![HABS-Glen Lake Sanatorium](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/a/aa/HABS-Glen_Lake_Sanatorium.jpg)
Glen Lake Sanatorium, a
tuberculosis
Tuberculosis (TB) is an infectious disease usually caused by '' Mycobacterium tuberculosis'' (MTB) bacteria. Tuberculosis generally affects the lungs, but it can also affect other parts of the body. Most infections show no symptoms, i ...
treatment center serving
Hennepin County
Hennepin County ( ) is a county in the U.S. state of Minnesota. Its county seat is Minneapolis, the state's most populous city. The county is named in honor of the 17th-century explorer Father Louis Hennepin. The county extends from Minneapo ...
in
Minnesota
Minnesota () is a state in the upper midwestern region of the United States. It is the 12th largest U.S. state in area and the 22nd most populous, with over 5.75 million residents. Minnesota is home to western prairies, now given over to ...
, opened on January 4, 1916, with a capacity of 50 patients, and closed in 1976. In 1909, the Minnesota State Legislature had passed a bill authorizing the appointment of county
sanatorium
A sanatorium (from Latin '' sānāre'' 'to heal, make healthy'), also sanitarium or sanitorium, are antiquated names for specialised hospitals, for the treatment of specific diseases, related ailments and convalescence. Sanatoriums are often ...
boards and appropriating money for the construction of county sanatoriums. Glen Lake Sanatorium was the fifth of fourteen county sanatoria that opened in Minnesota between 1912 and 1918. Glen Lake was the first U.S. tuberculosis sanatorium to be accredited by the American Medical Association.
The sanatorium had its own post office, and the mailing address was Glen Lake Sanatorium, Oak Terrace, Minnesota, until the surrounding area was incorporated into the City of
Minnetonka
Minnetonka ( ) is a city in Hennepin County, Minnesota, United States. A western suburb of the Twin Cities, Minnetonka is located about west of downtown Minneapolis. As of the 2020 census, the city's population was 53,781.
Minnetonka is the ...
.
Timeline
1916: The Glen Lake Sanatorium originally consisted of three stuccoed buildings: A cottage for patients (later known as the East Cottage), an administrative building, and a heating plant/laundry.
1917: A fourth building (known as West Cottage) doubled the capacity.
1921: An eight-floor brick administration building opened and the patient census increased to almost 300.
1922: A detached four-story Children's Building could house up to sixty children—many of whom had been exposed to tuberculosis in their home and had parents undergoing treatment in the main buildings. The building was financed by the Citizens' Aid Society in memory of Lenora Hall Christian.
1924: A building boom greatly expanded the sanatorium campus. An addition housing a bakery and new kitchen linked the 1916 and 1921 administration buildings. A seven-floor East Wing was added and the sanatorium could serve 490 patients. Two residence buildings were constructed. A nurses' residence built north of the main campus also housed other female staff. A power plant and a residence for male employees were built across the road from the campus to the south (present-day Eden Prairie).
1925: The West Wing opened. The capacity was increased to 600. The Christian family funded the
Glen Lake Children's Camp on Birch Island Lake, a short distance south of the main sanatorium. It is now on the
National Register of Historic Places
The National Register of Historic Places (NRHP) is the United States federal government's official list of districts, sites, buildings, structures and objects deemed worthy of preservation for their historical significance or "great artistic ...
.
1934: An addition to the East Wing added surgical suites, occupational and therapy rooms, and classrooms. This building was the second to be financed by the Citizens' Aid
Society. Former offices in the other buildings were converted to patient rooms and the final capacity of Glen Lake Sanatorium was 680 patients.
1936: The peak of the tuberculosis epidemic in Hennepin County occurred. The Glen Lake Sanatorium's population exceeded 700, with patients in hallways on gurneys and porches enclosed and transformed into wards. In 1936, the average stay by a patient at Glen Lake was 538 days.
