The Washington herald. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1906-1939, 1912-03-31
HEALTHDEPARTMENT COSTS
BUT THREE CENTS A MONTH
Remarkable Service at Comparatively Low Cost to
Citizens.
Citizens.

Contributed By the Medical Society Of the Distrie'
| Of Columbian
| 1t costs every man, woman, and child
in the District at the rate OF cents per
month for the maintenance OF the health
department. What do they get in return?
From the cradle to the grave, the
health department is ever with him. The
| health department even anticipates his
coming and registers in advance physi-
clans and midwives whom the board of
medical supervisors has duly certified as
competent to pilot him into this world.
A formal entry OF his arrival is made In
the registration books of the department.
and the entry goes to swell the vital
statistics of the District OF the entry
his parents are notified with due official
formality. and the department takes ad-
vantage of the occasion to offer advice.
telling how the newcomer can best be
made to grow into robust manhood. And
the very milk that he drinks when ma
ture refuses longer to supply him better
nourishment comes from cows that the
health department has inspected with
that end In view. and is brought to the
door by a milkman duly licensed for that
purpose.
When he enters the public school. a
representative Of the health department
does not hinder his physical development
and that communicable disease does not
attack him. II he desires at an early aga
to leave school to earn livelihood, It
Is a representative of the health depart
ment who examines him to see whether
his health will be injured by the employ
ment he desires to enter.
The Health Record.
Should he develop measles or whoop-
ing cough. chickenpox or diphtheria.
smallpox or scarlet fever. that fact Is
duly entered in the official archives Of
the health department. and the patient
and his family are advised by the health
department as to what must be done to
prevent the spread OF the disease among
members OF the household or among
others. II the communicable nature of
the malady Is only suspected. the health
department. cooperating with the at
tending physician, will through the bacte-
biological laboratory assist in the speedy
determination OF that fact. When the
disease has about run its course and u
becomes important to learn whether the
period Of danger has passed, again the
laboratory of the health department is
called into requisition and the physician
duly advised OF the findings. Should II
be necessary TO remove the patient to
a SaIe place LOT ODbetNdIlOu, ne VIII Oe
taken In an ambulance operated by the
health department to the quarantine
station. operated in the same way. or
to the isolation room for minor CON-
tagious diseases at GARFIELD Memorial
or Providence Hospital. and kept until
the nature Of the malady can be de-
termined. Should suspicion pass into
certainty, he may be treated in one OF
the hospitals for communicable diseases
81 IL.
the department. The premises from
which he has been removed will be dis
infected by employees In the service of
the health department, to prerent fur
Their spread Of the disease.
All through life the food that he eats |
comes from stores that are registered |
and inspected by the health department. |
and the food itself is under the depart
menfs supervision. The air that he |
breathes is kept fresh and sweet by the |
by the health department OF |
The various laws and regulations against