Name/Title
Oral History of Frank BerryEntry/Object ID
2014.012.001Scope and Content
Frank Berry attended the College of the Holy Cross and Tufts Medical School. Upon graduating, he was drafted into the army and sent to the Medical Field Service School, later deciding to train in ophthalmology after his service. He was introduced to Los Altos in his search for a location to set up his medical practice and moved in the early 1950s. He was not only the first ophthalmologist between Palo Alto and San Jose, but heavily involved in the establishment of the El Camino Hospital.
After discussing his upbringing and education in Massachusetts, Berry mentions being picked up by the Army and sent to Fort Knox, Kentucky, where he ended up being Chief of Allergy at a general hospital. Two months short of his two year army service term, Berry moves back to Milford to be with his father and spends two years in general practice before training in ophthalmology. He married his wife Jean, who with their two kids decided to move to establish his medical practice. Lured by the area and Stanford Medical School, his family moved to Los Altos and Frank became an Associate Clinical Professor at Stanford Medical School and Chief of Ophthalmology at Santa Clara Valley Medical Center. Berry recounts treating famous Los Altos residents, such as Lucile Packard, Bob Noyce, and Gilbert Smith. After noticing the severe overcrowding of the hospitals in the area, he and a group of doctors formed the Medical Advisory Committee, who successfully lobbied for the creation of the El Camino Hospital.
Berry makes careful note to name everyone involved with the El Camino Hospital, from its beginnings as a proposed solution to the overcrowding in local hospitals to the first medical staff working in the hospital after its opening. He recounts the friendly competition and cooperative, supportive atmosphere in the hospital, describing it as a lovely place to have worked. He makes it clear that he is proud of not only being a part of the hospital’s establishment, but to have been able to serve and be a member of the community of Los Altos.Collection
Oral History CollectionOral History Details
Interviewee
Frank BerryInterviewer
Marcia AdamsInterview Date
Apr 25, 2014