1961:
Chemotherapy
Chemotherapy (often abbreviated to chemo and sometimes CTX or CTx) is a type of cancer treatment that uses one or more anti-cancer drugs ( chemotherapeutic agents or alkylating agents) as part of a standardized chemotherapy regimen. Chemothe ...
had all but eliminated the need for extended stays in a sanatorium. Hennepin County leased the Glen Lake Sanatorium campus to the State of Minnesota. The state's Department of Public Welfare converted the sanatorium to a psycho-geriatric nursing home to serve aging residents of its state hospital system. It was named Oak Terrace Nursing Home in reference to the original post office address of Glen Lake Sanatorium, which was Oak Terrace, MN. A portion of the main building continued to house tuberculosis patients and operated as the Minnesota State Sanatorium.
1976: The last tuberculosis patient was discharged and the facility became a state Nursing facility for Ward of the State patients; those with severe mental and or physical disabilities. As other state facilities closed, patients were moved to Glen Lake Sanatorium, Which was then called "Oak Terrace Nursing Home".
1990: The state closed the nursing home when the Department of Human Services (formerly DPW) moved to a decentralized system of care.
1993: The entire campus, excepting the children's camp which is located in
Eden Prairie
Eden Prairie is a city southwest of downtown Minneapolis in Hennepin County and the 16th-largest city in the State of Minnesota, United States. As of the 2020 census, it has a population of 64,198. The city is adjacent to the north bank of th ...
, was razed. The Glen Lake Golf and Practice Center operated by
Three Rivers Park District
Three Rivers Park District is a special park district serving the suburban areas of the Twin Cities including suburban Hennepin, Carver, Dakota, Scott, and Ramsey counties. Three Rivers's mission is "To promote environmental stewardship through ...
now occupies the site.
Treatment
The Glen Lake Sanatorium was constructed on the Trudeau Sanatorium model, established at the
Adirondack Cottage Sanitarium
The Adirondack Cottage Sanitarium was a tuberculosis sanatorium established in Saranac Lake, New York in 1885 by Dr. Edward Livingston Trudeau. After Trudeau's death in 1915, the institution's name was changed to the Trudeau Sanatorium, followi ...
in
Saranac Lake, New York
Saranac Lake is a village in the state of New York, United States. As of the 2010 census, the population was 5,406, making it the largest community by population in the Adirondack Park. The village is named after Upper, Middle and Lower Saran ...
by Dr.
Edward Livingston Trudeau
Edward Livingston Trudeau (5 October 1848 – 15 November 1915) was an American physician who established the Adirondack Cottage Sanitarium at Saranac Lake for treatment of tuberculosis. Dr. Trudeau also established the Saranac Laboratory for ...
. The fresh-air-and-bed-rest treatment of tuberculous patients often meant open windows, even during Minnesota winters. Sun therapy, called
heliotherapy, was the other essential element of early treatment at Glen Lake. The 1921 Administration building and East and West Wings featured "deck houses" or uncovered porches running the entire length of the buildings' top floors. Patients would lie in beds entirely exposed to the sun's rays, wearing minimal clothing. Patients' rooms on other floors had floor-to-ceiling triple-hung windows that would slide up and allow beds to be wheeled onto small porches.
In 1922, Glen Lake Sanatorium doctors first adopted and performed a surgical procedure known as artificial
pneumothorax
A pneumothorax is an abnormal collection of air in the pleural space between the lung and the chest wall. Symptoms typically include sudden onset of sharp, one-sided chest pain and shortness of breath. In a minority of cases, a one-way valve i ...
, which collapsed the
lung affected by
pulmonary tuberculosis
Tuberculosis (TB) is an infectious disease usually caused by '' Mycobacterium tuberculosis'' (MTB) bacteria. Tuberculosis generally affects the lungs, but it can also affect other parts of the body. Most infections show no symptoms, in ...
. Collapse inhibited the proliferation of tubercle bacilli and stimulated the formation of scar tissue that controlled the disease. Another method, called extrapleural thoracoplasty, involved removal of portions of several ribs to collapse the chest wall.
Phrenic nerve interruption was introduced to Glen Lake in 1924. This paralysis of the
diaphragm reduced movement of the affected lung.
