The Hawaiian gazette., 1912-02-06
MORE EFFICIENCY;
LESS EXPENSES
Figures for City Health Depart
ment Example of What
No Politics Means.
tFrom saturday,s Advertiser.l

(tr0m saturday AuVertlSeI.)
One department of the city govern
ment at least invites the attention of
H. Gooding Field, cost expert and
scientific business man. The final fig
ures for the year of 1911 have just been
completed by the city health depart
ment and City Physician Wayson has
the qualification of knowing that his
office has run 1886 under the appropSi-
alton made for it by the supervisors
with not only an increase in the eff
ticiency of the department. but with
more actual work performed.
Judging from comparison of the
figures for the last six months of 1910
and 1911, the only ones available, Doc
tor Wayson is running his department
at lower cost than did his predecessor,
the totals being $1,000 for the last six
months of 1910 against $6544 for the
same period last year.
The supervisors had provided $3.50
for the maintenance and operation of
this department during 1911, basing
their estimates on what it had prev
iously taken to do So The actual ex-
penses were $14,SS4. Much of the ex-
pense was saved in hospital bills which
have been cut down considerably. This
was great item of expense under the
previous administration as all INDECENT
patients were sent to various institu-
tions for treatment.
Under Doctor Wayson's management,
however, 90 patients have been treated
at their homes by himself and his staff,
which of course, implies no extra eX-
pense to the city. As the rates made
to the city by the hospitals are $3.50
day per patient, and as the average
patient remains there ten days, this
alone constitutes a saving of $1400.
This leaves an apparent balance of sew
eral thousand or so which was saved
in miscellaneous expenses.
The actual greater economy attained
IS much greater, however, than these
figures apparently show, There is now
ander pay in this department not only
the city physician, but also an assist.
ant city physician and trained nurse,
both of whom draw competent salaries.
Previously there was no salaried at
tache to the health department besides
the city physician. Consequently, for
correct analyses, the pay of the train
cd nurses and the assistant city ply
stefan must be deducted from the total
expenses and the result subtracted
from the total expense of the previous
administration in order to arrive at
proper understanding of just what
can be done by department that re-
fuses to tie itself up with politics and
the heads of which refuse to build up
any kind of a machine to keep them
selves in office.
The reports show that the nurse has
made over three hundred calls in pri-
vate homes, caring for INDECENT sick.
These have not appeared in the table
of treatments at private homes and the
work performed by her represents pure
ly an increased efficiency.
The hospital expenses also include
the treatments made at the Queen IS
Hospital to patients brought there by
the police patrol injured in accidents
and so on. Theoretically these should
be treated by the police surgeon, DR..
N. B. Emerson, and the expense borne
by that appropriation but in reality,
as Doctor Emerson examines but in
sane patients and performs autopsies,
the expense is thrown back on the city
health department.