125 I£ast STRcnr Medical Mission Senes HOSPITALS IN KOREA Bridge Near Pyeng Yang. From Woman’s Work. Price, 3 cents; 30 cents a dozen. The Woman’s Foreign Missionary Society of the Presbyterian Church 501 Witherspoon Building, Philadelphia MEDICAL WORK IN KOREA. 1911 - 1912 . SEOUL. — Severance Hospital; Dispensaries; Union Medical School; Training School for Nurses. O. R. Avison, M. D. ; J. W. Hirst, M. D.; R. K. Smith, M. D. ; Alfred J. Ludlow, M. D. Miss Helen Forsythe, Superintendent of Nurses; Miss E. L. Shields, Associate Superintendent of Nurses. FUSAN-MILYANG. — Jiinkin Memorial Hospital; Mary C. Whiting Dispensary. Ralph G. Mills, M. D. TAIKU. — Hospital ; Dispensary. A. G. Fletcher, M. D. ; Miss Ethel McGee, Nurse. CHUNG-JU. — Duncan Memorial Hospital. Walter C. Purviance, M. D. CHAI RYUNG. — Hospital ; Dispensary. Rev. H. C. Whiting, M. D. PYENG YANG. — Caroline A. Ladd Hospital ; Dispensary. J. H. Wells, M. D. ; Mrs. S. A. Moffett, M. D. SYEN CHYUN. — Hospital; Dispensary; Medical itineration. A. M. Sharrocks, M. D. KANG KAI. — Kennedy Hospital. John D. Bigger, M. D. ANDONG. — Dispensary. R. K. Smith, M. D. funder appointment; now an interne in Severance Hospital, Seoul). STATISTICS. Hospitals 8 Dispensaries 9 Physicians I2 Patients treated in igii 76,981 We are indebted to Rev. H. C. M’hiting, M. D., and Rev. Walter C. Erdman for their kind assistance in preparing this pamphlet. Hospitals in Korea Heal the sick that are therein, and say unto them, "The kingdom of God is come nigh unto you!” Luke x: p. HERE is no land where the need for medical work is more visible and urgent than in Korea. The necessities and sufferings of the unhappy people are so pitiful that no Christian heart can resist them. Their lives are dominated by the dread of malignant .spirits, who wield the power of life and death. The air is often polluted by the corpses of the dead, lying unburied until the soothsayers shall appoint a propitious time and place for burial. Every imaginable unhygienic and unsanitary practice is common. Except in the largest cities, sewers and drains are unknown ; disease lurks in every well and spring. It is no wonder that dysentery, malarial fevers, and typhus are always prevalent. Small-pox is a fearful scourge ; the patients are usually children, for ever}' adult Korean has had it at least once. They take no precautions against it, and use no remedies, because they think it is sent by a special deity, who must be propitiated by prayers and offerings. The death rate among children from small-pox alone was formerly sufficient to offset any increase of population. Since the foreigners have come, the people are learning the benefits of vaccination, and in most places are glad to resort to it. In towns, it is now made compulsory for children. Epidemics of cholera occur constantly. The people think it is caused by rats climbing about in the body, and paste a hideous picture of a cat over the doorway to keep the rats away. Or cords are stretched across the streets, bearing papers inscribed with prayers or threats against the evil spirits. Devil-posts with grinning teeth are planted at the corners, with the inscription, “This is the general who is after the cholera devils.” The rigid measures against infec- tion employed by the Japanese Government since the annexa- 3 tion have been remarkably successful in preventing the spread of both cholera and plague, and in enforcing some degree of sanitary precautions. The worst sufferings are caused by the ignorant practices of native physicians. Their theory is that disease is caused by winds or spirits inhabiting the organs of the body, and their system of treatment is designed to let the spirits out. This is accomplished either by puncture with their broad steel needles, which are thrust recklessly into any part of the body, not excepting the eyes, or else by burning with hot coals or punk. Horrible sores and wounds follow these tortures, with infection from the unsterilized needles. ■ The popular drug is ginseng, which is considered a specific for all ailments. A concoction of snakes, toads and centi- pedes, skillfully mingled, has signal virtue, and tiger-bone pills are supposed to inspire the patient with the strength and courage of the animal. The changes in Korea have been so rapid and marvellous that it seems incredible that only a little over twenty-five years ago it was still the Hermit Kingdom, into which for- eigners penetrated only at the risk of their lives. The de- mand for Christian teaching is now so urgent that everything else has to give way to that; but for the first ten years of the mission it was only the prestige of the medical work that made it possible for any teaching to be done. When the first missionary. Dr. H. H. Allen, afterward United States Minister to Korea, went to Seoul in 1884, his safety was secured bv an appointment as physician to the United States Legation. In a political disturbance soon after, a member of the royal family was wounded, and recovered under Dr. .Allen’s treatment. This gained for him the favor of the king, who appointed him court physician and head of the Royal Korean Hospital, built under his supervision. Dr. John Heron (1885-1890) afterward held these positions. Miss Ellers, M. D. (Mrs. Bunker), who went out in 1886, was made physician to the queen, and put in charge of the women’s ward of the hospital. It is said that one of the queen’s Korean doctors, who, of course, were never allowed to see her, felt her pulse by using a cord, one end of whicb was tied around her majesty’s wrist, and the other end held by the doctor in the next room. The royal tongue had to be protruded through a slit in the screen for the necessary inspection. 