State Hospital, 1953-1966

Despite the development of antibiotics to treat tuberculosis and their success on a national scale, the disease remained a major problem in New Mexico. The rise of the sanitorium industry in the state and influx of migrants afflicted with tuberculosis during the first decades of the twentieth century had inadvertently spread the disease among the state’s native population. By the end of the 1930s, New Mexicans had the second highest rate of tuberculosis per capita in the country and the highest mortality rate, which was 36 percent above the national average. While many patients traveled to New Mexico to receive treatment in sanitoria, many New Mexican residents struggled to receive treatment as a result of limited local public health services, poor infrastructure, and lack of public education about the spread and treatment of the disease. The change in jurisdiction over Fort Stanton Hospital thus provided the state with a major public health asset.

From 1953 to 1966, the New Mexico Department of Public Welfare managed Fort Stanton Hospital and continued to use it as a sanitarium. It became one of the main public health facilities to treat state residents for tuberculosis. Fort Stanton Hospital maintained an onsite patient population of around 200 while also treating 2,400 outpatients annually. During the 1950s, the BIA contracted with the state to treat members of the Navajo tribe at the facility. The majority of the onsite patients during these years, as a result, were Navajo. About ten percent of the patients were children.

Under state management, the built environment of Fort Stanton Hospital continued to evolve. The 1950s witnessed the construction of a new medical clinic as well as the Otero School building. The commanding officer's quarters also underwent renovations, including enclosing the front porch. The hospital, in turn, added a new 30 bed wing to its main building. In the 1960s, a fire station and new residence were added to the southwest of the parade ground.

The rate of tuberculosis in New Mexico continued to decline. The systemic organization of out-patient clinics, increased application of drugs, and better follow up screening techniques all added to the well-being of the state's residents. By 1957, the disease had plummeted from the first to the tenth leading cause of death in the state. The number of patients at Fort Stanton Hospital, as result, began to shrink. In 1966, the state transferred the remaining one hundred patients to the treatment facility at Fort Bayard. The era of Fort Stanton Hospital as a sanitorium came to a close.

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