Dr. Susan Anderson

Susan Anderson “Doc Susie”
Physician
1869-1960
INDUCTED 1997

Dr. Susan Anderson, affectionately known as “Doc Susie,” settled in the Colorado Mountains after graduating from medical school in 1897.

After encountering difficulties building a practice in Denver, Greeley and Eaton, Anderson found her services appreciated in Fraser, where she treated lumberjacks, ranchers, railroad workers and even animals. Townsfolk referred to her as “Doc Susie.” Although most of her practice involved house calls, she never owned a horse or car. When her services were needed, and the patient was distant, relatives or friends of the patient would provide her with transportation. She often accompanied patients to Colorado General Hospital in Denver to admit them for treatment. Usually paid in firewood or food, she was poor most of her life. In one of her first cases as a physician, Anderson rejected a surgeon’s recommendation to amputate and saved the arm of a boy who had accidentally exploded dynamite in a mine.

"I wear boots and long handle underwear just like everybody else up here,...course, I don't wear them when I go to Denver - they'd probably throw me in jail.“ — Dr. Susan Anderson