Dr. Ellis Reynolds Shipp, whose name was formally given to the new Salt Lake City-County Health Department clinic on Wednesday, was a remarkable pioneer - both literally and figuratively.
She was literally a pioneer in that she and her family left Iowa in 1852, when she was 15, and trekked across the plains to Utah. After her marriage to Milford Shipp at age 19, she was called by President Brigham Young to become one of Utah's first doctors.Leaving her children in the care of other wives of Milford Shipp, she traveled to Philadelphia and received a medical education at the Women's Medical College of Pennsylvania. She graduated in 1878 and almost immediately returned to Utah to found a school of obstetrics.
The following year, eight women graduated from her class.
"She delivered a phenomenal number of children into the world," said Dorothy Solomon, a Park City author who has researched Shipp and has written extensively about Utah and Mormons, among other subjects.
Shipp is estimated to have delivered 6,000 babies in the western United States, Mexico and Canada. Also, multitudes of women graduated from her intensive class on obstetrics, Solomon said. It was the first midwifery school in Utah.
"As far as I know, she was the first woman doctor from the West," she added. "In some instances, she was the only doctor around."
Solomon lauded Shipp for her willingness "to take on a career that traditionally was considered male."
What was Shipp like personally?
"She was very devout; it was very clear that she was a devout member of the LDS faith, and she was obedient . . . In many ways, her calling came from another source, and she accepted it, rather than it being something that she aspired to.
"She was very capable in terms of domesticity and continued to supply her own needs for many years after she got her degree for medicine." Also, Shipp was extremely intelligent, and that's probably one of the reasons she was chosen to become a doctor, Solomon added.
The Ellis Reynolds Shipp Public Health Center, 4535 S. 5600 West, has a capacity for 800 medical and prenatal appointments monthly. It has medical interview rooms, and space where 3,000 immunizations can be given per month.
Separate waiting areas are available for sick and well clients. The facility can serve 8,000 clients monthly in the Women, Infants and Children (WIC) nutrition program, said Jana Carlson, spokeswoman for the City-County Health Department.