Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1896-03-28
Facilities Provided fol- Medical Stu
dents at Freedmqns Hospital.
GRADUATES PRACTICAL EXPERIENCE
Training School fof Nurses and
Other Modern Devices.
PROGRESSIVE METHODS

Freedmens Hospital will be held. Upon
that occasion it is expected that not less
than twenty members of the school will
receive diplomas. The school was estab-
]ished in October. 1894, by DR.. Daniel H.
Williams, the surgeon-in- chief Of the hos
pital, who recognized the fact that the ply
s!cian must depend almost as much upon
the nurse as upon his medicines.
He had in mind the advancement Of the
young people of his own race by opening
to the many capable young colored women
graduated yearly from the public schools of
the District and against many of whom
nearly every avenue of lucrative employ
ment is closed, new industrial opportu-
nifty.
At present the school has forty young
women i'll training, and more intelligent
and brighter and prepossessing number it
would be difficult to find. The superlntend-
ent of the school is Miss Sarah c. Ebersole.
graduate of the Illinois Training School
for Nurses, and to her is largely due the
complete success which SO far has attend
ed this institution.
When DIR. Williams assumed charge of
the hospital, he discovered that there was
no ambulance service. Convinced that
such a modern convenience should be eli
Joyed by every modern hospital, especially
by one situated in a city of the size of
Washington, where SO many emergency
cases arise, he determined TO at once es-
tablish such a service. There were no
funds for such purpose, but the doctor
found an old grocery wagon and borrowed
horse and light harness. and soon had in
service a simple but effective ambulance.
Then, by saving funds here and there, he
shortly afterward had a sufficient amount
to purchase modernly equipped anbu-
lance, and since july last, when it was first
placed in use, it has been of great valRe.
answered. ty
to sixty-five emergency calls Il month. In
connection with the ambulance service, i'm
proved facilities for giving prompt atten-
ton to all emergency cases have been
completed. special ward having been lit
ted up, and special detail Of internes and
nurses having been made for aTording inl-
mediate relief to those cases. and in two
minutes from the time of the arrival of the
ambulance at the hospital everything Is in
readiness for the treatment of the patient.
System of Interncs.
Another important and valuable feature
Of hospital work established by Dr. Will
liams is a system of iDternes, a corps of
young graduates from &c various medical
schools, to assist in the work Of the insti-
tuition. These young men are given tenn
porary residence within the hospital, and
assigned to duties in adj the many wards
OF the hospital and in every branch of its
professional work. In this way there is a
mutual benefit, the hospital is relieved of
the necessity of keeping on its pay rolls a
large number of practicipg physicians, who
can give but small part of their time to
the regular work of the hospital, and the
young graduates get the benefit of varied
and valuable experience along the line OF
their profession. -
Freedmans Hospital In this way offers
young cOlored medical graduates an oppor-
tunity for advancement said to be given
them by but one other hospital in this couil-
try, ProVident Hospital.' Chicago. The sys-
tenn here has proven great success, and
it is the intention of DIR. Williams to ap-
point annually, through competitive exam
nations, as many interneS as possible, the
appointment to be for one year. and to carry
with 1t a small allowance for personal ex-
penses.
Origin Of the Hospital.
1t was during the last years of the war
that this hospital was established as an
asylum in many ways for the very large
number Of negroes fleeing from the south
ern states. Sickness and disease naturally
prevailed among them, and the hospital be-
came an absolute necessity. First located
in that section of the city known as lie
Droit Park, it was removed to it's present
site in 1860. At first its facilities for car
ryins On hospital work were exceedingly
limited because Of the slight assistance
afforded by Congress.
But the demands upon it increased rapid
ly, and gradually it's means We're enlarged
ana It's 1acllItleS improved.
When the hospital was originally es-
tablished it was presided over by a white
physician, assisted by a corps of white
physicians. 1t is extremely doubtful if even
one sufficiently educated and skilled negro
physician could then have been found, But
today, and as has been the case for several
years past, negro presideS over the in
stitution as surgeon-in-c hief. Not only
that, but many of his assistants have been
and are negroes of educated and accom-
DllSleU associates he
of the hospital being white physicians of
unusual skill, learning and standing.
The Surgeon-in-Chief.
The present surgeon-in-chief of the hos
pital is Daniel H. Williams, who was born
at Hollidaysburgh, Pa, January IS, 1853.
He attended the GAINESVILLE (Wis.) High
School, graduating from the Classical Acad-
envy there in 1873 Two years later he
commenced the study of medicine there
under Surgeon GEL eral Henry Palmer. He
attended three courses of lectures at the
Chicago Medical School, from which he
graduated March 2S, 1855, being forced to
rely his own exertons for his profess
sional education. He located permanently
in Chicago, and from 1854 to 1892 was sur
geon to the South Side Dispensary.
From 1890 to 1898 he was surgeon to
Provident Hospital, and was appointed sur
geon-in-chief of Freedman's Hospital by
the Secretary of the Interior February IS,
1871. Df. Williams Is d mPmDer of the
American Medical Association, of the IL
linois State Medical Society, of the Chicago
Medical Society, and of the Ninth lnterna-
tional Medical Congress. He was also q
member of the Illinois state board of
health from 1889 to 1898. Because of sick
ness DR.. Williams did not assume personal
charge Of Frcedman's Hospital until Sep
TENDER, 1894, but he at once adopted the
policy of progress and Improvement pur-
sued by his predecessor, Or. c. B. Purvis.
Only Modern Methods.
The practice of surgery under Dr. Will
liams' administration has made rapid
strides at the hospital, and every Sunday
afternoon, in the finely equipped amphi-
theater of the hospital, the most difficult
of operations are performed in the pres
ence of physicians and students. Then
there is another operating room as finely
equipped and even better lighted, where
abdominal surgery only is done. Formerly.
the patients were required to be carried to
the operating room through the open air.
but DR.. Williams has built covered area
way, through which the patients are wheel
ed on modern carriages, OF course, only
modern methods are employed in the hos
pital, and under the improvements made by
DR.. Williams the mortality has been re-
dIced during the past two years from fif-
teen to twenty per cent. The average num-
Der of patients in the hospital is about
250 the year round, and about third of
them are white, statement which no
doubt will surprise those DerSonc u,bo