin McKinley.

T.J. Samson

Of the three men recognized here, probably the least is known about Thomas J. Samson who contributed $25,000 to the fund, which help build the hospital.

In his obituary, which appeared in the April 22, 1937, issue of the Glasgow Republican, it said Mr. Samson arrived in Glasgow from Tennessee with little more than a dream.

He went on to build a successful business, the Samson Tobacco Company that employed as many as 150 at its zenith. He was known for his benevolence and generosity and gave to many local causes, including an effort to bring a library to the community.

During the fundraising efforts for the hospital, a banquet was held on Feb. 15, 1927, at the Methodist Church to begin collecting pledges. During a dramatic moment, it was announced that Mr. Samson had withdrawn his pledge of $5,000. After a brief moment of excitement, it was announced that instead Mr. Samson would pledge his stock in his company plus an additional sum to bring his donation to $25,000 for the right to have the hospital bear his name. Although the Community Hospital was opened in 1929, it was not until 1935, two years prior to his death, that the hospital was named T.J. Samson Community Hospital.

In his obituary, it was reported that Mr. Samson had gone to his 800-acre farm on the Barren River near the Lucas community with a potential livestock buyer. Mr. Samson became ill while at the farm and later collapsed in the buyer’s car. He was taken to a nearby garage at Lucas where the owner and a mechanic attempted to revive him but he was pronounced dead there.

A search of his quarters revealed no will, and three Glasgow businessmen were appointed to administer his estate since he had no living relatives in Glasgow. A sale of his farm at Lucas and another farm on the Bowling Green Road was scheduled about two months after his death but was postponed after a surviving sister and several nieces and nephews were found in Tennessee.

Mr. Samson, who was beloved by those who worked for him and by his many friends, is buried in the Glasgow Municipal Cemetery.

The years that followed

All three of the gentlemen described above lived to see the hospital they helped to establish, grow and serve Glasgow and the surrounding area in ever improving ways.

The first expansion came in 1940 with a 40-bed addition known as North Hall.

In 1952, another expansion was completed with the addition of new operating rooms, a delivery room, X-ray department, an employee dining area and additional storage facilities.

In 1955, with the help from a grant by the Ford Foundation, the Glasgow School for Practical Nurses was begun and the first 33 students were welcomed in January 1957.

With growing demand for beds, another expansion began in 1960 and was completed in 1962 with space including a new laboratory.

A new façade was begun in 1970, which included a new entrance, lobby, business offices, snack bar, gift shop and physical therapy area.

A three-floor $5.2 million expansion known as the L. Rogers Wells Sr. Special Services Annex was opened in 1980. The new annex houses the emergency room, radiology, coronary and intensive care units, operating suites, recovery rooms and waiting rooms. It also included a lobby for the emergency area, nuclear medicine and eight transitional care rooms for cardiac rehab patients.

In 1997, the University of Louisville Glasgow/Barren County Family Medicine Residency program was introduced and in October 2000, the new Emergency Department opened for business. The expansion added a step-down obstetrics unit, and pharmacy. The expansion added 122,000 square feet to the hospital at a cost of just over $20 million.

The hospital became an affiliate of Planetree in May 2004.

And over the past 10 years, a number of new services have been implemented including adult day care, Barren River Regional Cancer Center, Pain Management Clinic, Statcare, Hospice, Kidney Care Center, Child Care Center, Sleep Disorder Clinic, and Wound Healing and Hyperbaric Medicine Center.

Presently underway is a new Women’s Health Care Center to be located on recently acquired property on Glenview Drive where future plans are for the construction of a new outpatient facility.

With the 80th anniversary celebration, T.J. Samson Community Hospital revealed it has become one of the most advanced medical facilities in Kentucky, which began simply in 1929 but through the efforts of many, and has grown into a modern well equipped and professionally staffed community treatment center serving southcentral Kentucky.

EDITOR'S NOTE — Information was contributed by Emogene Riherd, granddaughter of Dr. Froedge, Robert A. and Mary Lloyd Lessenberry, she the daughter of Dr. Howard, and by Bart Logsdon, marketing director of the hospital.