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BY GEORGE COX | SPECIAL TO THE STAR
A shootout between Constable Cage Johnson and Abilano Sanchez in the summer of 1923 sent both men to Harlingen’s first hospital, which had opened as that summer began.
The wounded men were transported to the hospital in honking cars, where they were placed in opposite wings. Johnson recovered from his injuries, but Sanchez was not so lucky and died, according to “Harlingen’s First Hospital,” a history written in 2007 by Betty Murray and Norman Rozeff.
A small facility, Harlingen Hospital only operated a few months shy of four years, unable to compete when the larger Valley Baptist Hospital was built just down the street, according to Murray and Rozeff.
But the hospital’s unique place in local history has been preserved and nurtured at the Harlingen Arts &Heritage Museum since the building and its artifacts were moved there in 1978. More recently, the building has undergone repairs to resolve issues that kept the exhibit closed through the pandemic and up until now, Harlingen Assistant City Manager Josh Ramirez said.
“The building started to tilt and the foundation became unsafe,” Ramirez said, adding that foundation work is complete and the building is again safe for visitors.
The reopening of the exhibit coincides with Harlingen Hospital’s 100-year anniversary, which will be celebrated at the museum on Thursday, May 11. The free events include an open house starting at 10 a.m. and a reception from 6 to 8 p.m. Refreshments will be served and Cat &and the Coyotes will provide music at the reception.
Community support in Harlingen was vital to the creation and operation of the first hospital. Similar sentiments were tapped into as community leaders, city officials and museum volunteers banded together to fund the recent renovations.
The all-volunteer RGV Museum Association is charged with fundraising and organizing exhibits and events for the museum. Its largest fundraiser is the Taste of Harlingen, a showcase of local restaurants. The 2022 edition helped pay for the $18,000 foundation project, along with support from sponsorships and museum memberships, said Sue DeBrooke, secretary of the association.
“Part of our mission is helping maintain the historical buildings,” DeBrooke said.
The city of Harlingen received a $5,000 grant from the Summerlee Foundation that has been earmarked for further renovations to the exterior of the hospital building.
“And we are looking at other foundations that can help,” Ramirez said.
“The hospital wasn’t open for a very long time, but it is a significant part of Harlingen history,” Association President Mary Torres said.
Before the pandemic and the closing of the hospital building for repairs, Torres said the exhibit was generating interest from people pursuing medical careers. Visitors from the UTRGV Medical School and area nursing programs were picking up.
“We were beginning to get a lot of nursing students and residents,” Torres said. “I think in the future it will be valuable to the medical community. It will give them a picture of how far we have come.”
The story behind the original hospital began with two women who shared a vision to bring better medical care to Harlingen. Business owner Ida Gilbert and nurse Marie Yeager teamed up to lead the effort to build a hospital for Harlingen, at that time a town of about 5,000 people.
Gilbert and Yeager collaborated with doctors and other community leaders who donated money and equipment. The building came together in pieces, starting with the acquisition of two former barracks used by soldiers involved with policing border bandits in 1915-16, and later in World War I, according to the Murray/Rozeff history.
The two barracks were moved to the hospital site owned by Gilbert on Mexico Street (now F Street). The buildings were set parallel and connected with a structure to form the U-shaped structure that now rests on the Harlingen museum grounds.
The hospital opened with seven patient rooms and a surgery room, as well as a reception area and storage rooms.
Gilbert made the decision to close Harlingen Hospital in 1926. Gilbert then converted the building into a boarding house, according to the Murray/Rozeff history.
Gilbert died in 1974, and the effort to preserve the building and its history as a hospital began. A public/private venture came together in 1978 to move the building to the museum and restore it.
“As momentum and enthusiasm grew, the little hospital sprang back to life with equipment and furnishings reflecting the period in which it was utilized,” Murray and Rozeff wrote in their history.
Today, the hospital building still features antique furniture and old medical equipment. A dental office complete with an antique x-ray machine, a patient room, a surgery room and numerous display cases with pharmaceuticals, a collection of old eyeglasses, microscopes and other tools of the trade give visitors some insight into the history of medical care.
