Guthrie:

Title: 100 years of Guthrie Healthcare

Author: Brian Bishop

Publisher: The Daily Review

Date: 2/25/2010



Guthrie Healthcare marked the 100th anniversary of the arrival of its namesake, Dr. Donald Guthrie, with a recently released pictorial history book documenting the past century of Guthrie Healthcare.



Dr. Donald Guthrie, the founder of Guthrie Clinic and the chief of staff of Robert Packer Hospital from 1910 to 1958, arrived in Sayre in 1910.



"Dr. Guthrie was a force unto himself, a larger-than-life man of great intelligence and compassion whose personal and professional philosophies became the foundation on which Guthrie Clinic stands today. His belief in teamwork, excellence and patient-centered care are the values that guide all of Guthrie Health 100 years after he came to a little rural town in northeast Pennsylvania to follow his dream," states the introduction of the book.



Local historian Henry Farley, who serves as food and nutrition manager at Robert Packer Hospital, president of the Bradford County Historical Society, and Sayre Borough Council president, worked on the book and said the book took about a year to put together. Farley, Wendy Hankle, public relations associate at Guthrie, and Kathy Lewis, administrative director, public relations, worked on the book, Farley said, with "many approval meetings" with Guthrie administrators. They poured over photos from Guthrie's archives, Farley said, selecting which ones to include in the book. The photos were spread out on tables lined up in Guthrie's Patterson Auditorium, he said, as they selected which ones to include in the publication. Farley said they wanted to be sure to use photos that hadn't been used in other corporate publications.



"It was a journey," Farley said.



"We're very fortunate to have the archives we have," Farley said, adding that the book was made possible because of the extensive archives Guthrie has kept over the years.



An acknowledgement section in the front of the book states that the dedication of volunteers, employees, physicians and others who carefully saved documents and photographs in the archives over the years is much appreciated.



Dr. Joseph Scopelliti, president of the Guthrie Clinic, was present at an informal announcement of the book held Wednesday near the Robert Packer Hospital gift shop.



Scopelliti said Guthrie was fortunate to have such a substantial archive of photographs to draw from in making the book. The book attempts to document the history of Guthrie and some of the changes to the organization over the years, he said.



One of the more striking examples of the change time has brought to Guthrie Healthcare are photographs of ambulance services in the book, he said, with the earliest ambulances drawn by horses and later photos showing life-flight helicopters.



Scopelliti said the book was put together by a great group of people, adding that the book's authors put an "enormous amount of work" into the book.



The book, published by Arcadia Publishing as part of their "Images of America" series, contains more than 200 photographs of a century of Guthrie Healthcare, according to information from the publisher.



The book is available for sale at MURPH's Mart Bookstore in the Beck Library and the Robert Packer Hospital gift shop on the Guthrie campus in Sayre and through the company intranet, Scopelitti said. The book is also available on Amazon.com, Lewis said.

Title: New book details Guthrie history
Author: Derrick Ek
Publisher: Corning Leader
Date: 3/13/10

Using vintage photographs, a new book documents the 100-year history of the Guthrie Clinic and the life of its founder, the late Dr. Donald Guthrie.

"Guthrie: 100 Years of Health Care," was published by Arcadia Publishing - which specializes in local history books - as part of its "Images of America" series.

It's a light read: after a short introduction, it tells Guthrie's story through a series of 200 black-and-white photographs and captions.

According to the book's introduction, Dr. Guthrie arrived in rural Sayre in 1910 after a three-year surgical internship at the Mayo Clinic in Rochester, Minn. He joined the fledgling Robert Packer Hospital, which was converted from the former mansion of a railroad tycoon to serve the men injured in Sayre's huge railyards.

Dr. Guthrie ran the hospital and served as its chief surgeon, and he also established a clinic which brought together physicians of varying specialties under one roof, which at the time was something of a rarity in rural areas.

Both the hospital and the adjoining clinic grew quickly under Dr. Guthrie's leadership, adding buildings and staff, and treating more patients.

Now, of course, Guthrie is a large regional health care network which includes Corning Hospital. Guthrie employs more than 4,000 people and serves approximately 200,000 patients annually.

The book was the brainchild of Henry Farley, a 33-year Guthrie employee who's also the president of the Bradford County Historical Society.

"We realized the anniversary was coming, and I started to bug (Guthrie's top brass), saying, 'We've got to do something. This is a big deal,'" Farley said.

"To sit down and write a history would have taken years, to do it right," Farley added. "But I was familiar with Arcadia, and I said 'This is the way to do it. We have tons and tons of pictures in our archives, so let's use them to tell the story."

A group led by Farley dug through Guthrie's archives to find photographs which the public had never seen. The project took about a year.

There are images of Dr. Guthrie and other key figures; of early ambulances, medical devices and operating rooms; a devastating fire in 1933; the launch of Guthrie's helicopter airlift service; and more.

"I'm thrilled. It turned out better than I expected," Farley said. "While we were working on it, we took banquet tables in our auditorium and laid the book out, so you'd be walking down isles of these pictures. To see it all come together is just really great."

While Arcadia Publishing has released thousands of local history books, a book about a health care system is fairly unusual, said Lynn Beahm, Arcadia's publicity manager.

"Guthrie: 100 Years of Health Care" sells for $21.99 and is available at local bookstores, online retailers and through Arcadia Publishing at www.arcadiapublishing.com or (888) 313-2665.