Alexandria gazette. [volume] (Alexandria, D.C.) 1834-1974, 1915-01-23
(Paid Advertisement
THE HOSPITAL SITE


the Board of Managers and staff OF
Physicians and Surgeons, who are
intrusted with the selection OF
location for new Alexandria Hos
pital have grave and serious. res
possibility to discharge. Individual
preferences, personal likes and dis
likes, should not obscure the real OBJ
iect and purpose Of the duty, which
is a sacred duty, entrusted to them
as trustees and guardians of the 1und
placed in their hands to be diSburscd
for the general good OF the com
munity, not only for the present but
for long future need.
A false primary step in the sclec-
ton Of a location for this Hospital
may spell failure forever, and to-
! tai loss Of investment, as well as en-
during unfavorable criticism, Of those
entrusted with this selection. No one
can tell how soon any one Of the
i Trustees, Managers Oh Physicians,
| their relatives or friends may be q
! patient in this New Hospital and
! subjected to personal test OF its
! fitness and comfort and, if unWlseiy
! located, have to endure the very OBJ
jections and noises they carelessly
and thoughtlessly ignored in consid-
ering its location.
| An exhaustive recent work by
! Ochsncr and Sturm, the former q
prominent member Of the medical
profession and the latter an architect
Of extended experience in the de-
/ sign Of Hospitals, states,
The location of hospital should
be chosen in order to secure the fol-
lowing conditions:
| First-An abundance Of sunlight.
Second-Absence Of noise.
! Third-Absencc Of dust.
Fourth-.Absence of Smoke.
Fifth-Proper ventilation.
Sixth-Disposition Of sewage.
/ Seventh-Safety from fire.
Eighth--Possibility of future en-
pansion.
! misunderstanding for patients,
their friends and for the medical
staff.
! The location selected and the site
purchased by the Trustees on Colum-
bus st. fulfills or is easily as capa-
BILE of the fulfillment Of the nine
conditions stated as any location that
can probably be selected.
! The site Mr. Daingerfield is seek
ing 10 sell for the New Hospital full
| fills only the sixth and ninth condi-
; tions, contains less than one fifth
the area of the 2 acre square of
ground purchased on Columbus st,
has street frontage of about 270
feet against 1900 feet of the Column
bus st. site and costs $4,000 against
$500. for the site purchased. =,
Can. anyone hesitate for q mo-
ment in deciding finally and forever
between the two locations???
The property Of Mr.. Daingerfield,
even if donated free Of all cost and
restrictions of any kind, is wholly
undesirable for hospital purposes and
would ultimately be found to be a
most unfortunate selection.
Investigation regarding the loca-
ton of many existing hospitals offers
sad evidence, the eminent authori-
ties quoted state in substance, of the
location being selected because it
seemed cheap at the time, because
some philanthropic person had donat-
ed it; because some influential one
wished to dispose Of a particular
piece Of property; or because some
selfish member Of the medical staff
or management desired the hospital
convenient to their residence.
The same authors of the work on
hospitals previously referred to dis
cuss in detail the nine desirable con-
ditions as to location.
To obtain an ABUNDANCE OF
SUNLIGHT they state is extremely
simple if the building is constructed
from North to South (the building on
the Daingerfeld site would run
East and WesD with q centra! COR
ridor, so that every room and. ward
viii have sunlight during some por.
tion of the day. A building with al
central hall, with rooms arranged on
either side costs for given number