World War II’s end did not mark the end of what they called “war work” at Percy Jones. An accredited high school and high education providing more than 20 fields of study including business, pre-technical training, agricultural and other professions were available to the recovering Soldiers. VIRIN: 230119-D-DO441-001Thousands of these patients enrolled in the Percy Jones Institute. In September of 1945, the month following the end of the war in the Pacific, records showed a peek of 11,427 patients. 729 operations were performed in one month. Percy Jones had become the Army Center of amputations, neurosurgery, deep x-ray therapy and plastic artificial eyes. When these were all consolidated and activated as Percy Jones Hospital Center in April 1945, they made “The Old San” the Army’s largest medical installation. Kellogg’s million-dollar estate at Gull Lake that was used as a convalescent center, the old Fort Custer Reception Center was added and as a reconditioning of battle casualties and finally the Fort Custer Hospital was placed under the jurisdiction of Bastion and was then known as the Fort Custer Annex. VIRIN: 230119-D-DO441-002Under Bastion’s direction, the hospital expanded rapidly to handle the increasing flow of battle casualties as the Allies launched the D-Day operations in Normandy France and the tempo of the war in Europe increased.įirst, the gift of W.K. The work continued through the fall and into the winter until January 15, 1943, when the Percy Jones Hospital received its first patients from near by Fort Custer.Ī month later 175 casualties from the Pacific theater arrived by hospital trains and on February 22 a dedication ceremony was held. But by September of that same year the plan had added 500 more beds. The original plan in the summer of 1942 was for a 1000-bed Army general hospital. Shortly after the US entered World War II in 1942 the US army purchased the Sanitarium from Kellogg, renamed it the Percy Jones Army Hospital, and went about converting it into a hospital. Penny came to the Sanitarium to learn to be healthy. In those early years people like Henry Ford, Amelia Earhart and J.C. VIRIN: 230119-D-DO441-003Rebuilt after a 1903 fire the building was originally the home of the Battle Creek Sanitarium, referred to by locals as “The Old San,” a world-renowned health resort.
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