Part Three of a Three-Part Series
In the last Transitions column, it was noted that in 1917, a petition to the Sisters of Mercy to establish a modern hospital here proved successful. The Sisters were, at that time, operating an institution they called Gabriels Sanatorium, which was dedicated to the care and cure of pulmonary tuberculosis.
The Sanatorium had grown steadily from humble beginnings in 1895 and enjoyed recognition for its humanitarian work and financial support from wealthy benefactors. A small hamlet grew up around the “San,” and, by 1910, it had a population of several hundred residents, a railroad station and a post office, which was granted to the Sisters by none other than Theodore Roosevelt, who had summered at Paul Smith’s as a 10-year-old boy and later while a student at Yale.
One of the earliest stores in the embryo village of Gabriels was run by Larry Rafferty, and it must have been successful. Senior readers will fondly remember Mr. Rafferty as the genial Irishman who lost his hair (he had an ill-fitting red wig) but never his Irish brogue. He bought the Hotel Altamont here in 1924 for $40,000 and made many improvements, and the hotel became the center for social and fraternal dinners with a first-class dining room and a lively bar under fellow Irishman Jim Sullivan.
Mr. Rafferty sold the hotel in 1946, and it continued to prosper under Hugh Beaton, who added the large Mountain Room and other renovations until he sold it in 1951 to Bill Snider, who only ran it for a few years until it was sold to the Grand Union Company at a mortgage foreclosure. That company razed the building and erected a supermarket the same year. It is now the site of the physical therapy center on Park Street.
Improvements at Gabriels came rapidly. The water supply came from springs on Sunrise Mount, as the Sisters named their rolling piece of ground given to them by Dr. Webb and Paul Smith. Eighteen wells were pumped into a reservoir and were of the purest, natural water.
The Sisters had their own electric light plant and eventually acquired a 200-acre farm that supplied them with all the milk and cream required, most of the eggs needed, chickens and turkeys so they could serve fowl often and veal and pork in moderate quantity. All of the bread used was baked there. Some of the Sisters themselves supervised the farm work and lived there (the farm is still known locally as the Sisters Farm).
In the Brighton Story, by Geraldine Collins, from which much of the Gabriel history has been excerpted for this account, Ms. Collins tells us of a fire that was caused by a defective flue in the attic of the administration building:
“A call went out over the telephone wire to Paul Smith’s Hotel and every man was gathered from the shops, mills, stores, ice cutters and so on. All were sent to help fight the fire. When the call for help went to the Saranac Lake Fire Department, a special train was dispatched with about 50 men, hoses and ladders. It left Saranac Lake at 8:55 and arrived at Gabriels at 9:30. Not until they had laboriously carried all their equipment up to the fire from the railroad did they discover that their hose, which was standard size, would not fit the San hydrants. When the smoke cleared, all that was left was the foundation.”
The “winds of change” ultimately reached the Gabriels San. A declining patient census and the successful drug therapy that made fresh-air therapy obsolete presented almost insurmountable obstacles in addition to the financial deficit in operations. During the 70 years of operation, over five and a half thousand patients had been treated.
The focus of care changed from tuberculosis to the care of the frail and elderly, and the mission for the Sisters embraced the need for skilled long-term care. In 1963, a decision was reached to sell the Gabriels property to Paul Smiths College and to investigate alternate sites for a nursing home (Paul Smiths College would utilize the property for student and faculty housing as well as for some classes in forestry before selling the property to the State of New York, which operates it today as a minimum-security prison called Camp Grabriels). Unable to buy existing buildings, land was donated by Henry Uihlein, longtime Lake Placid seasonal resident.
Substantial support came from many other Lake Placid benefactors, including: the Uihleins, Mrs. Alton Jones, Kate Smith and the Reiss family. On a beautiful tract of land with views of the High Peaks in the distance just outside Lake Placid, Uihlein Mercy Center opened its doors in 1968. It quickly became noted for its excellent facilities, its caring staff and its strong financial position. A new page had been entered to the history of the Sisters of Mercy in the Adirondacks.
That chronicle continues today with the announcement recently that the Adirondack Medical Center’s Board of Trustees voted to purchase both the Uihlein Center and Mercy Healthcare Center in this community. The Tri-Lakes would see a new era of healthcare come into place. If purchase price negotiations and applications for a Certificate of Need to the New York Department of Health are successful, elder residents will be assured of a “continuum of care” that is so vital and important to so many people (over 1,600 people signed a petition urging the acquisition).
As Chandler Ralph, CEO of Adirondack Medical, so eloquently stated in the January issue of the hospital’s newsletter, Well Aware: “This purchase was a significant strategic decision and was not made lightly. I think the board made absolutely the right decision for the home’s residents, their families and the communities.”
Ms. Ralph also explained, “The joining together of two very strong mission-based organizations can only create something that is greater than the sum of its parts individually.”
Most members of this community will whole-heartedly agree with that sentiment. We can thank the many people who helped the complicated process that saved our desperately needed care center. We can especially thank Sen. Elizabeth Little, who was instrumental in guiding the process through the Department of Health, and who continues her untiring encouragement in all matters that benefit the Tri-Lakes. The senator is simply outstanding – there is no other word to describe her dedication and energy.
Also, don’t you agree that Sister Mary Perpetual Help Kiernan and Sister Mary MacCauley Connelly, those indomitable Sisters of Mercy whose human idealism and endeavor originally created those institutions of health and ministry and spirituality, are smiling from the heavens above, assured that their dream will continue strongly forward and will remain to fulfill a vital community need under the competent leadership of the Adirondack Medical Center?
Next Transitions: An influenza epidemic strikes this village and paralyzes the new hospital.