Accomplished nurse recruited to be Jane Chinn Hospital's first superintendent

Elizabeth Salome Houser was born on Oct. 15, 1862, in Johnson County, Iowa. She was the daughter of George John and Dorothy Elizabeth (Bernasky) Houser.

By 1870 the family had moved and was farming in Moniteau County, Mo. In 1884, Elizabeth enrolled at the Central Missouri State Teachers College at Warrensburg, where she received her teaching certificate. After teaching for several years, Elizabeth found that she did not care for the teaching profession and around 1893 she enrolled as a student nurse at the general hospital in Cincinnati, Ohio. After completing her course there, Elizabeth obtained the position of head nurse at the St. Louis Protestant hospital, which was a training school for nurses.

On Oct. 5, 1898, Elizabeth enlisted as a contract nurse during the Spanish American War and was sent to work at the federal hospital at Fort Monroe, Va. She served until Jan. 13, 1899, and then returned to her former position in St. Louis.

The Spanish American War lasted from April 21, 1898, until July 17, 1898. The government was not prepared for the war and the sudden influx of soldiers had to live in overcrowded, makeshift camps. Problems with sanitation led to widespread illness such as typhoid and yellow fever so the Army decided to hire contract nurses for temporary service.

This was the first time that professionally trained nurses served in the Army. Over 1,500 women served during and in the time immediately after the war. Army surgeons remarked that without the nurses there would have been many more fatalities and the mortality rate might have reached as high as 30 or 40 percent.

After working in St. Louis for several more years, Elizabeth took the position of head nurse at a hospital in Muskogee, Okla.

In 1911, Webb City completed construction on the new $10,000 hospital that was donated to the community by Mr. and Mrs. C. R. Chinn Sr. The hospital would be named Jane Chinn Hospital and was formally opened in March 1911.

Elizabeth Houser was hired to be the hospital superintendent at Jane Chinn, where she would spend most of the next 28 years. Elizabeth quickly established a training program for nurses at the hospital.

The 1920 Missouri census lists Elizabeth as living at the hospital along with five other full-time residents, including three nurses, one porter and one cook. Her wages during this era were $30 a month plus room and board that included four meals a day.

In April 1920, Jane Chinn Hospital was having financial trouble, as expenses were exceeding the hospital’s income. The hospital closed for a period while directors considered turning over the building to the federal government to house former servicemen that were ill.

Fortunately members of the community and local businesses pulled together and pledged a monthly contribution to maintain the hospital.

During the closure of the hospital, Elizabeth toured the west, working at Elko, Nev., San Francisco and Modesto, Calif. She returned to Jane Chinn Hospital in June 1923 to take over as superintendent at the request of the hospital board.

Elizabeth continued in this position until her retirement in 1939 at the age of 77. She retired to her home in Duquesne but remained active in several organizations, including the Missouri State Nurses Association, Duquesne Homemakers Club, Lutheran Church and the Red Cross.

Elizabeth Houser died at Freeman Hospital in Joplin on May 24, 1953, at the age of 90. She is buried at Ozark Memorial Park Cemetery in Joplin.