Grass Roots Doctor: Dr. A.S. Reece
“I had a very interesting day. I went to five county schools to inoculate for diphtheria. In all but one I saw the same picture of George Washington. I used him as an example of bravery, having the children look at him while I stuck them with the needle. Out of the whole bunch only two children nearly fainted and they both were boys. The only ones that cried were the pre-school children. The ones that gave the most trouble were two Mexican children of pre-school age. It was an interesting experience and I felt like I was doing one of the greatest things my job calls for--preventive medicine.”From the journals of Dr. A. S. Reece
October 3, 1939
Dr. Adelbert S. Reece began practicing medicine in Gardner, Kansas, in July 1930. His journal entry describing his role in preventive medicine represents an attitude held not only by other doctors in the state but a respect that the medical society nationwide held for Kansas. By the 1920s, the state of Kansas appeared prominently on all medical and health maps of the United states. The Kansas Board of Health, the doctors, the medical school and the State Medical Society were known nationwide. Kansas was rated first among the states in 1925 for the lowest diphtheria death rate in the United states. By 1928 the campaign spread across Kansas and brought diphtheria immunization to nearly 275,000 children. It was during this progressive era that A.S. Reece began his medical training at KU Medical School and became exposed to the high standards and ethics held in the Kansas medical field.
Kansas' prestige in the medical world began with the work of Samuel J. Crumbine, Secretary of the Kansas State Board of Medicine from 1904-1923. Crumbine's great campaigns against the housefly, the common drinking cup, the roller towel and especially prostitution won him praise for encouraging hygiene. Also targeted were unsanitary hotels, control of tuberculosis and venereal disease. Kansas became a model in preventive medicine and public education of hygiene and health. The late Dr. Arthur Hertzler, founder of the Hertzler Clinic in Halstead, Kansas, summed it up by stating in his book The Horse and Buggy Doctor, “It need not be a surprise that the immunity from disease is dependent on the intelligence of the community.”
A.S. Reece was born in Alliance, Nebraska, in 1901 and soon moved with his family to Manhattan, Kansas, where he finished his high school studies. It was in Manhattan that Reece became interested in the medical field while he worked as a janitor in the local hospital. While finishing his undergraduate degree at Kansas State University, Reece was accepted and enrolled in medical school at the University of Kansas. During his studies, Dr. Reece met Ella Thomen of Junction City. Shortly after his graduation from medical school, Reece married Ella and the two embarked on their honeymoon. Their honeymoon vacation brought them to Gardner, where Ella's sister resided. While searching for a place to begin practicing, the new Dr. Reece discovered that one of Gardner's longtime physicians had recently passed away, creating a vacancy for a new doctor.
Trained as a general practitioner, Dr. Reece started his first office in Gardner in the upstairs room of a building on the northwest corner of Main Street and Elm. Formerly known as the Odd Fellows building, the lower level housed a grocery store operated by Mr. Lasley and Mr. Hermon. Reece not only operated his office but also made house calls, like most physicians did at this time. Saturday evenings were set aside for house calls unless an emergency arose. Dr. Reece served the communities of De Soto, Spring Hill and Edgerton because very few doctors were available in these areas.
Realizing that the lack of modern medical facilities could be keeping well trained doctors out of the rural areas of Kansas, Reece began plans for a community hospital. Reece's new hospital was not only the first medical facility of its kind in Gardner, it was also the first hospital in all of Johnson County. Prior to 1934, the nearest hospital was St. Luke's in Kansas City, Missouri. As Highway 56 was the only route into the city, patients drove at least an hour for medical care. While the nation remained in the midst of the Great Depression, Reece began his new hospital in 1934. For $100.00, Dr. Reece bought a barn in Olathe, had it dismantled and moved to downtown Gardner at the corner of Elm Street and Shawnee. Trying to be frugal, Dr. Reece had the workers save the nails in hopes of using them again until the carpenters complained, “If Dr. Reece wouldn't use the same sutures twice, he should not expect them to use the same nails twice.” As a result, the only new items used to build the hospital were a few bricks, linoleum, the front door and new nails.
With the Depression in full swing, Reece was not able to pay all the workers cash for their efforts; instead he negotiated daily wages or credit toward any past, present or future medical bill. The man who dismantled the barn received a free tonsillectomy, while the men who worked to build the hospital were paid either $2.00 a day in cash or $3.00 a day applied to a hospital or doctor bill. In the end, most took their pay in the form of credit toward future medical costs.
The first hospital started with only one room and was soon expanded to a three bed hospital. Over the next few years as the population grew, so did the need for a larger facility. By 1953 Olathe Hospital was in operation with thirty beds but circumstances called for a larger medical building in Gardner. In 1959, Dr. Reece called for a gathering of the community. After hearing the facts, citizens from the communities of Wellsville, Edgerton, Spring Hill, De Soto and Gardner formed a corporation. Nine acres of land where the present hospital stands were purchased from Mr. and Mrs. Homer Craig, who took payment for the land with credit toward future medical bills. The entire community responded in the same way. Merchants, builders and farmers alike gave their services and materials in return for medical credit. Upon completion in 1961, the gardner Hospital housed X-ray facilities, a laboratory, an obstetrics ward, a pharmacy, and doctor and dentist offices.
Dr. A.S. Reece experienced many innovations during his medical practice, from the discovery of penicillin to the virtual elimination of the ancient killers like diphtheria, small pox and scarlet fever. Many people, especially children, suffered greatly during the severe epidemics of polio which swept the nation in 1940, 1946, and 1952. Then in 1955 came the boon of the Salk vaccine. Medical equipment, surgical skills and diagnostic tests continued to improve, giving physicians powers beyond earlier comprehension. During his 47-year medical career, Reece delivered 2247 babies and offered medical care to nearly 3000 men, women and children. Working in a rural community, Reece was well aware of the challenges in providing adequate medical care to the public. Yet he was also convinced that the problems could not be solved by having the government assume this responsibility. He expressed this opposition in a book, Socialized Medicine at the Grass Roots.
Dr. Reece's respect and appreciation for the medical profession went far beyond his own practice. He collected medical instruments, books and equipment, most of which were donated to the Johnson County Museum System. Throughout 1939 he kept a daily journal that allows one to understand the challenges and human feelings this small town doctor experienced as a result of personal contact with his patients. The following journal entry, dated June 6, 1939, is a wonderful example of the deep emotions and insights that Reece held for his patients and life itself:
“Jud died just after midnight. Mrs. B had a seven pound baby boy. Two births in one day. One into the next world and one into this. Each one bound for new adventures, each starting a new life. With close analysis the arrival and departure are very much alike, except in reverse. Both occur in an orgy of human misery. In one the soul awakens, the child cries, he breathes, but there are no impressions on his mind. Gradually they appear. In death the soul goes back to sleep, the child ceases to cry, the impressions of a lifetime fade, he ceases to breathe. The mystery of one equals the mystery of the other. With awe, we marvel at them both.”
In July the Johnson County Historical Museum, in cooperation with Dr. Thomen Reece and Marilyn Reece Wolf, will complete an exhibit which interprets medical history in the county from 1920-1950. Based on the Reece Collection of 350 artifacts and 223 books, the exhibit will interpret the history of the small town practitioner, medical concerns of the time and developments in state health. Through a display of artifacts ranging from an early anesthetic pump to surgical instruments, the visitor can appreciate medical advancements of the last several decades.
--ALBUM vol. 2, no. 2 (summer 1989)