Advances in health care in the late 19th and early 20th century, things such as antiseptic and aseptic surgery, x-rays, and laboratories, made hospitals indispensable for treating the sick and injured. Physicians needed the services of these institutions with their technical equipment, specialized personnel, and capability for around-the-clock care so treatment started moving from the home to the institution.
There were a couple of ways to launch these ventures, as the number of institutions increased rapidly across the nation. It was a public undertaking, operating as a nonprofit for communities such as Elkton and Havre de Grace. But in other places, proprietary hospitals, facilities created by a single practitioner (or a group), were established.
With the surge in demand for in-patient beds, Dr. G. Hampton Richards established a for-profit hospital in Port Deposit in 1923. That April, the doctor had “the old Murphy residence in Port Deposit remodeled and fitted for use as an up-to-date hospital,” the Midland Journal reported.
When the doors opened, it had 14 beds. Admissions increased so at some point Eli Selcer Sentman, a contractor, added the wing stretching along Center Street. This increased the capacity to 28 beds and provided the latest technology, including x-ray equipment, electrical appliances, and a surgical suite.
Over the years, the hardworking physician treated the sick and injured at the medical center, providing critically needed services in western Cecil County.
The closest hospitals were far away in Elkton and Havre de Grace, over poor roads. Thus, Dr. Richards saw many accidents and emergency admissions, as noted in news stories in local papers.
The doctor was giving a talk for “Armistice Day” at the Tome Memorial Church in November 1929. Feeling ill, he tried to leave early but collapsed outside and was rushed to his hospital. A hurried call alerted Miss Nesbitt, the head nurse, that the emergency case was on its way. She administered a hypodermic needle, sufficiently reviving the ill physician to some degree.
Dr. Brown of Johns Hopkins was summonsed to take over the treatment. He diagnosed the case as Angina Pectoris, ordering that the ailing caregiver remain quiet for practically three weeks, after which he would remove him to the Baltimore hospital.
Sometime early in the next year, he resumed his work, “even performing a large number of operations and risking a second attack for the benefit of the health of the community,” the Midland Journal reported.
But the doctor eventually announced he would close the place “where many sufferers “had found relief through the ministration of his surgical and medical skills and the care of an efficient corps of nurses.” It was hoped that some way could be found to keep the hospital open, the Midland Journal remarked.
But with his health in decline, Dr. Richards closed his Port Deposit hospital on August 1, 1930. He died on May 10, 1932.
He had graduated from the University Of Maryland School Of Medicine in 1908, coming to Port Deposit that year to establish his practice. Eventually, he associated himself with Dr. Clarence I Benson.
Shortly after the outbreak of World War I he entered the service. The surgeon was on the front in France for several months and suffered from a gas attack, which impaired his health. At the close of the war, he returned with the rank of captain, immediately resuming the practice of medicine and surgery in Port Deposit.
The papers reported that he died from Angina Pectoris in the 48th year of his life.
A postcard shows Dr. Richards Hospital in Port Deposit.
For additional photographs of Dr. Richards’ Hospital, see the album on Facebook.