The sun. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1833-1916, 1914-01-17
CHILDREN INFECTED
IN CITY HOSPITALS
Investigator Says Diseases Are
Spread Through Lack
Of Care.
MANY CHANGES URGED
New Building on Blackwelrs
Island and Better Surci-
cal Staff Asked.

Methods Of caring for ailing children 1,
the city hospitals on Randalrs and Black.
wells islands came IN for harsh crit,clnn
in a report submitted yesterday to IN.
Board OF Estimate. The abandonment. q,
the infants hospital on Randairs Island
and the building OF new childrcn's hos.
pital on Blackwelrs Island were recon-.
mended.
The report was one Of a series prepared
under the old administration by Henry G
Wright whom Mr.. Mitchell made Deputy
Commissioner Of Charities. Georsr
McAneny was chairman Of the COMMITTEES
which has been investigating the hospital,
Of New York for two years.
The report charges that children IN
these two hospitals and In other city
hospitals are infected within the institu.
lions with diseases which they did no,
have when they were admitted.
Another basic charge Is that surgical
cases are not properly cared for and tina,
poisoning often develops one set o.
hospital records shows that high rer.
centage of such cases develop ''compica.
tlons."
children undoubtedly catch many dis.
eases from each other and remain in the
hospital longer than the original diagnoses
would warrant"
One boy is mentioned. a youngster o.
I, who came TO one hospital with what
was supposed to be a blood disease
year and a half later he was still there
but in the meantime he had caught scarlet
fever. so that he was ultimately trans
ferred to another hospital. A month later
he came back to the original hospital.
The doctors could find nothing the mat
ter with him. but there was something
in the way the lad talked that caught
their attention and after close question.
ing he was readmitted. They wrote on
his card this diagnosis; frederick Mann
no residence, no disease. no friend. no
parents"
Another child. n girl not years old
during the seven months and ten DAYS
which she spent in the same hospital
had whooping cough. measles, pneumonia
abscess and possibly erysipelas." All ex-
cept the whooping cough she caught IN
the institution.
Gross infection is frequent" the report
continues. ''In some Of the hospitals sick
children arc compelled to look upon the
suffering and death agonies Of other chill
dren."
The reforms proposed are sweerlns
The committee would have the minor in
stitutions of Bellevue and Allied Hospitals
and the Department OF Public Charities
care, as at present. for the ordinary
acute" children's cases which are brought
to them. II recommends. however,
the employment Of resident chtldren's
specialists and the organization Of chill
dren's nursing stan under the direction Of
a specially trained children's nurse.
The committee condemns the Randalls
Island site as Inaccessible" 1t chooses
Blackwell's Island at point Just south
of the City Home as the proper site
for the new long term chldren's hospital.
This proposed institution. the COM
mittee says, should be planned to accom-
modate ultimately 1000 children. Eighty
acres OF the island would be claimeG
| ultimately for buildings and play space.
Here the committee would centralize all
the children's cases. now distributed
throughout the hospital system. which ar
in need of specialized and protracted hos
pital care.