Oil titan John D. Rockefeller, the epitome in the late 1800s of the term “robber baron,” was one of the early victims of the Bradford treatment.
Rockefeller, whose Standard Oil Co. was among the industry giants to dominate the country, came up against a man named Lewis Emery, whose family still operates Minard Run Oil Co. in Bradford.
Rockefeller had a plan to deliver oil to the East Coast by way of an exploding railroad venture, cornering the market and adding to his already staggering fortune.
Emery hatched a rival plan, something never before tried. He would build a massive pipeline from Bradford that would literally climb hill and dale to reach the lucrative markets. The great race was on and crews began laying a ribbon of pipe, 2 miles a day.
As one history reports: “On May 28, 1897, the Tidewater people held their breath as the great pumps whirred into motion near Bradford and the oil began to slide eastward through the pipeline. … After seven days of suspense the first oil drops sputtered out. …”
Emery had won.
And this, Bradford people, is our heritage.
We need to remember the steely resolve of Lewis Emery and his successors as we begin our fight to keep the Bradford hospital robust.
A few women, as you may know, have started a Save Bradford Hospital campaign. I am part of that very small group that also includes Betsy Costello of Bradford and Harriet Nevil of Eldred, who both have lifelong professional experience in health care.
We started as a Facebook group that exploded into thousands of people expressing frustration, rage, incomprehension and sadness at the loss of critical services in Bradford. And anger at the people willing to give up without a fight.
Working with the community and The Era, we want to explore how Bradford, in just a few short years, lost its vibrant, caring, thriving hospital after 137 years? What kind of grievous mistakes have been made before and after the so-called merger with the Olean, N.Y., hospital?
And we want to know how it was “decided” that Bradford has no choice in the decision to cut back services. … That we don’t have enough people in our rural setting to supply patients to keep the gears in motion.
So we lost our dental clinics and maternity ward. We have lost same day surgery and traditional in-hospital patient care, including an ICU.
This is the best deal possible?
Our fact-finding is ongoing and we hope to have a town hall meeting toward the end of summer.
We know Bradford is getting smaller and any health care system needs to be leaner and more flexible than in the “good old days.”
But we insist on quality care in our own town. Period. Our town must have decent care. How do we propose to go forward to try to keep this town economically viable now and in the future without it?
More bluntly, how do we ask people to make this home when the nearest reliable hospital is 25 brutal miles away, often over crappy roads in hazardous winter weather?
This is our line in the sand. Call it the “Bradford oil sands,” if you like.
This scrappy little city was built by rough and tumble oilfield workers. We played host to the Mob in Prohibition — it used the New York line as a handy place to dump dead bodies in another jurisdiction. As a reporter, I witnessed countless groups of angry citizens challenge leaders to do what was right.
We are fighters!
Perhaps the time is fortuitous.
The entire country, in the wake of the coronavirus tragedy, has acutely realized that health care is a hot mess.
It will certainly be front and center in Pennsylvania as battle lines are drawn over this very issue. Could Bradford hospital’s fate not become a cause celebre for our politicians running for U.S. senator and governor?
Our state lieutenant governor John Fetterman was in Warren over the weekend for a political event. Before his speech, I approached him, shoved a folder of news clippings into his hands and asked for his support.
He said yes. And he promised to be in Bradford when we publicly discuss this important matter. Health care is not a Republican or Democratic issue, he told me. Another candidate in an already crowded Senate field, state Rep. Malcolm Kenyatta of Philadelphia, also assured me of his support and promised to reach out.
For the record, our campaign is not political. I am the chairman of the McKean County Democratic Committee, as many of you might know, but I assure you we will be reaching out to politicians of all stripes for help. No stone will be unturned.
One final note about history — call it a bookend to Lewis Emery — George G. Blaisdell, whose Zippo lighter is still made in Bradford, was known in his lifetime for personal philanthropy and his family has continued to pour literally million of dollars into the community — including Bradford Hospital.
But we also need you. The people of Bradford who have also poured their heart and soul — and money — into our hospital. We feel the weight, in particular, of the employees’ sadness and anger. And the people, just the regular people like us, who love our hospital. We will do our best.
Will we succeed? Who can say? But if nothing else we owe it to our heritage and that long line of mavericks who invented “the Bradford treatment.”
(Marty A. Wilder lives in Marshburg.)
