ABSTRACT
Public health officials and physicians advocated constructing sanatoriums to cure the tubercular. Medical and popular beliefs initially encouraged building sanatoriums in cold or dry climates. Sanatoriums total institutions, in which individuals of similar circumstances lived together, subject to the institution's rules, separated from the outside world—came to be viewed as a means of preventing and curing tuberculosis. Germany provided the prototype for public and private sanatoriums in the US and Argentina. Pennsylvania patients desiring public sanatorium treatment were required to go to the dispensary nearest to their home to obtain a smallpox vaccination and to fill out an application. Privately operated sanatoriums resembled resorts such as the German health spas; they appealed to the middle and upper classes. Sanatorium treatment began by obtaining accurate medical histories from patients. Sanatorium staff emphasized that when patients left prematurely they imposed a high cost on both families and taxpayers.
