Seattle General Hospital Elects Its First Medical Staff
After securing enough pledges to open the facility, the hospital board holds a ballot to select the city's leading physicians.
The board of governors of the Seattle General Hospital yesterday elected a medical staff, having secured promises of enough aid to warrant opening the institution. The staff was chosen by the medical men of the city under the Australian ballot system, 68 votes being cast, and the result was as follows: Eye, nose and throat, Dr. A. B. Kibbe; nervous diseases, Dr. C. W. Sharples; diseases of women, Drs. L. R. Dawson and Belle H. Smith; diseases of children, Dr. G. B. McCulloch; surgeons, Drs. J. R. Eagleson and Alfred Raymond; medical, Drs. C. A. Smith and George Newlands; homeopathic, Drs. Sarah Kendall and F. A. Churchill. This medical board will not be expected to treat the pay patients except at their request, but on all other cases is expected to act for the hospital. The executive committee reported that it would take only $100 to fit up the building, formerly the Avon house, in North Seattle.
“The staff was chosen by the medical men of the city under the Australian ballot system.”
The founding of the Seattle General Hospital marks a pivotal moment in the city's public health infrastructure. The use of the 'Australian ballot' to select staff highlights the democratic, albeit professionalized, approach to civic institutions at the time.
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