The evening times. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1895-1902, 1900-01-17

some time ago 10 enquire into the work
ings of the charitable Institutions in the
District. The committee invited the pub
lie TO give it information. ard among the
most valuable papers on the subject that
the committee received was one from the
Medical Society OF the District
The document at first recites the regu-
Iations OF the society as 10 the charging
OF fees for visiting sick. concluding by
saying: 1T shall be considered, however.
as unprofessional to diminish the standard
fees. except from motives Of charity and
beueyolence." The statement follows:
The letter and spirit OF these rcguIa-
tons are sufficiently broad and benevO-
lent. but the majority OF hospital and dis
pensary boards OF management seem To
have lest sight of these dictates Of hui
manity. and as result their annual re-
ports vie with each other in statements OF
the amount Of work done without any con
sideratlon, as to how much OF this work
was done for the benefit 81 the real de-
pendent classes. or how much was done at
the expense Of the profession at large.
Dhty To INDECENT sick.
"Whilc it is clearly the duty of the state
snd OF society 70 take care Of the indi-
gent sick il is also their duty TO prevent
imposition and abuse, and this we regret
TO say. has not been done. and the evil has
grown here. as elsewhere. with a rapiduy
which threatens the impoyerishment Of
the general practitioner
The causes OF jhis evil are manifold:
there is always large class Of persons
who pretend TO be poor when i'm reality
they are simply seeking good medical at
tendance without pay. Christian charity,
or a want of business methods. on the part
OF hosnital and dispeusary authorities pre-
vents a systematic enquiry into the .ctual
needs of such applicants
IL IS possible that liberal public and
private support OF these institutions are
factors IN the abuse of medical charity
TOT we're they obliged 20 practice strict
economy self-pres eryation would compel
them 10 require evidence of dependency
and the work would be limited to the
deserving sick But whatever the cause,
the facts are that the true purpose of
these institutions has been a mistaken
one and, with a view of placing limit
ON the performance Of unreQuited services.
10 SIT charity from it's abuse. and to keen
the hospitals and djspensaries from alb
SorhiuE patients who are able to nav for
medical or surgical treatment the Medi-
cal Association Of the District of Column
hia appointed a committee in October
1896, TO investigate The subject
This committee. In it's report presented
November 10. showed that during the
fiscal year ending June 80. lSa5. there
were treated in the hospital and dis
pcuSaries As. bSO applicants while the
physicians 10 the poor treated II. $50
patients. This makes Il grand total OF
$3.50 patients treated. and q percentage
10 population OF about y. Mr.. Wilson the
secretary Of the Board OF Associated
Charities. testified before your commit
tee that about . per cent of the cases in
Yestigated for the Central Dispensary
proved fraudulent
The As>ociation'S conclusions
The report of our association commit
tee contained certain conclusions and
recommendation which were discussed
I'm two general meetings. but the as-oci-
BtioE, TO avoid hasty action. referred the
subject TO another committee. and this
second committee formulated the recon-
mendations Of February Is. 1897: these
were unanimously adopted as amendments
10 the regulations on May II. 1885,. a copy
Of these rules was mailed 10 every hospi-
tai and diSpenSary board in the city but
so far only the Eastern Dispeusary has
expressed "A willingness 10 cooperate in
the effort to check abuses
AT meeting OF the Association held
November .. 1897. the secretary was
directed to mail copies of these amend
ments TO the hospital aud dispensary
boards, and also a copy of resolutions re-
curing members of the association who
may be members OF the medical STAFF of
such institutions to comply with the rules
by January l. 1898.
II all the hospitals and dispeusaJics had
proper medical representation On their
boards OF management many of the abuses
could be corrected 10y a fair presentation
aud discussion, but il so happens that some
Of the boards are composed wholly OF lay
members, who are disposed TO force i'm
position OF every kind upon the medical
STAFF.
In the first place it should be remem-
bercd that members OF this association s.,e
legally qualified practitioners OF medicine.
and it is not to be assumed that members
of the attending stan OF hospitals are the
only qualihed practitioners in a city. MANY
of the pay patients I'm hospitals become
inmates thereof on the recommendation OF
their family physician. in order 10 faciIi-
tate Treatment. or for 5he purpose OF an
operation which could not be properly per
formed at the house To deprive such pa
TENTS Of their first choice Is not only an 4
injustice 10 them. but also to the attend /
ing physician. and to insist that they mus.
accept the services OF the hospital STAFF is
for the benefit Of a special class
The Instances where young man would |
dare TO perform an operation without con-
SultatiOu must indeed be rare. but all we'll
regulated hospitals have. or ougbt to have
rules that no capital operation, except in
emergency cases. shall be done without the
consent or the consulting stan: and as
these rules are applicable to all inmates
injudicious operations could certainly be
avoided without depriving the patient CT
family physician OF their just rights. This
rule is not applicable TO municipal or
Government hospitals, an6 there is. of
course. no good rea son why they should
have accommodations for Jay patients
except in the hospitals for tn insane.
Pay OF PhysicIaaS.
There is no good reason why nav wards
should not be pay wards as we'll to the
physician or surgeon as to the funds of the
hospital. Indiscriminate dispensary treat
ment keeps many a fee from the hard
working and p0orly-paid practitioner. and
II a patient can hire room. with board
and nursing. in a hospital for from $40 to
$50 a week. without extra charge for pro-
fessiOnal services the hospitals 'riu -four