The Washington herald., 1908-02-07
HOSPITALS IN AMERICA
By FREDERIC J. HASKIN
By FREDERIC ]. HASKIN.

To-day Is the anniversary of the estab-
/ lishment of the first hospital in the United
States. On February T. 175l, the Penn
sylvania Hospital was established and
opened for the relief of suffering. Joshua
Crosby was the first president of its board
Of managers. and Benjamin Franklin was
its first clerk. From that time the num-
/ Der Of hospitals has been annually grow
/ ing. until to-day there are more than
| 800 Institutions Of the kind in the c0un-
| try And this takes no account Of the
/ hundreds Of institutions for the insane
and the feeble-mInded. The hospitals OF
the United States annually treat con-
siderabIy more than million patients,
and the number of patients 10 be found
in them on any given day is about 1900.
There are S73 persons in hospitals for
every 10000 of population. and 1903 out
OF every 10000 people are treated in
them some time during each year. The
cost of treating patients ranges from
81 cents up 20 $2.S per day in the United
States. and the cost Of building and
equipping hospitals ranges from Sl,OoO to
/ Sl00O0 per bed
The finest hospital in the world to-day
! is said TO be the Johns Hopkins Hos
pital in Baltimore. This institution was
founded by the munifcence of Johns
/ Hopkins, a wealthy bachelor. who left
/ his entire fortune 20 education and hos
ptal work 1t is said TO be the most
( perfectly appointed and conducted hos
1 pital on the globe. and some Of the rich
/ est contributions to the science of medi-
/ cine and surgery have been made by its
/ physicians. AS one enters the main hall
of the hospital building he approaches a
heroic statute of Jesus Christ. the pedes-
I tai Of which bears the inscription. Come
unto me all ye are that weary and heavy
/ laden and I viii give you rest" Tie fact
/ that one can seldom go there without
finding half dozen patients seeking en-
+ trance indicates that many annually come
y seek the proffered rest from physical
aflieuon.
The first real emergency hospital in
/ the United States was established in
Boston by DIT. J. 81. Calvin. in the early
/ '90s. It came in the shape Of a sort Of
Workingmens insurance against accident
| Workingmen paid in 81 per year, and for
/ this were assured Of treatment in smer-
genCy eases. The idea took well and
| from little two-room, ill-equipped hos
ptal it has developed into one Of the
most important in Boston. The first i'm
poTtant emergency hospital in an amuse-
ment park was that Of the White City, IN
/ Chicago This hospital has treated thou
sands and saved many lives. Its physi-
clans can be called to the hospital from
any part of the park, at any hour. by
/ the yermillion lights that can be made tc
/ play on the north and south sides Of the
great white tower
| The past fifteen years have witnessed
/ the greatest strides in hospital work and
hospital building ever made in the United
/ States The proportionate number of peo-
/ pie treated at hospitals has increased
/ largely over what it was before 1920, and
Z in the centers Of population is this es-
/ pecially true. II is likewise true that far
more eases are treated in proportion 20
I population in the North than in the South
New ork is the greatest hospital State
I ln the Union and treats thousands OF
1 patients more than any other State. To
/ Virginia falls the credit Of hayeing es-
tablished the first hospital or asylum
/ for the insane. 1t is at Williamsburg
and Dr. Oliver G. Brunk. one Of the
youngest hospital sUperintendents in Tie
/ United States is now at the head Of tfis
7 oldest institution Of its kind in tie
/ country.
One Of the greatest difficulties that Is
experience in connection with the charity
work OF hospitals is that of the crowding
/ Of charity wards by people who are able
+ TO pay for treatment. A well-knowH
writer on hospital subjects says that re-
/ Gently there came TO a prominent hospital
man who brought his son for treatment
| in the free wards They looked Ike poor
[ farmers and the patient was taken in
E Later an investigation showed that this
/ farmer owned a thousand acres Of land
worth at least 500 per acre, or more thar
S250o10. He had been sent 10 this hospital
/ by another well-to-do farmer who had
/ also gotten free treatment In another
[ instance a gentleman brought his wife
/ to a hospital for charity treatment. II
/ was given. and when he returned 10 the
/ city 10 take her home. He bought her q
/ $500 diamond ring as his present for hav-
I AAiE NuiA@ttilt-l 10 HE1GtIEG TIE operation
/ which had been performed He very In
discTeetly presented Il before they left
/ the hospital, and the authorities OF tho
/ institution. upon investigating the case
| found that he was a man ef no small
means. He was given the choice OF pay
I ing full rates for the operation and treat
ment, or Of being prosecuted for obtain
! ing something of value under false
/ pretenses, and he paid I'D. Each year
{ hospitals are growing more careful to in
vestigate the woTthineSs OF those who
seek free treatment some Institutions
requiring full statements of the financial
| situation of prospective patients. to be
certified to by at least two people OF
standing.
Hospital authorities as a rule do not
thb.k a great deal of the military hospi-
tai service Of the United States. This is
not due TO any lack Of professional abil-
ity among those who head it, but to the
failure Of the government to properly
equip the service. Nearly every author
ity on the subject compares the military
hospital system Of She United States with
that of Japan. to the great disadvantage
of the former. During the civil war the
Federal army lost more men by death
after reaching the hospital than were
killed in action. IN the japanese army
for every hundred who were killed in
battle there were about sixty-six who
died from wounds, and almost all of
these died before they were sent beyond
the field hospital. Thus the fatalities be-
yond the field hospital became almost a
negligible quantity. In the hospital of the
American nurses. headed by DR.. Anita
Newcomb McGee, out of more than 5000
petients received there We're only forty
seven who died. There were only forty
seven amputations performed in that
time, and Of these five were no more
serious than the taking off of finger.
The japanese have a Red Cross organ