The citizen. (Honesdale, Pa.) 1908-1914, 1911-10-27


first floor to be used for the open air
treatment. Here the patients may sit
in rest chairs and enjoy the sunshine,
and thus is overcome the necessity of
| porches that would bar the sun from
the patients rooms. Into this sun cor.
ridor also the patients bed can be
wheeled. To economize by using the
same foundation and roof for as much
as possible, a second floor Of each con-
Meeting corridor will accommodate
twenty beds for hospital cases
The sanatorium site, about 2400 feet
above the sea level, is sufficiently far
from all industries to have a pure air
for the patients. The summers are cool
and the winters long and unbroEen.
At Hamburg, in Berks county, a site
has been purchased for an eastern
sanatorium, which will be built along
the same lines as the one at Cresson.
The site selected commands a pleas
ing view Of wooded mountains, broken
into gaps and peaks, with the Schuyl-
kill river winding in the valley to the
west. Far enough away to avoid all
objection Of noise and smoke. but near
enough to relieve q sense of lonesome
ness, the Schuylkill valley branches
of the Pennsylvania and Reading rail
roads are seen. The quaint town OF
Hamburg nestles In the valley be-
low, bordered by stretches Of farm
lands with restful pastoral scenes.
At these three state Institutions, Mont
Alto, Cresson and Hamburg, the poor
will receive the ideal treatment for
tuberculosis. ...r
Dispensaries Care For Thousands.
Hand in hand with the sanatorium
At 115 places in Pennsylvania the
state department of health has q free
tuberculosis dispensary, in charge of a
trained physician, with necessary as,
sistants and visiting nurses. Some idea
Of the amount of work being done by
these dispensaries may be gathered
from the fact that from July, 1907, to
July, 1911, 41,792 tuberculosis suffer
ers had been examined and treated
and regularly visited at their homes
by the states eflcient corps OF trained
nurses.
The educational and sociological
work alone that Is being done by the
state from these dispensaries to pre-
vent the spread Of disease and to bet
ter the conditions of living among the
poor, would amply justify all the mon
ey Pennsylvania has appropriated to
its tuberculosis campaign. And in
connection with this work of educat.
ing the people, opportunity should not
be lost to refer to the splendid aid
given by the public press in general,
through which it has been possible
from day to day and week to week
to talk over these problems of better
health and better living conditions
with the home group around every
fireside in the state.
When the dispensaries were started
it was realized that If they were to be
fully successful the department would
first of all have to locate the indigent
cases. 1t, therefore, solicited and re.
ceived the hearty cooperation of civic
clubs, churches, organized charity as.
sociations labor unions and the large
employers of labor throughout the
state. This cooperation has always
continued, and the department appre-
ciates it's value
Nurses In the Homes.
When an applicant for dispensary
treatment has been carefully examined
by the physician in charge, and full in
formation as to the history of the case,
environment, occupation, etc, noted,
he is carefully instructed as to what
he must do to improve his own health
and the absolute necessity Of taking
certain precautions to avoid injecting
others. He is supplied with sputum
cups and paper napkins, and If he is
too poor to get regularly the proper
nourishment, this is supplied to him
in the form of milk and oil, the latter
having proven a most efficient food
day or so after the new patient
has been to the dispensary trained
nurse calls at the home. The squalor
and disease breeding conditions that
the nurse so frequently finds present
a task that would seem impossible.
But the nurse Is all courage. Bright
and cheerful and a model of cleanli-
ness herself, she is not afraid to roll
up her sleeves and set the pace for
getting the house in order Windows
are thrown open and Gods glorious
sunshine is allowed to come in and
run riot through the rooms, killing as
nothing else can do so we'll the lurking
germs of disease. What a difference
is made in that home. The tubercu,
losis patient is thoroughly instructed
in the precautions he must observe
and the health rules he must follow
and each member of the family is sim
ilarly taught how to avoid infection
The patient himself is especially ad,
vised to sleep with windows wide
open or, better still, to sleep out OF
doors. Helpful suggestions are offere
as to how sleeping quarters can
be made out of back porches,
for instance, at a nominal expense
Then the nurse makes a quick study
of the other conditions in the home
Perhaps she notices that the children
are anaemic poorly nOurished and i'm