Michael Reese Hospital – pediatrics

Four special isolating units, each with its own bath and its own outside entrance, were to be used in cases where the diagnosis was in doubt or where the patient developed an acute infection. The wards were small and hall space was kept down to a minimum, in order to avoid unnecessary walking and carrying on the part of the nurses. Many windows, as well as doors and transoms with glass panels, gave promise of a maximum of light and air. On the fourth floor we planned private rooms, the first patient rooms for children of which I had any knowledge. Most of these had their own small porches. In the basement we had a large, airy place that we could use as a playroom for convalescents. A solarium and a well-guarded open space in the rook provided a spot where children could play or lie in the sunshine in warm weather or cold. . . . After working in hospitals which made little distinction between food for infants and adults, I was particularly pleased with the plans for the Sarah Morris diet kitchen and milk station. Here we were to have our own pasteurizing equipment, sterilizers, and other devices for making milk preparations. There was to be ample refrigeration, and we thought we had overlooked no detail that would contribute to the cleanliness of the place or the aseptic precautions.

 

The famous old Sarah Morris Children’s Hospital finally came down in 1968, replaced by the Klein Women’s Hospital and the Kunstadter Children’s Center, combined in one of the largest and busiest buildings on the hospital campus. The 12-story structure memorializes Dr. Sidney Klein, a Reese physician, and Albert and Samuel Kunstadter.

The Special Care Nursery in the Kunstadter Children’s Center is a newer version of the old premature station, which was housed in the old main building and then in Sarah Morris Hospital. A nasal-gastric tube feeds this baby a formula through its nose, and little gauze mittens prevent the baby from pulling the tube out. Electrodes attached to the chest measure respiration rate and heartbeat. The photo dates from the mid-seventies.