The History of Mount Sinai Hospital, Milwaukee, Wisconsin 1903-1987 Michele Marie Elizabeth Radi University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee
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University of Wisconsin Milwaukee UWM Digital Commons Theses and Dissertations May 2016 On a Foundation Wide in Scope: the History of Mount Sinai Hospital, Milwaukee, Wisconsin 1903-1987 Michele Marie Elizabeth Radi University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee Follow this and additional works at: https://dc.uwm.edu/etd Part of the History Commons, Public Affairs, Public Policy and Public Administration Commons, and the Social Psychology Commons Recommended Citation Radi, Michele Marie Elizabeth, "On a Foundation Wide in Scope: the History of Mount Sinai Hospital, Milwaukee, Wisconsin 1903-1987" (2016). Theses and Dissertations. 1191. https://dc.uwm.edu/etd/1191 This Dissertation is brought to you for free and open access by UWM Digital Commons. It has been accepted for inclusion in Theses and Dissertations by an authorized administrator of UWM Digital Commons. For more information, please contact [email protected]. ON A FOUNDATION, WIDE IN SCOPE: THE HISTORY OF MOUNT SINAI HOSPITAL 1903-1987 by Michele M.E. Radi A Dissertation Submitted in Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements for the Degree of Doctor of Philosophy in Urban Studies at The University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee May 2016 ABSTRACT ON A FOUNDATION, WIDE IN SCOPE: THE HISTORY OF MOUNT SINAI HOSPITAL: 1903-1987 by Michele M.E. Radi The University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee, 2016 Under the Supervision of Professor Amanda I. Seligman, Ph.D. This research studies the history of Mount Sinai Hospital in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, a private, nonsectarian Jewish hospital. It was supported by the Jewish residents in Milwaukee through their philanthropic efforts for eighty-three years. In 1987, the hospital merged with a Christian hospital, but in 1992, hospital administrators announced that the establishment of operational practices designed to maintain the Jewish identity of the current hospital. I sought to answer the question of why a Jewish identity mattered to the new hospital after the merger. This research reveals that the Jewish identity of Mount came from the strong Jewish support in the early years, not from a large Jewish strict religious practices, or a majority of Jewish patients. I argue that the hospital represented a sense of collective action between two conflicted groups within the Jewish population of Milwaukee. These groups were divided along socioeconomic class and ethnic differences. The hospital provided a communal place for all Jewish residents to perform acts of charity, including fundraising and volunteer work. I argue the relationship ii between the Jewish population and the hospital was symbiotic, in that the hospital provided opportunities for Jewish doctors to establish practices and also provided economic opportunities and gave the Jewish population an icon for their charity efforts. I argue that the hospital historically treated more Gentiles than Jewish patients, but was a Jewish hospital by way of the Jewish collective action and support. I argue that the collective action of Milwaukee Jewish residents gave Mount Sinai a Jewish identity. However, changes in funding options for indigent care decreased the Jewish presence at Mount Sinai. It decreased as the need for fundraising for direct patient care decreased. After the creation of Medicaid and the expansion of Medicare, the direct financial support and the volunteer hours donated to Mount Sinai by Jewish residents decreased. As more affluent members of the Milwaukee Jewish population moved away, the Jewish participation at Mount Sinai diminished. I argue that the announcement about establishing a Jewish identity at the former Mount Sinai in 1992 represented an attempt to preserve the history of the traditional Jewish presence at the and to remind the residents of Milwaukee of the contributions of the Jewish people. iii © Copyright by Michele M.E. Radi, 2016 All Rights Reserved iv Dedicated to the Jewish people of Milwaukee, Past, Present, and Future and to Rabbi Victor Caro z’l, who dreamed of this hospital, but did not live long enough to see it bloom Also, to my grandma and Aunt Barbara, who dreamed of better things for me and did not live to see any of this happen v TABLE OF CONTENTS INTRODUCTION 1 CHAPTER 1- THE JEWISH POPULATION IN MILWAUKEE 45 CHAPTER 2- IMMIGRATION AND CHARITY ORGANIZATIONS 95 CHAPTER 3- DISPENSARY CARE AND MOUNT SINAI HOSPITAL 126 CHAPTER 4- POLITICAL CHANGES IN HEALTH CARE: MERGERS AND EXPANSIONS 158 CHAPTER 5- IDENTITY, CHANGE AND INNOVATION AT MOUNT SINAI HOSPITAL 190 CHAPTER 6- MERGER WITH GOOD SAMARITAN HOSPITAL 223 CONCLUSION 250 vi ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS First and foremost, I acknowledge my committee Chair and advisor, Dr. Amanda I. Seligman, for