Section D Pg 12 Missoulian Centennial Guild Members Help Hospital Since ’32
Guild Members Help Hospital Since ‘32
The St. Patrick Guild was organized in November 1932 under the leadership of Sister Mary Alice. Charter members were Sister Mary Alice, Sister Mary Ignatius, Mrs. Francis Peterson, Mrs. J. B. Speer, Mrs. Allen Swift, Mrs. John L. Murphy and Mrs. J. F. Lusk. Mrs. James Hobson was the first president.
The first undertaking of the guild in its purpose of service to the hospital was to aid in the financing, remodeling and refurnishing of the children’s department.
Equipment Furnished
An orthopedic table, suction machine, multibeam surgical light and Hess incubator were pieces of equipment which the women were instrumental in procuring for the hospital. Completion of the St. Patrick laundry in 1947 served as inspiration to raise funds for laundry equipment.
Throughout the years, members have worked on committees for visiting hospital patients and distributing garden flowers, magazines and current periodicals, and on sewing committees which have turned out several hundred pieces each month.
The guild provided an examining table for the treatment room and furnishings for the playroom in the children’s department in the new hospital. At the suggestion of Sister Mary Ignatius, the guild assisted in the purchase of an oxygen-air-pressure lock for the newborn.
To facilitate examination of the ears of infants and children, a junior size otoscope was purchased for $76, and a junior size walker costing $120 was provided. The physical therapy department was presented a $223 tilt table used in rehabilitating victims of polio and other crippling diseases.
Guild members contribute money to buy materials for occupational therapy. When it was discovered that student nurses lacked silver service and set, guild members collected silverware coupons and added the cash required to obtain the silver.
While St. Patrick Hospital is operated by the Sisters of Charity of Providence, a Roman Catholic religious order, many of the most devoted members of the guild are not Roman Catholics. Membership is open to any Missoulian women who wish to join.
Mrs. Russell L. Neal was elected president of the guild for 1959-60.