Perth Amboy evening news., 1910-09-24
BOTH ALL0PATH AND
.HOMEOPATH ON STAFF
Some |nterestings Facts About the
Hospital in Midd|etoWn, N. Y. Which
Compares Favorable Here
nine PHYSICIANS ON STAFF

they have been accustomed to a GER
tain school all their life. In pub
lie institution they should have the
right to continue that treatment Ii
they SO desire,
Another interesting section of the
bylaws of the Middletown hospital
reads as follows:
Outside Doctors Permitted.
ANY legally qualified practitioner
may attend pay patients in the pri-
vate rooms or wards of the hospital,
subject to the approval of the visit
ing committee and attending physi-
clans. The hospital authorities as
sumo no responsibility for the result
of such attendance. or for charges Of
said attending physician, for medi-
cal treatment or otherwise"
Thus any physician in Middletown,
or In any of the neighboring places
for that matter, can have patients ia
ken to the hospital there and be
treated by them, although they may
not be members of the medical staff.
This is not true In Perth Amboy. Or.
If 1t is true, the local physicians not
on the hospital staff do not know
about it and the physicians already
on the staff do not tell them about
the privilege, IL such is the case. If
outside physicians here had the priv
ilege that outside physicians in Mid
dletown have, the local physicians on
the staff surely would not accept
such cases as DR.. J. s. Hay told
about in a statement in the EVEN
ING NEWS yesterday. The staff
men, instead of taking the cases,
would say: go ahead and treat the
| cases yourself at the hospital, the
privilege is yours.
AS To The Finances.
In the treasurer report of the
! Middletown hospital we find that the
city appropriates $4,000 toward its
support. There Is nothing from the
county. The contributions amount
to $284.25. The people had an au-
tomobile carnival which cleared ST.
237.12 for the benefit of the institu-
ton and they also held charity
ball atswhich was cleared $73712
for the hospital, For board and care
of patients was received $8,505.40.
The only other large amount was a
donation of $4,000 to be known as
the Melvin Horton ward fund. The
total receipts amounted to $23,616.-
63.
Among the disbursements, the sal
aries and wages amounted to $3,-
280.31. The largest expenditure was
, for provision. amounting to $5,054.-
25. Coal and Ice cost $1,025.11. For
drugs and medical supplies was ex-
pended s1,213.63. The total dis
bursements amounted to s14.367.78.
The secretary's report showed that
430 patients had been admitted to
the institution during the year.
The facts here set forth are of par
ticular interest as relating to the
medical staff 1t is readily seen that
in Middletown they have real popu-
lar institution Not only do they
have nine physicians on the staff, di-
viding the work so that each one is
on duty four months in the year, but
they give physicians who are not
members of the staff the privilege of
treating patients in the hospital A
patient can thus have the advant-
ages of the institution and still have
his own family physician to treat
him if he so desires. Furthermore,
doctors of both schools are on the
hospital staff, one of each kind being
on duty all the time and patients
are allowed to choose which they
prefer. If there is no choice, the
work Is as equally divided as pos
sible. This is the only fair thing to
do when an institution Is supported
by popular subscription and appro-
priations.
The people of Perth Amboy are
interested in the hospital They
helped build it and for a long time
they supported it. That they have
gradually lost interest and drifted
away is not to be, wondered at The
people seldom hear of the institu-
tion excepting to read of a patient
being taken there occasionally, or
when some agitation arises such as
really wanted the people to be inter
ested there are plenty of ways to go
about it. Judging from present
conditions, one would think those in
charge. were content with the way
the things are going and do not want
too much said for fear the people
would really take some interest and
disturb those who have fitted them
SELVES. 30 COIuIOEtdDiy lutO the pldc0S
they have held so long without being
mo1ested. 1t remains toe be seen
what the outcome of the present agt-
tation will be. In the meantime the
Middletown hospital furnishes some
interesting information as to how at
least one hospital in a small city is
being conducted so as to be as useful
as possible to the whole community.