the countless hours she spent getting me to this point and for the continued support and wisdom above and beyond the call of duty. I promise to pay it forward. To Drs. Michael Gordon, Joel Berkowitz, Kristin Sziarto, and Jenna Loyd because their hard work and insight made this all possible. Thanks to the people who graciously agreed to share their stories with me, Norma Achter, Dr. David Amrani, Edith Arbiture, Barbara Else, Elaine Friesler, George Hinton, Dr. Paul Jacobs, Marilyn Kahn, Dr. Harry Kanin, Pat and Joan Kerns, Dr. Jay Larkey, Virginia Lehman, Elliot Lubar, Beverly Rattner, Rabbi Tsvi Schur, and Brenda Wagner, I appreciate the depth and details your histories gave to this project. To Carrie Beranek, for the countless reminders, permission numbers, conversations and much support. To Drs. Laura Fingerson, Cary Gabriel Costello, and Stacey Oliker, for laying the foundation through your efforts serving on my Master’s thesis committee. Drs. Kent Redding, Ann Greer, Ellie Miller, Robert Margrett, and Miles Meidam, thank you for your support, and for fostering my love for both history and sociology. My friends and confidants, Margaret King, Ann Hartinger Graf, and Karen Woolley Moore, and Megan Heurion, thank you for sharing the trip and the hand holding, tear drying, rant listening, and overall cheerleading, given with ample doses of crisis intervention and coffee. Thank you Kyle Poppie and Leslie Mason, founding members of the Bolton Hall Band. To the amazing staff at the University of Wisconsin Archives, especially Belle and Abby, thank you for the endless hours spent watching me work, for pulling the collections so many times and reminding me that this was something more than pages, this was the history of a way of life. To Jay Hyland, at Jewish Museum Milwaukee, thank you for the hours spent answering questions and providing the last minute perfect source countless times. To Craig Radi, Jacki Spoden Gackstatter for the extra eyes reading this research. To all the Radi family, thank you for your support. To my husband, Todd Alan Spoden, Best Beloved, thanks for the support, for the hugs and the meals cooked. Thank you for the dishes washed, the kids fed, and the one hundred million other things you did that I tried so hard to notice and thank you for, but probably failed to see. To my heart daughter, Tayler Anne Spoden, for the music, the attitude, the hugs, and the love. Mostly, I acknowledge the contributions of my children to this research. I thank my children for countless things. Zachariah, my first born, thank you for the hours spent with vii siblings as I hurried off to one class or another. Thank you for bedtime stories and waking up to sleep on the couch so I could go have yet another brother or sister for you to meet. Thank you for the word processor, the pizza, the lunch dates and the time you spent just telling me to do it. Cameron, my harshest critic and the “strong willed child”, thank you for your insight on the new formatting style, the proofreads and the critiques. Thanks for the music and for the time spent listening to me rattle on about this research. Thank you for choosing Grad School so you could relate to this process. Thank you for trivia nights and Stone Creek Coffee. Brayden, Beloved Bear, thank you for being my fellow soldier and for helping me rebuild things after a serious falling apart. Thank you for dried tears, car dancing, pizza at midnight, and for the love and support you gave me, without any prompting, I never had to ask for a hug. I could not have done this without you. Jardin, son of my right hand, thank you for Good Night Moons, 90s boy band dance offs, Michael Jackson impersonations, laughter and kicks in the pants to get moving. Thank you for the smiles, the colorful metaphors, and the calmness you could always bring to any conversation. Precious Paris, my Blessed hammer, thank you for the I love you Moms, the hugs, the pictures you drew, the gentle reminders about needing to buy crackers and bananas and the need to do laundry. Thank you for the dancing, the singing, and the occasional breaks needed to make supper, go to the museum, and for making sure we got out of the house for at least a day every so often. And to you, my daughter, Anastasia, I thank you for your never ending belief in me and for your faith. You came to class with me, literally before you were born. You inspired me to keep going, for all of us, along with your brothers. You provided spark and light during this whole process and you are truly my beautiful light of love, Liora Shayna Ahavah. viii INTRODUCTION In a September 2, 1988 article, the Wisconsin Jewish Chronicle reported changes at the former Jewish hospital in Milwaukee, Wisconsin. Mount Sinai Hospital merged with Good Samaritan Medical Center ten months prior. The new facility, Sinai Samaritan, remained at the former Mount Sinai Medical Center site, at 12 th Street and Highland Avenue, in downtown Milwaukee. The post-merger plans included the expansion of Sinai Samaritan’s Jewish linkages.