New affiliation means homecoming of sorts for OHSU

This complex story all starts with Willamette University’s medical school. As the first university in the region, Willamette University was a logical first choice for establishing a medical school in the young state of Oregon. In 1864, the Governor (who was also a trustee of the university) and several Portland area physicians petitioned Willamette’s trustees to start a medical department in Portland.

[1] The trustees agreed, but after two years of meetings, appointments and no progress, the university decided to open up the medical department on their Salem campus instead. Per the trustee’s resolution the department was to consist of seven or more professorships “so organized and conducted as to afford a full and most approved practice of the best Medical Institutions and of such grade and character as to thoroughly qualify its graduates for the responsible duties of a professional life.”[2] Nine faculty members were appointed, mostly Salem area physicians, with specialties ranging from “civil and military surgery” to “demonstrator of anatomy, chemistry and toxicology” and “medical jurisprudence.” The first lectures were held March 3, 1867 with 24 students.[3] Local newspapers reported that 6 lectures a day were given to students in the University building (now known as Waller Hall).

Like the modern OHSU, this first medical school emphasized clinical education. An 1867 Salem Daily Record article claimed that “To give opportunity for clinical instruction in this their first season, the faculty have offered to perform any needed surgical operations free of compensation, when the parties are unable to render it. Quite a number have availed themselves of the offer, and thus far the operations have all been successful.”[4]

WU Medical School Moves to Portland, Part I

Faculty turmoil, the need for greater clinical facilities, and the rise of a rival medical school led to Willamette’s transfer of its medical department to Portland in 1878.[5] By 1887, the school had re-located to a new building at 14^th and Couch in Portland, with an auditorium that could hold 150 people and a refrigerator that could hold 30 cadavers.[6] 1887 also marked the year that the University of Oregon’s medical school was started. This new school seems to have arisen out of more faculty turmoil, the majority of the Willamette’s faculty resigning after a bitter debate and organizing a rival school with a firestorm of badmouthing and debate in the press.[7] This row and a loss of clinical access for Willamette’s students at local hospitals, precipitated a removal of their school back to Salem in 1895 where it held classes in rented rooms off campus.[8] The need for a new building was evident, and the citizens of Salem (including Asahel Bush) donated the money to build one in 1905. The building, still stands on Willamette’s campus, on the corner of State and Winter Streets and now houses half of the university’s Art and Art History Department.[9]

Salem Health Connection

When Willamette’s medical department moved back to Salem in 1895, they were in desperate need of clinical facilities. Willamette’s administration and medical faculty lobbied community members in Salem to support the founding of a general hospital in the city to serve the citizens and their students. A hospital was established on the NE corner of 12^th and Ferry Streets in the old facilities for the State School for the Blind. It appears that the hospital was run with an uneasy alliance between the board of the hospital and Willamette’s medical school faculty during the first year.[10] The alliance seems to have broken down after that. This hospital would go on to become part of Salem Health.

Removal to Portland Part II

The animosity between the rival schools died down over the years as both faced challenges. In 1913 Willamette University’s medical school was absorbed by the University of Oregon’s medical school, on the provision that the alumni association of the school would recognize graduates from both institutions.[11] A quick recap of the next century includes the University of Oregon medical school moving from downtown Portland to Marquam Hill, splitting off into their own independent institution in 1974, and in 1981 a name change to Oregon Health and Science University.

That brings us to today. The school that took root on Willamette’s campus returns to Salem to collaborate with the hospital, which was, at least in part, established to support medical education at Willamette. Despite its complex history, the focus of both organizations remain the same, providing quality care to local residents and educational opportunities for the next generation of medical professionals. Welcome back!

Kylie Pine is Curator at the Willamette Heritage Center, a five acre museum in downtown Salem dedicated to preserving and interpreting the history of the Mid-Willamette Valley.

 

Sources:

Gatke, Robert Moulton. Chronicles of Willamette. Portland: Binfords & Mort, 1943. (WHC x2011.001.0164)

Larsell, O. The Doctor in Oregon. Portland: Binfords & Mort, 1947 (WHC 2006.040.0497)

McMillan, John. A Century of Service: 1896-1996. Salem: Salem Hospital, 1996. (WHC 2006.040.0116)

[1] Larsell, 343.

[2] Larsell, 345. Quoted from WU Trustees minutes, November 14, 1866.

[3] Larsell, 346-347.

[4] Larsell, 347. Referencing Salem Daily Record for June 14, 1867.

[5] Larsell, 350-355.

[6] Larsell, 359

[7] Larsell, 360-362.

[8] Larsell, 360; Gatke 494.

[9] Gatke, 494-5.

[10] McMillan, 12-13.

[11] Larsell, 360.