4 On Miss Ellers’ marriage, her place was taken by Dr. Lilian S. Horton CMrs. M. G. Underwood), who remained the trusted physician and friend of the unfortunate queen until 1895, when the political disturbances culminated in the queen’s assassination. Dr. C. C. Vinton, and afterward Dr. Avison, were added to the medical staff in Seoul after Dr. Heron’s lamented death. A nurses’ home was built by the Presbyterian Society of Utica, N. Y.. in memory of l\Tiss Jacobson, the first trained nurse sent to Korea, who died of malarial fever after two years of devoted service. It was the custom among wealthy Koreans to turn any dependent afflicted with an infectious disease at once into the street, and it was a common thing to find poor creatures lying by the roadside in all weathers, in every stage of suf- fering. Mrs. Underwood was enabled by private gifts to open a little hospital for these sufferers, known as the “Shelter,” to which any one might send infectious cases. A little dispensary, given by Mrs. Hugh O’Neill, of New York, was opened near by, where religious services were held. About this time the handful of Christian Koreans in Seoul were organized into a church, and were valiantly trying from their scanty means to raise money for a church building. In that summer (1895) cholera broke out with unusual virulence. The government made an attempt to establish quarantine and sanitary regulations, and open emergency hospitals, but the greed and corruption of the native officials thwarted all efforts. Dr. Avison was chosen sani- tary director, and the whole burden practically fell on the American missionaries. An old building was hastily fitted Tip, and a corps of nurses and doctors formed from the missionary ranks. As the plague increased, it was de- cided to fill the “Shelter” with cholera patients, under the care of Dr. J. H. Wells and Mr. and Mrs. Underwood. A number of Christian Koreans volunteered for the love of Christ to nurse the sufferers. Every evening a service of prayer was held in the central court, where the workers gained new faith and strength for their arduous task. Two- thirds of the patients here recovered, and only one-third in the general hospital. People who watched the mission- aries working over the sick night after night, said to each other : “How those foreigners love us ! Would we do as much for our own kin as they do for strangers?” Some 5 men who saw Dr. Underwood hurrying along the road in the gray dawn, remarked: “There goes the Jesus man; he works all night and all day with the sick without resting.” “Why does he do it?” said another. “Because he loves us,” was the reply. After the disease was checked, the government sent valuable gifts to the foreigners who had assisted in the hospitals, and insisted on paying the Korean Christians for their labor of love Almost every one of them gave the money at once to the fund for the new church, considering it a special gift from God in answer to their prayers. The year 1912 shows nine mission stations in Korea, each with its dispensary and a hospital completed or in progress. In most of these centres, the Japanese Government has opened charity hospitals, showing that the need for medical help is recognized. Rut so far these have not lessened the influence of the mission hospitals, or diminished the attend- ance. One of the most notable contributions to Christian advance- ment made b}' our med'cal workers is the series of scientific text-books which they have written or translated. SEOUL. — At the capital, it was early found desirable to establish an independent hospital, free from government con- trol. Funds were given by Mr. L. H. Severance, of Cleve- land, Ohio. .After prolonged difficulties, a suitable site was secured, and the building was dedicated in September, IQ05. Besides superintending the hospital. Dr. .Avison and Dr. Hirst attend the whole foreign community and the Korean Chris- tians, and are frequently called to outside towns. Over 14,000 cases were treated in 1911. Almost the whole work of the public dispensary is now entrusted to one of the Ko- rean graduate physicians. An evangelist and a Bible woman are employed to work among the patients and the friends who accompany them. Young men have received medical training in this hospital from the beginning, and the class has