The Portland daily press., 1899-01-24

the reoepit Bave told you Just Nc 10
Respectfully,
Mrs. F. H..
do not claim that the prlcs paid for
these glasses was too much. as 1 have
never seen them; that there was a profit
on them, however, cannot be denied. I
have cited this case TO show that patients
sent to DR.. Hollis Office for glasses are
liable 60 meet q demand for the usual
professional fee In addition TO the
amount which they pay for slasses
This is all have to say regarding the
seven cases that were filed with yonr Sec
rotary, Dec, 3ist, but am not willing
to rest the case here. must ask you to
listen to some testimony which may not
be valuable in itself. but which tends to
oorroborate the truth OF the charges.
Just bsforo Mr.. Murdoch. the optician,
left the Iniirmary Building last July and
after notice had been given him to va.
cate, he incidentally mentioned tc me
that in the previous six months only two
prescriptions for glasses hal come TO him
from the Infrmary. As. during the first
9bofo "iANe hD StNaPAF1 eAt ShSAts tHo DIt-
soriptlons went TO him daily after the
clinic hour and as cannot discover that
Infirmary patients went to any other
optician In town, 1t is fair to assume that
they were told to go to DR.. Hollis office
for their glasses. And finally, l wish to
state explicitly, that DIR. Holt has in con-
versation with me. unequivooally ad.
-
ment made in these charges More than
a ear ago, physician from one of the
smaller cities of the state, came TO my
Office thoroughly indignant over what he
called 1.-THE outrageous treatment" which
one of his patients had received at the
lnhrmary He denounced the Institution
and oil who were connected with It. He
showed me a bill for one hundred dollars
which the patient had received from DIR.
Holt; he said she had paid her board bill
In full upon leaving the hospital, and
that she bad been received there with the
distinct understanding that there would
be no charge for medical attendance.
The operation performed upon this wom-
an was entirely satisfactory, but she was
poor, and this bill had caused her great
anxiety, as shs felt she could never pay
It. l told this physician that the bill
must surely be a mistake, as DIR. Holt
could not afford TO put himself in such a
position. He allowed me to keep the bill
for few days until l could lock into the
matter. After ascertaining that the facts
were essentially as stated | went directly
to DIR. Holt, and asked him If 1t were the
policy of the institution to allow mem.
bers of the staff to send personal bills to
charity patients. While not stating in so
many words that this was the avowsd
policy of the institution, he said that In
very many cases he felt justified In send
ing a bill for his services. Aud he also
felt justified in making profit out of
glasses sold to charity patients. / told
him that no arguments could sustain
such position. We argued the pros and
cons however, for at least two hours
finally stated that would resign because
would not lend my name to a charity
hospital which was run for private
profit. In leaving that night,
asked him whether he woull care to have
the trustees know these facts. He stated
that he did not care, or words to that
effect l then asked him whether he
thought public opinion would justify his
policy, and he said he had long since
ceased to,care anything about what the
public thought
Before concluding, l am almost from
necessity, compelled to consider one more
phase of this question. l realize that, If
the motives which have prompted me to
bring this matter to your attention, are
considered by your board to be merely
the manifestation of u petty, personal
quarrel, no reforms will be accomplished
In this hospital. and more harm than
good will have been done by so much
unfortunate publicity. l deprecate the
undue haste which the defense has shown
this board for hearing. We have had
published interviews, published letters,
published testimonials, and even the at.
tempt TO publish anonymous letters cal
culated to influence public opinion. The
charge has been made In the public press
that was dropped from the staff for fail
ure to show d proper interest in my work,
and that this fact must have inspired
what Is called the "Httack" upon the
Executive Surgeon. As / have DIR.
Hollis word of honor that he was not in
strumental in the matter, and that your
board took the initiative in my discharge
| fail to zee the logic of the argument
Perhaps the fact that almost every mem
Der of your board has recently informed
me that he did not even know Of my re.
moval, makes the argument of more value
than / had supposed. Unfortunately.
land l use the word in all seriousness, }
removal from the staff OF the Infirmary
does not carry with 1t the disgrace which
1t ought to carry. Removal from the
staff of the Maine General hospital would
be a blow from which few medical men
could ever recover, and In all the years