Omaha daily bee., 1906-12-20

" tll0 NOulll1 uoSplAlAg dlluuuku II "db "A
question If he should not have been sent
to st. Joseph's hospital as an emergency
case at the expense Of the city.
County Physician Talks.
County Physician swoboda in an inter-
view Wednesday declared very emphatlcally
that IL Hughes death was due to neglect
it should be laid up against the city
authorities.
i knew nothing about the case" he
said, until they bundled him off to the
county hospital after giving him treatment
at the city jail There were two other
cases to go to the hospital from the city
jail and l investigated them and had given
orders that they be admitted to the county
hospital The police said nothing to me
about the Hughes case. Instead they put
him into the ambulance with the other
two and sent him out after some one
down there had been treating him. Super
intendent Ferrer called me up and told
me there was an extra man IN the am
bulance and 1 said 1 knew nothing about
the case. l told him to examine the man
and If he was sick and a proper subject
for the hospital to admit him. and If not
I to send him back. He said the man had
! the appearance Of being a dope fiend.
Now, II they had wanted to do the right
thing they would have called me up about
the case and allowed me to examine 1t be-
| fore 1t was sent to the hospital. We can't
allow every policeman on his beat to be
sending people to the hospital without noti-
| flying us. Hughes had been treated at the
police station. l had no way of knowing
what they had been giving him. They had
| given him something to counterRct the ef-
feet of the laudanum and we could not
have treated him anyway until we had
Case for the city.
! II am alone IN this ONCE and the city
physician has several assistants. II 10 not
right to ask me to do all of this emergency
work that properly belongs to the city and
is taken care Of by the city In every other
metropolitan city. Ordinarily they send
emergency. cases to some private hospital.
especially where the party has little
money, but because this Fellow was poor
and without friends they tried to shove
him Oft onto the county. Then because he
died under their treatment they try to lay
the blame on the county authorities"
Chairman Ure OF the county board said
he did not hear of the case until he read of
1t in the papers,
at is the same old controversy between
the county and the city health departments.
The county pays $3.50 year In salaries
for its county physicians Office and the
city pays 5000 or 5000 for its physician
and gives him four or Ave assistants. Yet
the city physician tries to push all the
work of on the county authorities. 1t is a
matter that ought to be taken up by the
legislature in order that the duties and re-
sponsibilities OF each office might be fixed. -
Need of Emergency Hospital.
| Chief Donahue says the unfortunate oc-
urrence only emphasizes the need for an
Emergency hospital, where similar cases
an be given proper treatment
Il don't know II the authorities at the
ounty hospital are to blame or not" said
hief Donahue. 1T seems TO me that In
/ case Of that kind, everyone knows the
lily jail is not proper place for sick men
However, no one in authority ever evinces
any disposition TO take care OF strangers
that become sick in Omaha, but in any
event we haven't the facilities to take care
Of sick people at the Jail. In fact, we
haven't the facilities to take care OF all
the well people of Omaha. There ought
to be an emergency hospital to take such
cases to.
Hughes case is a repetition of many
others. In fact, we have similar cases
every week When we telephone the city
physician to take charge Of them we are
told to call up the county physician. Then
we call w that physician and we are
told by him TO call up the city physician
and there you are. Something ought tc
be done, so we can tell where to send q
patient. The Jail, when inhabited as Il
invariably Is, by DRINKS and shouting
hobos, is no place for a sick man"
!
open evenings, FrenzeT. i5tm and Dodge.