now developed into a Medical College, to which all the Protestant missions in Korea can send their students. The buildings, provided and equipped by Mr. Severance, will contain, when complete, departments of dentistry, pathology and nharmacy, each under competent direction ; a well equipped dispensary, lecture rooms, labora- tories, operating rooms and modern apparatus. The Korean Medical Mission Association, representing all the Mission Boards, will co-operate with the college faculty. It is hoped that each Board will assist in the support, and that an en- dowment frnd may in time be secured. The present teaching- staff comprises Drs. Avison, Hirst and Mills, of our own Board, two physicians from other missions, and three Korean graduates of the institution. Other missionary physicians will assist with lectures. Dr. Avison says : “The course of study contemplates four years’ work in the college, and one year of practical work under a foreign physician, before the full doctor’s degree is conferred. The students are all Christians, attending daily prayers and th? church on the campus. We hope ulti- mately to care for one hundred students, and send them back when their course is completed to build up the church in their own districts.” Last year there were fiftj--seven students, of whom six were graduated in June, iqit. The Governor-General, Count Terauchi, presented the diplomas; and Dr. Fujiji, of the National Hospital, made an address. This shows the official standing of the college. A Training School for Nurses has graduated so far six Korean women. One, the sister of Esther Kim Pak, M. D., the first Korean woman to take a medical degree, is now assistant superintendent of the hospital, and two others are superintending hospitals in other places, “Korean women with their quiet ways and gentle natures, should make ideal trained nurses.” PYENG YANG. — This ancient capital is the centre of Chris- tian work in North Korea. The medical work here, under Dr. J. H. Wells has been most efficient. The hospital has a fine building, given bv the late IMrs. Ladd, of Portland, Oregon. Some wards are fitted up in foreign style, others are purely Korean, with the usual hot floors. Dr. Wells says : “We find it best to allow relatives, in certain cases, to stay with the patients The changing crowd at morning prayers, the halt, the blind, wistful children and mourning mothers, humanity in wreck and ruin, is a daily sight to stir one’s deepest emotions. This is the only agency of the station which constantly sees so many unconverted persons. Having decided in some distant village to come to the ‘Jesus Doctrine Hospital,’ they are ready for any surgical measure necessary, often begging to be cut open and have the disease taken out. and are also ready and anxious to listen to ‘the Doctrine.’ The generous 7 WAITING ROOM, I.ADD HOSPITAL, PYENG YANG. promise from Mr. W. M. Ladd of $250 a year for charity patients will be of great assistance to us.” During the recent outbreak of cholera, this hospital was designated as an official pest-house, and inspected daily by government medical officers. This helped greatly to allay the panic among the Christians. It is at times utilized as a government vaccination station. More than 1,000 patients sometimes come in one day. FUSAN, at the southern end of the peninsula, is the port for Japan, and has become of great importance. A railroad connects it with Seoul and Eui-Ju, where it joins the South- ern Manchurian Railroad to Moukden, and will in tirne con- nect with the Russian line across Siberia. The Junkin Me- morial Hospital, long under the care of Dr. C. H. Irvin {1893-191 1 )> tlie Mary Collins Whiting Dispensary, care for an unending stream of suffering people, seeking relief from afflictions of all sorts. A capable evangelist instructs all who come. Mr. Kim Keui Won, a patient at this hospital, where he heard the Gospel for the first time, became the first Christian in the province of North Kyueng Sang, and later the first ordained elder in South Korea. He is now studying at the Theological Seminary. SURGICAL PATIENTS, FUSAN HOSPITAL. A Leper Asylum, supported by the Edinburgh Society, is largely superintended by our Mission. The inmates average about forty, though for lack of funds only the most needy cases can be admitted. Regular religious services are held by a Korean Christian. Tn a nearby village the people were led to inquire into “the Doctrine” by observing the kindness shown to the lepers, with the result that there is now a new group of believers there. 