Bingham Hospitals
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This page last updated on August 22, 2024.
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Overview
(The focus of this page is a series of research notes, to gather on one place as much information about the hospitals in Bingham Canyon, and to have a place to add new information.)
There were two hospitals at Bingham, Canyon, Utah. They were the Utah Copper Company Hospital, owned by Utah Copper Company, and the privately-owned Bingham Hospital run by Dr. Straup and Dr. Richards.
(Surprisingly, other than births, deaths and injuries, there is very little coverage of the hospitals in Bingham Canyon in available online newspapers.)
Bingham Hospital
The Bingham hospital ("Bingham Canyon Hospital and Clinic") was privately owned with its three doctors on staff. The hospital was located at 457 Main Street.
The Bingham Hospital was renamed as the Bingham Hospital and Clinic in about 1939, and closed in 1948 when Dr. Richards left to seek treatment in New York City for his radiation burns received from administering radium treatments and x-rays.
Two doctors were closely associated with the Bingham hospital throughout its life. They were Dr. Fred Straup and Dr. Paul Richards.
The Bingham Hospital was privately owned by Dr. Straup, and was the contract facility used by all mining companies other than Utah Copper, including the U. S. Mine at Copperfield, and the Utah-Apex in Carr Fork. The hospital operated under contract for the benefit of the employees of the mining companies and their familes, as well as providing medical services for the general public and residents of Bingham Canyon.
Dr. Fred Straup
(Worked at Bingham, 1896 to 1946)
"Dr. Straup came to Bingham in 1896, and was mayor for five terms between 1914 and 1928. He was mayor when the first cast- iron pipe water system was installed in 1914 to replace the old wooden flumes. Under his direction, the concrete sidewalks were started in 1915 and he was mayor when the present city hall was built In 1914. He was also in office when the first electric lights were installed. Perhaps his greatest monument is the 50-bed Bingham hospital. He started with a 10-bed hospital in 1903. Although still an active physician, he has leased the hospital to Dr. Richards. Dr. Straup, when asked how many babies he had delivered, his answer was 2500, up to the time stopped counting about 15 years before [about 1932]." (Salt Lake Telegram, September 26, 1947)
Dr. Fred E. Straup died in a Salt Lake City hospital on Sunday March 3, 1957 at age 85. He was born on October 30, 1871 in South Bend, Indiana. He taught grade school for two years, and graduated from Hahuemann Medical College in Chicago in 1895. He first worked at the Cook County hospital, then moved to Bingham in 1896. He built his first office in Bingham in 1900. He was buried in Mt. Olivet cemetery. (Salt Lake Tribune, March 4, 1957; Bingham Bulletin, March 8, 1957)
Dr. Paul Richards
(Worked at Bingham, 1922 to 1948)
"Dr. Paul Richards of Bingham, who started at the Bingham Canyon hospital in 1922, following graduation from Harvard medical school. Through his medical work Dr. Richards has been closely associated with the industrial development of Bingham and a number of other mining communities, as well as with the health problems of many thousands of individuals from far and near. He has served the industrial needs of the U. S. company's mines in Bingham since 1922." (Salt Lake Tribune, February 3, 1947)
Dr. Paul Snelgrove Richards died in his Memorial Medical Center in Sugar House on Thursday November 20, 1958, at age 65. He had been in medical practice in Bingham Canyon for 27 years when he left in December 1948 to seek treatment for radiation burns on his hands. He returned to Salt Lake City and co-founded the Memorial Medical Center in Sugar House. He was born on November 25, 1892 in the Sugar House section of Salt Lake City. (Bingham Bulletin, November 21, 1958)
(Read more about Dr. Paul Richards in the Utah Historical Quarterly, Volume 69, Number 1, 2001)
Timeline
May 25, 1923
The Bingham hospital, as property of Dr. F. E. Straup, was to be sold at a sheriff's sale on the steps of the Salt Lake County Court House on May 25, 1923. The forced sale was brought by Utah Central Bank of Bingham. The hospital was a three-story frame residence owned by Dr. Straup and his wife Florence, and included all hospital furniture, hospital beds and bedding, hospital fixtures. (Salt Lake Tribune, May 1, 1923)
The forced sale was canceled and Dr. Straup and the bank were able to work out a compromise to restructure the original loan dating back to when the building was completed. The compromise was announced in December 1923. The hospital also had Dr. Paul Richards and Dr. Clark Young on staff. (Bingham News, December 1, 1923)
February 3, 1927
The Bingham hospital was remodeled to improve its fire safety. The hospital was used by all mines in Bingham Canyon except Utah Copper. Residents of all the towns also used the Bingham hospital for births, deaths and injuries because the hospital was privately owned. (Deseret News, February 3, 1927)
December 1, 1948
The hospital portion of the Bingham Hospital and Clinic closed for an indefinite period when Dr. Paul Richards, a resident of Bingham for 27 years, left to seek treatment for radium and x-ray burns in New York City. The clinic portion was to remain open. The name was changed to Bingham Canyon Clinic, with two doctors on staff. (Bingham Bulletin, November 26, 1948; December 10, 1948)
(During 1949 there was only one reference in online newspapers, the marriage of one of the nurses, with no later references after that.)
