EXHIBITS

Bushnell Days: Medical Training at Bushnell

Medical Training at Bushnell

Some nurses came to work at Bushnell Hospital once their medical training was complete, but many trained there and went on to serve at other posts during World War II.

Many army doctors and nurses were stationed at Bushnell Hospital during the war years. It was common for Utah women in nursing school to enlist in the army during their schooling because of their desire to help in the war effort. After they graduated, they were often placed at Bushnell. Quite a few others were trained at Bushnell before heading overseas to Great Britain or the combat zones.

This view of Bushnell Hospital looking northeast from the administration buildings shows the parade grounds, where units would practice drills, and the wooden buildings that simulated those found in overseas hospitals, which medical units used for training.

Medical units from other parts of the country trained at Bushnell as well. The barracks at the northern end of the hospital grounds, which were built more like combat zone hospitals than stateside ones, were used to train these medical units, and the units also had bivouacs up in Logan Canyon. Doctors and nurses-in-training had the opportunity to work in various areas at Bushnell—including surgery, the pharmacy, and the labs—in preparation for heading overseas.

The Army Nurse 1945 US Army Pictorial Service, World War II Nurses

“In addition to the US Army nurses stationed at Bushnell General Military Hospital, many trained there before going overseas, where they might treat patients who would later be transferred back to Bushnell. This video shows the work of nurses as well as the path patients travelled to get to Bushnell and other general hospitals in the US.”

Sources for this Page

“34th General Hospital Unit History,” WW2 US Medical Research Centre, https://www.med-dept.com/unit-histories/34th-general-hospital/.

“Army Hospital at Brigham City complete except for details,” Salt Lake Telegram, December 3, 1942, available at https://digitalnewspapers.org/.

Valerie Cherbero, “Raymond Peter Rossi,” Honoring our Marin Veterans, http://honoringmarinveterans.org/raymond-peter-rossi/.

Patricia Rushton, Lynn Clark Callister, Maile K. Wilson, comps., “World War II,” and “Cadet Nurse Corps,” Latter-day Saint Nurses at War: A Story of Caring and Sacrifice (Provo, UT: Religious Studies Center, Brigham Young University, 2005), 13–154, https://rsc.byu.edu/archived/latter-day-saint-nurses-war-story-caring-and-sacrifice/world-war-ii.