9 TAIKU. — One hundred miles north of Fusan, by railroad, is Taiku, an old town, now the third city of the peninsula. Medical work was begun here in i8g8 hy Dr. W. O. Johnson, and a small hospital built, which was afterward destroyed by a cyclone. It has been replaced, through the generosity of the same giver, by a tine lirick building, with a picturesque tile roof, standing on a hillside overlooking the crowded market-place. It will accommodate about twenty patients, the low'er floor being for men, the upper for women. A new dispensary building is greatly needed. Continued illness has compelled Dr. Johnson to give up the responsibility of the hospitality and take evangelistic w'ork instead. At the time of annexation, the Government Hospital here gave free treatment as a pacifying measure, and while this w'as continued it made a large inroad upon the number of patients coming to the Mission Hospital. The tide is turning again, however, and many seem to prefer treatment at the Christian institution, even though in some instances it costs more. Every Sunday in Taiku Church an elder reads off the names of six workers in the presence of the congregation. These six conduct the evangelistic work of the hospital dur- ing the ensuing six days. The plan has given excellent re- sults. Their earnest words to the waiting patients make the additional word and tract received from the doctor in the consultation room the more effective. SYEN CHYUN. — “Syen Chyun” means “flowdng stream,” from the stream of fresh pure water fed hy mountain brooks which flows right through the centre of the village. It might well take the name from the stream of blessings, spiritual and physical, which flow from the two large Christian churches, the schools for boys and girls, and the dispensary and hos- pital. Medical work in this northern station w'as begun by Dr. Sharrocks in IQOI, and increased amid the horrors of cholera and war. A dispensary was built in 1905, and a hospital building added shortly afterward. Twenty-five medical stu- dents are under instruction, and more than 10,000 patients come each year to the hospital. CHAI RYUNG. — This station in Whang Hoi Province, fifty miles south of Pyeng Yang, was opened in 1905, and its rapid growth is largel}' due to the medical work of Rev. H. C. W hiting, M. D. “When the people heard that the foreigners had fitted up part of the property they had bought as a Chay Chung Won, or ‘house of all diseases,’ they began to come. Day after day patients grew more numerous, and all who went away told the same story. The foreign doctor would treat you whether you had money or not, whether you were a Christian or not; and he was doing it all because he had a loving mind toward Koreans, and wanted them to know and do the Jesus doctrine.” The first little dispensary is now replaced by a cottage hos- pital, given by the ^ladison Avenue Presbyterian Churcb, New York. Tbe students trained by Dr. W’biting are now suf- ficiently advanced to be of great assistance in the hospital work. There is no more thorou.ghly devoted worker on the field than Dr. W'hiting, and no patient leaves the institution without thorough instruction in the Gospel message. These persons are carefully followed up, and many are brought to the Great Physician of their souls. One of Dr, Sharrock’s graduates, Dr. Chyu, is carrying on the hospital work in Dr. W^hiting’s absence. CHUNG- JU. — Fifty miles south of Seoul is Chung- Ju, occu- pied in 1007. Medical work at this station was started by Dr. and Mrs. IM. AI. Null, who were soon forced by ill health to return to America. At present tbe Duncan Memorial Hos- pital here is in charge of Dr. W. C. Purviance, assisted by a Korean nurse from tbe Nurses’ Training School at Seoul. In seven months after this hospital was opened, 2,570 patients were treated. The hospital is a great agency in spreading the Gospel in this relatively new field. Patients come from one hundred miles awa}’, many of them from isolated villages, quite un- touched by Christianity. KANG KAI. — This new station, opened in 1909, among tbe northern hills, is two hundred miles from the railroad, and the climate is very severe. The hospital, given by the late Mr. John S. Kennedy, was opened in February, 191T. by Dr. R. G. IMills. In a part of the country far removed from the new civilization rapidlv entering Korea, the treatment and cures effected at this Christian institution have had a marked influence upon the people of the district. Since Dr. Mills' BOYS IN LEPER HOSPITAL. transfer to Seoul, Dr. John D. Bigger has been appointed to Kang Kai. ANDONG. — The work here is so recent that it is not yet fully organized. A temporary hospital has been arranged, cared for by the Taiku physicians in turn, and the patients average several hundred each month. The church members take these sufferers on their hearts, coming every day with Gospels and hymn books to instruct and comfort those wait- ing in the guest room. Speaking of the leper patients. Dr. Fletcher says : “On every side are seen these *ends of human beings/ There is only one small asylum in Korea. I think every hospital in Korea should have its leper ward. This is the only way, I believe, to ‘cleanse the lepers’ and thus relieve this terrible scourge of humanity.” The current expenses of these nine hospitals are nearly covered by their receipts. The entire cost to the Board in IQII, excluding buildings and physician’s salaries, was less than three thousand dollars.