-Bonnie, (Westfield, NY)

Homepopathy History

Buffalo Homeopathic Hospital
1872-1923

Homeopathy had its beginnings in sixteenth century Germany with Samuel Hahneman, a physician and scholar whose practice included aristocracy and royalty. Disappointed by the results of the medicine then being used by him and his colleagues, Hahneman left his prominent practice. He went on to discover a profound natural law; the Law of Similars, which became the foundation for homeopathy. The Law of Similars is the idea that any substance which can cause symptoms when given to healthy person can help to heal those who are experiencing similar symptoms when given in a very minute amount.

His revolutionary thinking grew in acceptance in Germany, France and England. American doctors studying this system of medical treatment in Germany started in the 1840's to introduce homeopathy to the United States and through their influence other American doctors and soon schools, hospitals and private practices in homeopathy were established. Throughout history homeopathy gained favor with many prominent people including Harriet Beecher Stowe, Henry Wadsworth Longfellow, Louisa May Alcott, Daniel Webster and John D. Rockefeller. There were over 100 homeopathic hospitals and 22 homeopathic medical schools in the United States, while allopathic (conventional) institutions were increasing at approximately the same rate.

Throughout the 1800's, both allopathic (conventional or modern medical doctors) and homeopathic physicians, treated diseases such as small pox, typhoid, diphtheria, tuberculosis and syphilis as well as illnesses more common today such as influenza, allergies, and menstrual disorders. At that time, allopaths had nothing more than purging and other primitive means to treat these diseases. The homeopaths, however, had an arsenal of remedies as effective today as they were then. In the nineteenth century a fever of 105� was given precisely the same homeopathic treatment as today. In fact, most homeopaths prize their texts by the masters of infectious diseases as a mainstay of their library. Nothing in homeopathy is capricious. Indeed every remedy has been used efficaciously for over two centuries.

A comparison of mortality rates in 1844 between homeopathic and conventional patients throughout the United States and Europe showed the rate of survival to be twice as high in homeopathic patients as compared with those receiving the conventional medicine. Another study done fifty-six years later in 1900 showed similar results and proved the efficacy of this timeless method regarding life-threatening infectious diseases. Furthermore, this study showed two to eight times the rate of survival of patients of homeopaths compared to the rate of survival of the patients of allopaths.

In Buffalo, homeopathy first found its home at Washington and North Division streets as the Buffalo Homeopathic Hospital, incorporated in June 1872. The purchase price of the property was five thousand dollars. A group of devoted women who called themselves the Homeopathic Hospital Aid Association raised forty five thousand dollars with a bazaar and the balance from one-dollar memberships.

In 1899 a free homeopathic dispensary opened at Genesee and Main streets as a branch of the Buffalo Homeopathic Hospital. It was about this time that changes in medicine came about. While education standards for homeopathy were higher and more demanding, allopathic medicine began using heroic measures such as antibiotics that appeared to act miraculously. This was particularly powerful because until that time the conventional physicians depended on bleeding, purging and blistering. Now the allopaths could offer seemingly painless methods to “cure”. The homeopathic physicians had always used only simple little pills and not surgical or heroic measures. Also homeopathic consultations then as now take a good amount of time, often as long as an hour and a half per visit. However, with allopathic treatments the cultural effects of the industrial revolution, the assembly-line mentality of getting the patient in and out within minutes became the norm in hospitals and doctors offices.

Originally a three-story house became a homeopathic hospital and accommodated three patients. With a population of nearly one hundred thousand at the time, Buffalo also had two allopathic hospitals. Within months of opening, the Buffalo Homeopathic Hospital, had reached its capacity and it was clear that a larger facility was needed. The directors of the little hospital purchased the former Bidwell Homestead at Cottage and Maryland, and this became its second location. Here the hospital thrived until 1911 when again it outgrew its space and it was replaced by a four-story structure that was designed and built at Gates Circle.

Once the Buffalo Homeopathic Hospital established its new location at Gates Circle cultural and medical changes across the country encouraged the board of directors to include the hiring of allopathic doctors. In 1923, the name was changed to Millard Fillmore Hospital. This coincided with the beginning of the decline of the practice of homeopathy in Buffalo. Trade organizations including the American Medical Association soon became the norm in the United States. The American Medical Association was made up of a group of allopaths who were antagonistic to “sectarian” groups. Their attention was focused on the elimination of the homeopathic profession. This attitude coupled with practitioner attrition caused the practice of homeopathy to decline in the United States to essentially end around 1970. However starting in the late 1970s, there has been a sharp resurgence and homeopathy has continued to grow. Homeopathy is no longer found in Millard Fillmore Hospital. Indeed is likely that many of the hospital staff may not be aware of its meaning and the legacy of homeopathy as a healing art right in their own hospital.

Homeopathy is again found in homes where families are looking for a safe efficacious method of treating acute health problems. The homeopathic practitioner office of today allows the community a glimpse into the days of renewed health through the power of homeopathic remedies. Homeopathy does not seek to cover up symptoms only to find new ones springing up as a result of the treatment. For example, killing germs does nothing to eliminate the disease cause. The cause is not the germ but the pre-existing condition of the person that allows the germ to cause pathology. The goal of homeopathy is to get to the bottom of the issue and unearth the “imbalance” or illness. It stimulates the body to heal itself through gentle nudging via homeopathic remedies. When we use the body language, in the form of symptoms, we are guided to the correct remedy. Then the body and mind can re-balance, as only it knows best.

When visit after visit to the pharmacy for more and more medications brings no end to a medical problem, consider doing as many in Buffalo once did and Europeans still do: look to homeopathy for relief. With an exciting past homeopathy offers a bright and hopeful future in Buffalo and throughout the world.