The Northern Michigan Children's Clinic

St. Luke's Hospital took its first step towards becoming a Regional Medical Center with the opening of the Northern Michigan Children's Clinic in 1931. Although adult health care was well established by 1920, the UP lacked an organized facility dedicated to child care. It had long been recognized that rural areas lacked the resources to meet the special needs of children. This was especially true for indigent care - children were sent outside the UP for treatment, or went without services. Care for needy children was available at the University of Michigan Hospital in Ann Arbor, but this required a 700 mile train trip through Wisconsin and Illinois at considerable expense to the state. Of course, seriously ill children could not be moved at all.

The Children's Fund of Michigan was founded in 1929 by Senator James Couzens for the care of indigent children. Its purpose was "to promote the health, welfare, happiness and development of the children of the State of Michigan, primarily, and elsewhere in the world". The idea of a children's clinic in the UP was a controversial one. Several fund officers argued that there weren't enough people in the UP to make a clinic worth the expense, and that it would drain the fund dry. Despite objections, Senator Couzens pushed for and got his UP facility.

The goals of the clinic were to provide care for indigent children locally and at the same time, save the state the high transportation costs. It would also serve as an educational resource for local physicians by demonstrating the newest concepts in treatments and therapeutics. Marquette was the largest UP city at the time with a population of 16,000. It was chosen as the site of the clinic for this reason, and also because of its central geographical location. Dedicated in 1931, the clinic had two 6 bed wards, an out-patient department, auditorium, playroom, and dining room. A new heating plant and laundry was built at the same time to serve both the hospital and new building. Dr. Moses Cooperstock, a University of Michigan pediatrician, was assigned to the clinic along with Miss Elba Morse, RN, as the superintendent. In 1934 Dr. E. L. Elzinga, the UP's first orthopedic surgeon, joined the clinic. The resulting increase in orthopedic surgeries prompted St. Luke's to hire its first physical therapist, occupational therapist, and brace maker, and to improve and expand the hospital's Nursing, Laboratory, Orthopedic, and Rehabilitation services. At one time, certain orthopedic surgeries were available only in Boston, Massachusetts and Marquette, Michigan.

With the dramatic increase in pediatric patients, St. Luke's suffered from an acute shortage of adult beds. The Children's Fund helped again through the construction of the James Couzens Memorial (JCM) Building in 1938. This freed up the St. Luke's Building to concentrate on pediatric care. It is worth noting that the location of the clinic in Marquette, the specialty physicians it brought to the area, and the later flood of polio patients set up a referral pattern which resulted in MGH becoming a regional medical center.

A unique feature of the Children's Fund of Michigan was its prescribed life span. Senator Couzens organized the fund so it would end in 25 years. He felt that should the fund continue past that time, it would lose sight of its original purpose - improving health care for children. Typically, the fund would develop a program, provide support until it demonstrated its value (or lack of it), and then transfer the operation to a permanent agency. The Northern Michigan Children's Clinic followed this pattern, and eventually became part of St. Luke's Hospital. Although the clinic building was demolished for the construction of the 1984 Building, the program continues today through Marquette General's Specialty Clinics, and University of Michigan physicians still travel north to Marquette.

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