Struggles and Triumphs

The History of the Tarrant County Medical Society - The Great Depression
By Margie B. Peschel, MD

Service takes many forms, none of more value than the other, and it involves the lives of people. Medicine is a story of service.

The Great Depression started in the United States after a major fall in stock prices that began around September 1929 and became worldwide with the New York Stock Exchange collapse on October 29, 1929, known as Black Tuesday.

Between 1929 and 1932, worldwide gross domestic product (GDP) fell an estimated 15 percent. By comparison, worldwide GDP fell less than one percent from 2008 to 2009 during the Great Recession.

The country was in the depths of the Great Depression. Banks failed, mortgages on homes and farms were foreclosed in large numbers, and unemployment was steadily increasing. The financial situation of the nation seemed to have reached its very lowest ebb.

This the world in which the 210 doctors of Tarrant County found themselves. This group provided the medical care for the citizens of Fort Worth and Tarrant County, a population of approximately 200,000.

In January 1932, the newly elected president of Tarrant County Medical Society (TCMS), Dr. Tom Bond, addressed the Society: “Members of the Society have two distinct functions to perform as citizens of this community. First, as physicians, we must provide and make available adequate medical care for every member of the community. Second, as citizens, we must discharge our obligation of citizenship on the same basis as any member of the community.”

This call was an accurate reflection of the way TCMS members had responded to the medical needs of the citizens during this difficult economic time. Charity services were rendered to citizens by members of the Medical Society at the City-County Hospital and Clinics. Their records show that in 1930, 48 doctors performed 1,267 operations and 57 doctors performed 62,416 patient visits. In 1931, 48 doctors performed 1,637 operations and 57 doctors performed 71,256 patient visits.

The legend of service by doctors and the TCMS continues today. Project Access Tarrant County is an initiative formed by the TCMS to provide healthcare access to the uninsured and working poor in Tarrant County. The NEED to serve our community never ends. Over 200 volunteer doctors pitch in to care for patients in their specialties as well as anesthesia, pathology, and radiology physician groups. Around twenty hospitals and surgery centers allow use of their operating rooms to perform these necessary surgeries. Since 2011, Project Access Tarrant County has enrolled almost 1,500 patients. This means a lot of people and their families are functioning better at their jobs and lives.

Yes, it’s true. Lake Worth really froze over during the cold snap in 1930.

Fifty cars drove out on the lake, and unfortunately, one fell through.