The collapse era was followed by
chemotherapy
Chemotherapy (often abbreviated to chemo and sometimes CTX or CTx) is a type of cancer treatment that uses one or more anti-cancer drugs ( chemotherapeutic agents or alkylating agents) as part of a standardized chemotherapy regimen. Chemothe ...
.
Streptomycin
Streptomycin is an antibiotic medication used to treat a number of bacterial infections, including tuberculosis, ''Mycobacterium avium'' complex, endocarditis, brucellosis, ''Burkholderia'' infection, plague, tularemia, and rat bite fever. F ...
, a
World War II
World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposing ...
development, was readily available by 1949.
Isoniazid
Isoniazid, also known as isonicotinic acid hydrazide (INH), is an antibiotic used for the treatment of tuberculosis. For active tuberculosis it is often used together with rifampicin, pyrazinamide, and either streptomycin or ethambutol. For la ...
came into use in 1952 and, together with streptomycin, shortened patient stays from years to months.
Related books and movies
Minnesota author
Frederick Manfred
Frederick Feikema Manfred (January 6, 1912 – September 7, 1994) was an American writer of Westerns, very much connected to his native region: the American Midwest, and the prairies of the West. He named the area where the borders of Minnesota, ...
was a patient at Glen Lake Sanatorium from 1940 to 1942. While there he met his future wife and fellow patient, Maryanna Shorba. Manfred later fictionalized his stay in the book ''Boy Almighty'', published under his given name of Feike Feikema.
Dr. Harry Wilmer, coincidentally a roommate of Frederick Manfred at Glen Lake Sanatorium, wrote ''
Huber the Tuber'' which was published by the National Tuberculosis Association in 1942. It was used in educational campaigns against tuberculosis.
The opening black and white sequence of ''Untamed Heart'' was filmed at Glen Lake Sanatorium shortly before it was demolished. In the movie, it represented the Catholic orphanage in which Christian Slater's character grew up. The bedside scene was filmed in the Children's Building and the other scene took place in the main first-floor hallway of the Administration Building. At the time of filming, the working title was "Baboon Heart."
The video documentary ''From Beginning to End: Glen Lake Sanatorium and Oak Terrace Nursing Home'' was produced in 1990 as a tribute to the 75th anniversary of the opening of the Sanatorium. The video, produced at Paragon Cable Studios by Steve Perkins, Mary Krugerud, and Colleen Spadaccini, is available for viewing at the Hennepin
ountyHistory Museum.
"A Girl at a Tuberculosis Sanatorium" recounts the story of Theresa Ledermann, who was 13 years old when she entered Glen Lake Sanatorium for what turned out to be a four-year stay.
''San Memories'', a collection of photographs and oral histories, was published in celebration of the 75th anniversary of the opening of Glen Lake Sanatorium.
"The Christian Family's Fight Against Tuberculosis" details the many efforts of George Christian and his family to use their personal wealth to improve the care and treatment of people with TB.
"She's Consumed by the Story of the State's Sanatoriums" is about one person's interest in Minnesota's system of county tuberculosis sanatoriums.
[Brown, Curt. "She's Consumed by the Story of the State's Sanatoriums." Star Tribune April 3, 2016.]
Glen Lake Sanatorium is one of several tuberculosis facilities in Minnesota that is featured in the website Minnesota's Tuberculosis Sanatoriums.
"Interrupted Lives: The History of Tuberculosis in Minnesota and Glen Lake Sanatorium," written by Mary Krugerud, was published by North Star Press, St. Cloud MN, in September 2017. It relies on diaries, letters, and many interviews with former patients and employees to look beyond the common stereotypes of enforced confinement to present daily life in a sanatorium and changes in treatment over several decades.
References
External links
Glen Lake Sanatorium page at Minnesota's Tuberculosis Sanatoriums North Star Press.
{{Authority control
Hospital buildings completed in 1917
Hospital buildings completed in 1921
Hospital buildings completed in 1922
Tuberculosis sanatoria in the United States
Defunct hospitals in Minnesota
Buildings and structures in Hennepin County, Minnesota