The Bingham Hospital and Clinic was also a stop where people waited to ride the Bingham auto stage bus to Salt Lake City.
Utah Copper Company Hospital
The Utah Copper Company Hospital was located at 430 Main Street.
The following comes from an internal history of Utah Copper, compiled in 1939.
A fire sweeping the lower business houses left in its wake a desireable location for a hospital building. On this space was built the modern emergency hospital equipped with x-ray, operating room, and other features essential to diagnosis and treatment of mine employees. An assessment of one dollar per month entitles each employee to medical treatment and hospitalization. Two percent of mine employees call on the company's local medical staff each day for treatment of injuries or ill health. Cases requiring hospitalization are sent in a company ambulance to Salt Lake City hospitals.
The doctors at the Utah Copper hospital were employed by Utah Copper company, for the benefit of company employees and their families. Doctors associated with the Utah Copper hospital include Dr. Harold C. Jenkins and Dr. Scott Miller. Other doctors were Dr. Fraser, Dr. Brasher, Dr. Wayne Sorenson, Dr. Parker, and Dr. Graff. There are numerous stories of the Utah Copper doctors making house calls at employee's homes.
Dr. Jenkins arrived at Bingham in 1933. He served in the U. S. Army duirng World War II, and returned to Bingham in 1946.
Dr. Bennion was a dentist with an office in the Utah Copper hospital.
Utah Copper Company received its own ambulance in March 1919, a Marmon brand car. (Salt Lake Tribune, March 2, 1919)
The Utah Copper Emergency Hospital opened first in the warehouse near the B&G rail yards. Then in about 1924, the hospital moved to its later location on lower Main Street. (Bingham Bulletin, August 6, 1925).
The first reference to the "Utah Copper Emergency Hospital" in online newspapers was in March 1921, and the last reference was in January 1947.
The first reference to the "Utah Copper Company Hospital" in online newspapers was in March 1918, and the last reference was in July 1958.
During the mid-1930s, as transportation facilities improved, the Utah Copper hospital became a first-aid station to treat injuries, with patients being transported as soon as possible to St. Mark's hospital, or to Salt Lake County General hospital, both in Salt Lake City.
In August 1940, the lower floor of the Utah Copper hospital was remodeled and enlarged to allow better and faster service. (Bingham Bulletin, August 16, 1940)
Dr. Sorenson arrived at the Kennecott hospital in 1947. He left Bingham Canyon in July 1960 and moved to Hayward, California, where he entered private practice.
Dr. Joseph Pistone took Dr. Sorenson's place at the Kennecott clinic.
The Utah Copper Company Hospital was later known as the Kennecott "K.C.C." clinic, and was the location where perspective employees received their pre-employment physicals.
The Kennecott (Utah Copper) hospital closed in about 1962. Its doctors were noted as moving to other medical practices: Dr. Pistone to Granger Medical Center in November 1961, and Dr. Jenkins to his own private practice in Murray in December 1962.
Marion Dunn Notes
Marion Dunn wrote in his book, "Bingham Canyon."
Across the street [from the new post office] was the Utah Copper Hospital where Doctors R. G. Frazier and H. C. Jenkins had their offices and a dentist, Dr. B. D. Bennion, had an upstairs office.
Dr. F. J. Flynn and Dr. F. E. Straup were prominent physicians and politicians. Dr. Straup was the U.S. Mine and Highland Boy Mine physician. Dr. Flynn was the Apex Mine physician and Dr. D. H. Ray was the Utah Copper doctor.
In 1918, Dr. Russell G. Frazier arrived in town to assist Dr. Ray and later Dr. Frazier took over the Utah Copper Mine position. One of his associates and a long-time Bingham physician was Dr. Harold H. Jenkins.
In 1923, Dr. Paul S. Richards came to Bingham to take over the U.S. Mine position and he also took over the Bingham Hospital which had been started by Dr. Straup. Dr. Meyer Smernoff assisted Dr. Richards in the Bingham Hospital.
Dr. Frazier and Dr. Richards both took active roles in the community and both made important contributions to the medical profession.
Under Dr. Richards' direction, the Bingham Hospital was expanded and earned a reputation as one of the best hospitals in the region. Dr. Richards developed new techniques in back surgery and these methods were adopted around the world. Specialists from all parts of the world came to Bingham Canyon to learn Dr. Richard's technique.
One of Dr. Richards' daughters, Lenore, became the first woman surgeon in Utah and the two became partners in the Richards Clinic in Salt Lake City. Since her father's death, Dr. Lenore Richards has directed the clinic herself.
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