A Growing Campus
The years following the opening of the new medical school campus were an exciting time for UOMS. In 1924, the family of Charles S. “Sam” Jackson, philanthropist and former publisher of the Oregon Journal, donated an additional 88 acres of land on Marquam Hill, providing the school additional space for future expansion. The campus quickly grew during the following decades, and construction cranes were a constant presence on the hill.
Clinical Opportunities
After 1909, the students of UOMS worked with patients at Multnomah County Hospital and the People’s Institute and Free Dispensary to gain clinical experience. At both institutions, students assisted physicians and staff, wrote patients’ medical histories, and received lectures from the attending doctors. Through the dispensary and hospital, students gained knowledge and experience typically reserved for practicing physicians. In exchange, free medical care was given to Portland residents in need.
In an effort to strengthen the medical school campus, Mackenzie offered nine acres on Marquam Hill to the Multnomah County Commission for the construction of a much-needed new hospital adjacent to the new school. The new hospital opened in 1923 and became Oregon’s first teaching hospital. Following suit, in 1931 the Free Dispensary transferred to the medical school, moved to Marquam Hill, and was renamed the Outpatient Clinic.
New Connections
In 1926, the school deeded 25 acres to the United States Government to be a site for a veteran’s hospital. That same year, the original Dorenbecher Children’s Hospital building was completed. The facility was established by a donation from Ada Doenbecher Morse and her brother Edward Doernbecher in memory of their father, F.S. Doernbecher and was the first children’s hospital in the Pacific Northwest. It provided 70 beds for sick and disabled children and greatly enhanced pediatrics care and education at UOMS.
The University State Tuberculosis Hospital, completed in 1939, further expanded clinical facilities on the Marquam Hill campus. The 80-bed hospital served as the state’s primary tuberculosis hospital, provided valuable training in the case of this major disease, and participated in national programs to eradicate the disease. The hospital relied on X-ray diagnosis, and treatments included surgery and light therapy. In 1944 streptomycin, the first drug found to be effective against tuberculosis, was introduced. By the 1960s, with additional antibiotics and improved public health measures, tuberculosis hospitals were no longer needed and the facility closed. It now serves as the Campus Services Building.
