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Every ward had a matron. The matron was responsible to ensure that each patient was cared for with diligence and compassion. In the late 19th century there was a well know ward matron, Sally Riktus. Miss Riktus spent almost 40 years of her career on the same ward, leaving the hospital only to make a yearly trip to see her elderly mother in Syracuse.

The patients on the ward called her Sargeant Sal behind her back because of her military like way of managing the ward. She held morning and evening inspections of each patient's room. When she spotted something out of place she loudly declared the room to be in disarray and banished the patient to isolation to consider his error.

Miss Riktus had an apartment in the staff wing of the hospital. It wasn't unusual for her to take a midnight stroll through the ward to check up on the staff. Occasionally she would catch them playing cards late at night. She considered this frivolous and was known to put them to work scrubbing the ward bathrooms. It wasn't unusual for her staff to turn over every year or two.

Miss Riktus died during an unhappy day on the ward in 1903 and was buried in the cemetery behind the asylum. They say she still walks the wards, inspecting the patient's rooms and bath facilities.

 

Check this out in the light box or large on black. :D

Done