Mace Homestead, Bangor, ca. 1861
Item 16218 info
Eastern Maine Medical Center
In March of 1891, a public meeting (in Bangor) is called for the purpose of forming a corporation for the "establishment, operation, and maintenance of a General Hospital for the charitable and benevolent purposes of aiding, treating and relieving the sick, injured and disabled..." The petition was signed by 70 citizens.
The following spring, five physicians -- Doctors William Mason, Walter Hunt, Everett Nealey, William Baxter and William Simmons -- publish a notice in the newspaper announcing June 7, 1892, as the opening date of Bangor General Hospital.
Excitement over the imminent opening is temporarily eclipsed by controversy among some physicians who charge that the newspaper announcement constitutes "advertising," a clear breach of the Medical Code of Ethics.
The dilemma is the subject of a paper read at the AMA annual meeting in Milwaukee, where Bangor's Dr. D. A. Robinson argues on the side of the alleged advertisers.
In June, Bangor General Hospital opens on schedule in rented quarters, occupying the gray stone Mace House, that was built in 1860s for $45,000.
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