In the old St. Paul Sanitarium, the chart desk--the equivalent of today's nursing unit--was a center of activity. In this photo, two St. Paul nurses are recording the progress of their patients. On the wall are patient call buttons which alerted the nurses when a patient needed assistance. Telephones at the chart desk could be used by patients as well as the staff, since the majority of patient rooms did not have phones. However, an operator could ring up the number for the phone user.