DR. ARTHUR SPOHN:
Surgeon, Inventor, and
Texas Medical Pioneer
FRANCES BRANNEN VICK
Publisher: Texas A&M University Press
Publication Date: September 12, 2018
In this first comprehensive biography of Dr. Arthur Edward Spohn, authors Jane Clements Monday, Frances Brannen Vick, and Charles W. Monday Jr., MD, illuminate the remarkable nineteenth-century story of a trailblazing physician who helped to modernize the practice of medicine in Texas.
Arthur Spohn was unusually innovative for the time and exceptionally dedicated to improving medical care. Among his many surgical innovations was the development of a specialized tourniquet for “bloodless operations” that was later adopted as a field instrument by militaries throughout the world. To this day, he holds the world record for the removal of the largest tumor—328 pounds—from a patient who fully recovered.
Recognizing the need for modern medical care in South Texas, Spohn, with the help of Alice King, raised funds to open the first hospital in Corpus Christi. Today, his name and institutional legacy live on in the region through the Christus Spohn Health System, the largest hospital system in South Texas. This biography of a medical pioneer recreates for readers the medical, regional, and family worlds in which Spohn moved, making it an important contribution not only to the history of South Texas but also to the history of modern medicine.
Alice and Robert Kleberg were good friends with Dr. Spohn. He delivered all of their children. Alice and her family honored Dr. Spohn by insisting that the new hospital built in 1905 bear his name. Alice took the lead in raising money for the hospital and did not think she could raise the amount it would take to build a brick hospital, so she asked her husband Robert to help design a wooden one. Alice underwent many prejudicial comments from the community because management was to be turned over to the Sisters of Charity of the Incarnate Word. The hospital cost $12,000 to build, which would have been about $330,000 in today’s money. Alice raised $8,000 and the Sisters of Charity provided the rest to finish the building.
The Sisters of Charity. Mother Madeleine Chollet negotiated the ownership and management of the new hospital with Alice. Their correspondence reflects the difficult decisions that had to be made. The nuns took over right after the new Spohn hospital was completed. It was so successful that they were shortly enlarging the facility.
Mother Cleophus Hurst was the first administrator at Spohn Sanitarium in Corpus Christi, Texas, in 1905. She took care of patient admissions and hospital finances. Sister Cleophus was born in Ireland and had previously served in Amarillo. She thought that working in Corpus Christi would be much easier because they did not have howling winds, dust, and tumbleweeds blowing across the land.
Sister Regina O’Byrne was born in Ireland and had served at the IW Hospital and Josephine Heitkamp Hospital in St. Louis, Missouri. She and her sister, Sister Virginia, shared the job of caring for the patients and being responsible for housekeeping and laundry.
Sister Conrad Urnau, born in Germany, who had previously been at St. Joseph’s Hospital Infirmary in Fort Worth, was in charge of preparing meals and tending the garden at the new Spohn sanitarium. They kept the garden to offset expenses.
The Spohn Hospital with Annex. The new hospital was built on north beach and was a comfortable wooden structure built to capture the sea breezes. It was open to all patients. It was said that Dr. Spohn never turned away a patient no matter their finances. Dr. Heaney admitted the first patient and at last the citizens and surrounding ranches had a place to be treated and cared for. Regretfully, the hospital was destroyed during the 1919 hurricane that destroyed most of Corpus Christi.
In 1908 Corpus Christi hosted one of the largest and most elaborate events to ever take place in the town. Dr. Spohn was able to convince the Texas Medical Association to hold their annual convention in Corpus Christi. The group had never held one south of San Antonio before. The mayor and the entire town took this opportunity to beautify the city and plan excellent events. The meeting was an enormous success. All of the committee members are listed, along with their duties, in Dr. Spohn: Surgeon, Inventor, and Texas Medical Pioneer. Many people will recognize their ancestors and probably had no idea that they had helped to make this such a successful event. There are over 150 names of Corpus residents in the book.
PRAISE FOR DR. ARTHUR SPOHN:
The chapters in the book are mesmerizing…the photographs in the book are priceless and probably cannot be seen by the general public except in this book. This is much more than a biography of Dr. Spohn and his medical triumphs. It is a book about life in South Texas from 1865 to the 1920s and beyond. Dr. Arthur Edward Spohn was part of that history and his contributions to medicine and the development of South Texas have guaranteed his legacy for years to come. This book is the proof.
This is no dry medical text. Even if you have little interest in the medical field, you’ll be astonished at the life of this accomplished physician and surgeon.
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