HOSPITAL FOR WOMEN AND CHILDREN 60 Pleasant Street.
The experiment of a Special Hospital for Lying-In Patients and the Diseases of Women has now been under trial in Boston, for nearly two years. It has succeeded beyond the most sanguine expectations of those interested; the demand for admissions having often exceeded the capacity of the building temporarily in use.
It has therefore been decided to establish the institution upon a permanent basis; and, its benefits are for the community at large, to seek from that community cooperation and material aid, in the firm belief that the usefulness of the institution has now been fully proved, and the necessity for a building more appropriate to its purposes made evident.
The advantages of a separate hospital for the diseases of women are obvious……It is the aim of this institution, — exclusively for women, — to obviate these and other objections, hitherto made by patients against entering general Hospital, and thus do more than a general Hospital possibly can towards lessening the present high rate of female mortality……..It is not intended or desired to erect a large edifice, or to expend money upon outside show, but merely to provide safe and efficient shelter for fifty or one hundred beds, and to insure a purer and more favorable “hospital air” than has usually been obtained…….It is estimated that a building costing $35,000 will secure these ends……..One lady has already paid three thousand dollars; another has paid one thousand; and several smaller sums.
Miss Lucy Goddard, President Mrs. Ednah D. Cheney, Secretary,
Fred W. G. May, Treasurer, Geo. Wm. Bond, Auditor
(Liberator, Dec. 4, 1863, pg 3)