South Bend news-times. (South Bend, Ind.) 1913-1938, 1915-11-10
The Care Of the Sick
and Injured.
By Rev. ]. G. McGinn, G. S. G..


hospital business? Why is it that
one seldom If ever finds a private cor
poration running a hospital for COM
mercial purposes? For the simple
Iano evident reason that the hospital
as a business proposition is a dismal
failure With brick and cement one
may erect a hospital building, but it's
maintenance and efficiency depend
upon sacrifice. This is why the per-
sonnet Of a hospital corporation is not
made up Of business men, VINO are
ever looking for dividends, but con-
! s!sts OF men and women - usually
women-who are willing TO work ana
worry TO make ends meet.
AS q beautiful example Of this spirit
/ Of sacrifice. Of Christian charity, we
point TO ST. Joseph's hospital. AT an
/ exDerse of over S12O. GOO this hospltal
] building was erected. Ii has been
maintained ever since, not by money,
l for the sisters have never received
enough remuneration even 10 reduce
their original debt of $4,000, but by
sacrifice since the first patient en-
tered the wards of st. Joseph's hos
pitaI till the present day the sisters
| have never received any personal re-
Enumeration.
Such is the spirit OF sacrifice upon
which this institution is founded that
/ the sisters not only had TO borrow the
original sum 10 begin their work, out
they have been obliged TO subsldlze
/ the institution with their lives. More
I than this, for when the sisters VINO
are now spending their lives In nurs-
ing the poor and caring for the IN
iured pass away, others from the same
ranks will take their places, others OF
whom Capt Crawford, the poet scout
Of the Civil war. has said, ION all or
| Gods green and beautiful earth there
are no nobler no purer, no more kind
| hearted and self-sacrihcing women
than those who wear the somber garb
of the Catholic sister"
St. Joseph's hospital has survived
the past 33 years and Will survive the
vicissitudes Of the future because of
this heroic endowment OF Catholic
sisternood. 1t was the living power
of sacrifice so often displayed on the
battlefield that prompted the sisters
Of the Holy Cross 3 3 years ago 10
open the original ST. Joseph's hospital,
at a time when the only place to
which the sick poor and the poor In
iured could be taken for treatment
was the county farm or the county
Jail.
Let the citizens Of South Bend COM
pare the crude methods of caring for
the sick and injured before the ADVENT
Of the Holy Cross sisters, when an in
iured workman or a poor sick mother
was hustled off in an unsanitary, foul
smelling police wagon or morgue cart
to the county farm or the county jail,
with the methods OF TO-DAY, the
thoroughly equipped ambulance, the
hospital where cOnveniences are up
TO date and every care taken for the
Tf~,,. .F he no
realize the moral obligation of the
citizenry of South Bend TO answer the
appeal of Good Will week that is to
be made in the name of federated
charity for st. Josephs and Epworth
hospitals.
The value Of these two institutions
to South Bend cannot be estimated In
dollars and cents. They are not only
remedial agencies for private indi-
viduals, but the city's only hope in
a time Of general need such as fire
calamities, railroad catastrOphies and
the like To the manufacturers of the
city m whose factories so many acct
dents occur. 10 the railroads on whose
lines so many people are mutilated,
these institutions are absolutely neces-
sary Since hospital treatment has
proved so much more efficacious than
home treatment for many diseases,
to the private citizen of South Bend.
And for the poor who cannot afford TO
to pay for such treatment these insti-
tutions are no less necessary, for we
are bound to give the unfortunate, the
temporary pauper the best treatment
our institutions are capable of.
Because these institutions are indis-
pensable. they should be financed to
a great degree by the citizens of South
< realized
obligation, for at the laying of the
cornerstone of the present st. Joseph's
hospital a South Bend newspaper,
commenting upon the affair, said
The sisters were pioneers in hospital
work in South Bend and for many
years they have been doing what they
could. with the limited facilities AZ
their command. to care for the sick
and wounded OF the community Now
that the opportunity comes to them 10
enlarge their facilities, the matter Is
looked upon as public blessing which
merits the encouragement and support
OF everybody"
But the hospital has further claim
on our support. For years st. Joseph's
hospital has been caring for hundreds
of Datients who were too poor 10 pay
any OF the fees for hospital service.
Their medicine. their food. their care,
and sometimes their clothing, have
been furnished by the sisters. Last
year they cared for 134 such cases, /
covering a period of over 100 days
hospital care and amounting TO a per-
sonal outlay Of almost $4,000. 1t is
not Just that an institution which In
itself is such poor paying PROPOSE
ton should be left alone 10 bear this
additional burden.
IL is partly because the sisters have
been obliged TO spend such large sums
in charity work in the care of the
destitute poor, that they have been
forced TO neglect other important ad
juncts of their institution. n nurses
home, for instance. is badly needed, a
new steam plant and an elevator. a
few thousand dollars would furnish
their third floor, but they have pre-
ferred to forego this and tend TO the
poor who in many instances have been
brought 10 them.
If the sisters are 10 continue this
necessary work, if they are 10 con-
tinue their out patient department or