American Women's Hospitals Report, 1923

Although the Allied countries did not permit women to serve as military doctors, there was a desperate need for them in the wake of World War I. The desire to advance women in the medical profession and to relieve those suffering in post-war conditions prompted American women physicians to form the first American Women’s Hospital in France in 1918. The American Women’s Hospitals (AWH) was founded by to provide medical care to the people of war-torn France during World War I, and subsequently established hospitals in other parts of Europe, continuing to provide medical care to devastated populations after wars and conflicts had officially ended.

In 1922, the women of the AWH were among the first aid groups to establish emergency services on the Greek island of Macronissi to care for the refugees who fled the burning city of Smyrna. Dr. Mabel Elliott uses strong language to describe the scale and severity of deprivation affecting the refugees on the island, and to make the case that more Americans also need to get involved to alleviate the suffering. She explains that the AWH is providing medical care to an ever-increasing number of homeless and hungry refugees, almost all women and children, and that many other resources are needed besides medical care if they are to survive. Macronissi had no existing sources of food, shelter, water, or medical care, and the AWH could not provide all of these on its own.