The Washington times., 1914-03-11

Compared with the average Ameri-
can city, washington, In its hospital
service. in all but one respect Is
considered eligible to take fore
most place without fear OF challenge.
The exception to this general level
of conceded efficiency Is the NUM-
cipal institution known as the WASH
ington Asylum Hospital. which has
long been a blot on the face Of our
city, and stands as an eloquent COM
mentary on the complex system OF
the government of the District.
which sanctions the continuance Of
conditions condemned by health au-
thorities, and permits, through in
adequate accommodations and con-
seuuent overcrowding. \ wholly un-
necessary menace to good morals.
One hundred and fifty Is the capacity
of the hospital, but 2o6 Of the poor OF
this community are crowded into the
group Of decaying wooden buildings.
which constitute the hospital proper;
and the staff, nurses. and attendants
are driven to the limit Of physical
endurance to care for the increased
number of patients
An Unjust Hardship.
And the injustice of inilictins such
a hardship will. perhap@ Be moro
readily grasped when it iseunderstood
that no matter under what conditions
of overcrowding, lack Of equipment.
etc, this institution Is laboring. the
municipal hospital is not permitted
to close its doors.
Congress alone can change this
condition by giving to washington a
new, sanitary. commodisus building
for its sick poor, and one worthy OF
the Capital Of the Nation.
There Is q matter equally as I'M
portant as the proper housing Of pa
tients. not only Of the washington
Asylum Hospital-which Is surpris-
ingly well conducted considerin2 its
deficiencies-but of all hospitals.
That is, the efficient administration
Of the institution and its affairs.
Even in the majority OF the best
conducted hospitals in Washington,
a closer supervision seems impera-
tIvely necessary. Food supplies, In
many instances, are not In accord
ance with the contract for weight
and quality; Too often foods are
served patients, nurses, ana at
tendants, after putrefactIon has set
in.
Patients Turned Away.
Patients repeatedly have been un-
. able to receive treatment at dispen-
saries after having reported in COM
pliance with orders, and at, consid-
cradle inconvenience, and legitimate
complaints are sometimes left wholly
rnheeded. Also. there Is extreme
neet Of greater watchfulness In con-
taCious wards, so that a patient en-
tering the hospital with one disease
may leave II without contracting
another, perhaps more serious Last
ly. there should be closer super
vision over laboratory work done in
hospitals. so that the public mind
couI, at once be put at rest regard
ing such alarms as the so-called
subjects in experimentation, and II
these charges can be sustained. to
render the offender liable to prose-
cut:on. or. on the other hand, ex-
onerate the good name Of the med
ical scientist. who may merely have
been making necessary tests for re-
acton in the treatment of diseases.
and thereby have unwittinsly brought
his hospital into disrepute.
Wrong System In Vogue.
In short, any one who has studied
earnestly the conditions and difficult
ties Of hospital management, can
not evade the conclusion that the
system under which these institu-
tions are operated in Washington. as
we'll as in the majority Of American
cities. is fundamentally wrong.
The superintendent, who Is ordi-
narily the physician In charge, is
supposed to be divinely endowed
with qualities which the world does
not expect to find united in mere
man in any other aYocation in life.