The Indianapolis journal. [volume] (Indianapolis [Ind.]) 1867-1904, 1896-10-25
A NEW SUPERINTENDENT
DIR. FERGUSON SUCCEEDS DIR. MICH
OILS AT CITY HOSPITAL.
Board of HeaIth's ExpIanatiOn-The
Young Man Acknowledgements ens
of an Acting Sanitarinn.

AS result of the disclosures that have
| been made in the investigation at the City
| Hospital the superintendent, DR.. John D.
Nichols, rendered his written resignation
| to the Board of Health yesterday after
noon. He stated that he convinced
| that owing to the friction between the diff
| ferent departments of the hospital it would
| be best for all concerned for him to re-
sign, his resignation to take effect at the
| boards pleasure. The resignation was m
| mediately accepted, and DR.. C. E. Fergu-
| son, city sanitarian, was appointed his
| successor. To fill the vacancy in the Office
| of sanitarian the board appointed DIR. Ed
| mund d. Clark to be acting" sanitarian.
| He has been assistant sanitarian under
| Dr. Furguson. DR.. Clark is a member OF
| the faculty at the Indiana Medical College,
| where he is demonstration of histology and
microscopic technology. DIR. Ferguson has
been superintendent of the City Hospital
heretofore He was somewhat reluctant to
accept the appointment, but was elected
by the board. AS sanitarian his salary
was 81, 600 a year The superintendent of
the hospital receives $1,000. Besides the
difference in the salary DR.. Ferguson was
just becoming thoroughly familiar with
his duties as sanitarian.
1t is stated on the best of authority that
to the appointment of DR.. Nichols in the
first instance, but that he was appointed
at the demand of Mayor Taggart. But for
this DR.. Ferguson would have been made
superintendent. 1t was known that he
had filled the place acceptaby before. DR..
Nicholss resignation, apparently voluntarf-
y rendered, relived the board of the UNI
pleasant necessity of removing him. The
board contends that there was no substan>
tial evidence of immortality cruelty ad-
duced at the investigation, and that the
worst thing that can be said is that he
was too young and inexperienced and
lacked the necessary executive ability to
dill such an important place.
III. morrison mas proved hlmsei 10 DC
officials yesterday. "He declared at tho
beginning of the investigation that if any
one was shown to be in the wrong. whether
the superintendent or the coal hcaver, ne
would nave TO 60.
The Board of Health met last night to
discuss the emergency incident to the resig-
nation of DR.. Nichols superintendent OF
the City Hospital After deiiberation over
the matter the beard made the following
dictated statement:
From reports in the papers it has been
the general impression that the Board OF
Health was aware of the charges OF cru
city ana immortality and lack of attention
on the part of Superintendent Nichols to
his patients for two weeks. The charges OF
immortality were never made against DR..
Nichols at any time. The training school
committee has repeatedly stated to the
Board OF Health that there was nothing
more than mere indiscretions on the part
OF the superintendent. The principal indis
erection consisted in talking to the nurse in
question from one to one and a half hours,
not in Il private ROOM but in the nurses
room on the ward while said nurse
duty. This room is in sight of all patients
and nurses in attendance who pass through
the corridor. The alleged cruelty was never
mentioned TO the Board of Health by this
committee ar any time The first the Board
of Health knew of such charges was when
they developed in the evidence. The rea-
son the Board of Health asked for this
investigation was because the ladies Of the
training school had stated at a meeting of
the Board of Health that il the manage
ment of the school for nursing at the hos
pital was divorced from the city that they
would make such things known as would
was this threat and the refusal to make
specific charges that induced the Board of
Health to ask the State Board of Charity
to make a thorough investigation of the
present hospital management.
Even as late as Thursday morning of
this week, at an hour when the State Board
of Charity had begun its investigation, one
member of the training school board de-
clared that there was nothing in the
4 teapot. 1t was only after the earnest
solicitation of the president of the Board of
Health that she was induced to attend the
meeting The evidence as it developed, re-
vealed, to the surprise of the Board of
Health, that these charges of alleged cru
city and neglect on the part of Superintend-
cnt Nichols had been known TO these ladies
for some months. The board believes that
had these ladies taken a proper interest in
the welfare of the City Hospital they would
have made these charges known as soon as
they came to their cars, instead of
holding them to club the Board OF Health
to submit to their peculiar methods or gov
ernng the hospital The board could not
learn what these charges were until II had
divorced the training school from the hos
pital The position taken Ivy the training
school il one which could not be tolerated
by the nagement Of any similar institu-
lions. The president of the training-schooI
board maintained that the superintendent.
of nursing, Miss Wicks. was an officer of
equal authority with the superintendent of
the hospital and was in no sense subordi-
nate to him.
During the investigation by the Board
of Charity Thursday evening the Board of
Health asked the president and secretary
of the training school whether they recog-
niZed that il had any authority over nurses
while the nurses were on the wards of the
hospital to The extent of ordering them
from the wards for violations of hospital
rules. They replied. Certainly not. They
were then asked. suppose a nurse while
upon a ward of the hospital. should violate
the rules of the hospital. what could the
superintendent of the hospital do, They
answered. Report the matter to the super