What Is A Dispensary Be In 1909?

Factual Questions
1

I am working on a website with Chicago Hospitals and I found an old almanac from the Chicago Daily News from 1909.

It has a listing of “medical facilities” in it.

And it has groups:

It has one listing for “Hospitals” and lists places like

Augustana Hospital, Chicago Bohemian Hospital, Mary Thompson Hospital…

Fine that seems simple enough

Then it lists “Sanitariums” and those seem to be all disease specific.

Chicago Tuberculosis Institute, Chicago Tuberculosis Hospital, Chicago Hospital for Cholorea, Chicago Women’s Sanitarium (probably maternity).

OK so that seems simple

But then it lists: “Dispensaries”

To me this would be a hospital or other organization that dispenses medications and medical supplies. Or something you might find in a school or something.

But the list includes

Alexian Brothers Hospital (the old one on Fullerton, not the rebuilt one in suburban Elk Grove Village)

Chicago Lying-In Hospital

German Hosptal (Later Grant, then Lincoln Park Hospital,now closed)

Michael Reese Free Hospital (now closed)

Mercy Hospital (current)

Saint Anthony Hospital (current)
OK now those six hospitals are now full acute care hospitals, (one moved and one closed last year)

So my question is what do you think the determaining factor is between a medical facility in the “hospital” category and one placed in the “Dispensary” category.

Did a Dispensary do something in addition to a regular hospital? You know like some emergency rooms are trauma centers and some are not.

Remember this almanac is from 1909 so the terminology probably has changed over the last 101 years

2

My father was a physician in the U.S. Army and worked at a U.S. Army Dispensary over in Germany in the 1970s.

It’s my understanding that it’s a smaller medical facility than a full hospital, usually without any inpatient beds. Today they’re usually referred to as Health Clinics or Medical Centers or sometimes Urgent Care Clinics or Acute Care Clinics if the focus is on urgent care.

I guess the “Dispensary” part refers to dispensing medication and/or medical care.

3

See this was my first thought too, but the listings don’t back that up. Alexian Brothers, Michael Reese, German Hospital and Mercy Hospital, were all HUGE hospitals even in 1909.

On the flip side, Mary Thompson Hospital listed in “hospitals” was a smaller hospital dedicated to women and children then expanding into general care and that is listed in hospitals.

Now granted the category list could just be random. Or maybe the dispensary hospitals started out smaller and grew big and just kept that distinction. I really don’t know, I was just wondering if the term “dispensary” had changed since 1909.

Hmmm? :confused:

4

Webster’s Revised Unabridged Dictionary, 1913

So maybe dispensaries were not so posh as hospitals back then.

5

A dispensary can also be a place where medications are prepared and dispensed, like a pharmacy.

6

AH HA!!!

I finally found the answer. I got a book on laws from Chicago from the time period

A hospital can be classed a dispensary only if they have a pharmacist on staff 24 hours a day.

It also says a Lying-In Hospital must have a registered doctor 24 hours a day.