The El Paso County Medical Society was established January 4, 1879, as the professional organization for physicians in our community. Only three years earlier, Colorado was admitted as the 38th state of the Union following the territory’s expansion with the discovery of gold in 1858. City of Colorado Springs founded 1872 The Early Years 1876 Colorado becomes a state The city of Colorado Springs was founded in 1872, with the City Health Department created by ordinance in 1874. The El Paso County Medical Society was created at a meeting of local physicians on January 4, 1879. The first president was William Strickler, elected that year. During this time, patient care was provided in physician offices and homes. The first clinic was established in the mid‐1800’s when the Midland Railroad opened an employee infirmary with Dr. B.P. Anderson, a founding member of EPCMS, as the staff physician. The physicians of the community also started The Rocky Mountain Review, a professional journal for “the Sanatorium of America” in 1880. First hospital in Colorado Springs established At this time, there were no acute‐care centers in the community. In 1879, Colorado had recognized it was a popular destination for tuberculosis patients, and passed a law mandating that infected patients be kept separate from non‐infected patients. With Colorado Springs’ growing reputation as a “tuberculosis cure center” a hospital and a sanatorium were desperately needed in the community. 1887 The first hospital was St. Francis, started by the Sisters of St. Francis in 1887. Glockner Sanatorium opened early in 1890. Pure Food & Drug Act passed by Congress June 30, 1906 The Turn of the Century 1906 In 1908, one of the medical society’s committees wrote a letter to the pharmacists and druggists of the city asking these professionals to stop allowing their names to be included in the advertisements for patent medicine appearing in the local newspapers. The El Paso County Pharmaceutical Association members supported this request, and thus began the EPCMS tradition of our committees working to better the community. 1907 Beth‐El Hospital established Top 4 Causes of Death in Colorado:
TB Typhoid Scarlet Fever Diphtheria General William Palmer, the founder of Colorado Springs, donated land for a hospital in 1907. Construction was completed in 1911 on the Beth‐El Hospital, located on the present site of Memorial Hospital Central. March 1918 “18 cases of
influenza of a severe
type” reported by
Haskell County,
Kansas. Influenza
was not a reportable
disease at this time.
Reports of severe
influenza among
soldiers in Europe
In 1918 the community was addressing the issue of the immigration of large numbers of indigent tuberculars in the last stages of the disease. Meetings were held to discuss the care of the sick, their transportation, a possible county hospital, and Federal Aid. In 1918, the international influenza pandemic reached Colorado Springs, and the local physicians, City Health Department and the entire community cooperated to establish an effective quarantine strategy. The El Paso County Medical Society Secretary, Dr. Alexius Forster, sent a letter to the American Medical Association requesting guidance for the physician community in the “vaccinationists vs. anti‐vaccinationists” duel May 1918 July 1918 Influenza added to list of reportable diseases September 1918 1920 19th Amendment gives women the right to vote going on in the city. The practical advice sent in the return letter was “the profession will be true to its best traditions and will succeed in maintaining its position of dignity and honor by constituting itself an active factor in any movement calculated to protect the public health, whether it be a movement for pure water supply or a movement for the continuance of vaccination against smallpox or any other health movement.” Influenza widespread in
the civilian population in
Europe. From there, the
disease spread to Asia,
Africa, and South
America and, back to
North America.
In 1924, the medical society approved the formation of the Women’s Auxiliary in this county, as a branch of the National Women’s Auxiliary, as suggested by Mrs. Charles S. Morrison, the wife of a member. The aim of the auxiliary would be to teach preventative medicine in the rural communities. 1928 In the spring of that same year, the society was working to get all milk sold in the city pasteurized. By 1931, they were working to pass legislation at the state level, Senate Bill 34, entitled “A Bill for an Act to Prevent Smallpox Epidemics”. At this time, Colorado Springs was already a tourist destination. The summer of 1934 brought an outbreak of diarrhea, enteritis and typhoid to the city. The medical society recommended to local communities in the area that waste sewage treatment plants should be built to prevent the further contamination of local streams as the water from those streams irrigated locally grown vegetables; by 1939 they were recommending chlorination of local water supplies. 1943 The Post‐war Years Scottish scientist Alexander Fleming discovers penicillin September 28, 1928 Mass‐production of penicillin begins. Drug not available for civilians until the end of the war In 1943, the city purchased Beth‐El Hospital for $76,500, and re‐named it Memorial Hospital in honor of the men and women of Colorado Springs who lost their lives in World War II. 1945 Victory in the Pacific August 14, 1945 1946 1948 Last reported case of Smallpox in Colorado Victory in Europe May 8, 1945 The Colorado Springs Medical Center opened in 1946 as the first multi‐specialty group practice in the city, and one of the first in the nation. Greater numbers of physicians opened practices during the boom First multi‐specialty practice opens years, and offices migrated away from the downtown area into the newly populated neighborhoods and areas surrounding the three growing local hospitals. The El Paso County Medical Society remained active during the service of Colorado begins first local physicians in the two World Wars, immunization program continuing its mission to improve the practice of medicine and the health of the community as the city changed during the Post‐war years. The scientific program offered to members of the society in April 1950 was titled “Recent Advances in Antibiotics and Chemo‐therapeutic Agents in the treatment of Tuberculosis.” At this event, the Pikes Peak Hill Climb Association requested the society provide medical coverage for their Labor Day event. The members of EPCMS voted against changing the bylaws of the society to permit the formation of a medical union if such became necessary. A little later that same year, the society brought information to the members about socialized medicine and how it would alter physicians’ practices. Medicare and Medicaid programs signed into law July 30, 1965 During the 1950’s, the society worked to increase payments to physicians from insurers, and volunteered to perform sports physicals for School District 11 athletes. 1965 Penrose Community Hospital, formerly Colorado Springs Community Hospital, was founded in 1975. WHO announces eradication of Smallpox 1979 Top 4 Causes of Death in Colorado: Malignant neoplasms Heart disease Chronic lower respiratory diseases Unintentional Injuries