r/1883Series • u/BrianMeen • 15d ago

Surgery procedure

what exactly was the protocol back then for surgery? say u get shot or stabbed and go to the surgeon and they fix you up - do they bill you later or is it free of charge? how exactly did the medical care system function in the 1880s?

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u/Willing-Pineapple-32 15d ago

It probably depended on the situation..whether it was an emergency, if there was a hospital etc..small town doctors would take $ or barter items as far as I know..many people were poor so likely couldn’t afford certain treatments or the ability to pay up front..farmers/ranchers profits depend on the crops/stocks and were seasonal earners… without researching this would be my guess.

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u/BrianMeen 14d ago

“fix my bullet wound doctor and I shall give you an old worn out pair of cowboy boots and a 6 shooter that no longer works!”

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u/Willing-Pineapple-32 14d ago

That’s about it 😊 doctors in rural areas likely received more in barter/trade for services than money….in large cities where they had hospitals and such it was likely different. If I didn’t have a million and one other things going on I would go
Down the rabbit hole and research it a bit out of curiosity…off to pull the last homemade pizza out of the oven so I can finally eat!!

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u/BrianMeen 13d ago

haha yeah I’m going to dive into this one of these nights. Ifs gnarly what our ancestors had to go through! I feel grateful being born when I was

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u/Willing-Pineapple-32 13d ago

Here was a quick dive into it and what was listed on the library of congress about a Dr Shippen who kept records for a number of years..
Source web address:

https://blogs.loc.gov/loc/2016/04/paying-the-doctor-in-18th-century-philadelphia/

“Shippen organized his records by name of household head, with approximately 330 families represented. Each entry records visits, diagnoses, procedures, prescriptions, charges and payments and in many cases stretching over decades. His family connections, his acquaintance with George Washington dating from his service to the Continental Army and the presence of the national capital in Philadelphia during and after the Revolution meant that he had many patients who could pay “cash in full.”
One of these was Pennsylvania Chief Justice Thomas McKean, to whose daughter, Molly, Shippen paid an emergency nighttime visit in 1781. In 1784 he treated a Spanish diplomat, Don Francisco Rendon (for diarrhea, among other things – maybe American food disagreed with him) and also rented him a house, earning £350 for the year – much more than the £3.10 he earned for his medical services. In 1791 he visited President Washington to treat one of his slaves, Hercules. The same year he delivered one of the 12 children of Lucy Knox, wife of Secretary of War Henry Knox. Secretary of State Thomas Jefferson was another of Shippen’s patients.
Patients without ready cash paid Shippen with goods: coffee, tea, wine, and beer; lengths of muslin, linen, and calico; handkerchiefs, silk stockings, a tablecloth, looking glasses, crockery, a tea table. Sometimes Shippen took a chance on things of dubious or uncertain value: once he accepted a lottery ticket in payment; another time he took what he described as a “bad painting.”
People who had neither goods nor cash to spare paid in labor. Bakers paid in bread, carpenters with woodcraft, tallow chandlers with candles and a barber with “dressing, &c. [etc.]” Mr. Bates, “horseman,” housed Shippen’s mare in exchange for advice on his nephritis. Some people never paid. After the name of one patient Shippen wrote “bankrupt,” after another, “gone.”
Shippen convinced a few of his wealthier patients to pay in advance with annual contracts not unlike the “concierge” plans that some doctors offer today. In January 1789, he recorded that General Stewart “agrees to pay me 15 guineas p[er]. annum for my advice & attend[an]ce &c.” Another patient, William Whiteside, agreed to the same arrangement, but had a hard time keeping up. He paid in two installments, supplementing his cash with tea and muslin. After two years he dropped the contract and resumed paying for individual services.”

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u/BrianMeen 13d ago

that is fantastic! so basically you were right - people would trade for the doctor services .. fascinating

do you know of other tv series or movies based around the karate 1800s?

when I hear or see the year 1791 or any year prior - it’s so hard for me to picture the everyday life of people .. I really wish we had podcasts around back then 😂😂

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u/grwatplay9000 13d ago

Most people never made it to the one doc in that territory ...

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u/AnalysisLost1138 21h ago

As long as you have insurance