The Richmond palladium and sun-telegram. [volume] (Richmond, Ind.) 1907-1939, 1916-08-24
THE RICHMOND sUNrELEGkAM THURSDAY

ieus or pestilcatial disease after an
examination BY two physicians and
the boards Of health may delegate the
authority 30 conferred to any health
officer In their employ.
This gives general Jurisdiction for
removal to county hospital of all
persons In boarding or tenement
houses or apartments In every part
of the county.
Shall Quarantine Place.
But there Is still more. Section
1914 provides that the health officer
having Jurisdiction upon being notified
OF the existence OF any communicable
disease which may be listed In the
state board Of health shall quarantine
the premises 30 as effectually to iso.
late the case and the family If neces.
sary for such time as may be necese-
airy to prevent transmission of the
disease.
tuberculosis Is communicable
disease and 80 listed by the State
Board Of Health. The health officer
then has power to isolate the family
in every case which he deems dan
gerous to the community. II this were
done for the long period which is
usually involved In tuberculosis and
all communication with the outside
world were thus interrupted, is there
any family In Wayne county which
would not prefer to have the actual
patient treated at tuberculosis hos
pital where they could visit him as
often as they wished rather than to
be thus shut off from intercourse with
the outside world? By this means the
health officers Of the county have the
power now in cases of public danger
to secure the patients removal to the
hospital. It is presumed that they
will do what is really necessary to pro-
tect the public. OF course In country
districts where houses are widely sep
arated the same strict measures will
not be required as in thickly settled
towns.
If the proper officers will not do
their duty under the present law,
what reason have we for thinking that
they will do 1t any better no matter
how explicit may be their authority
by some future law to remove pa
tients to the county hospital?
Action Not Justified.
The refusal to authorize an appro-
priation for the hospital cannot be
justified by any such plea.
But even if there were no power to
compel anybody to enter such hos.
pital it is still a necessity, for ex.
perience in other places shows that
such hospitals soon become filled with
patients who are only too glad to
take voluntarily the opportunity for
cure and comfort which they afford.
Our state hospital at Rockville is full
so full that our county health Of
ficer, DR.. Kruger, was unable to get
in a patient from this county only a
short time ago.
There are unfortunate creatures
right here today who cannot receive
proper care where they are and who
have no place to go. The absurdity
of saying that people will not go to
the hospital voluntarily is contradict.
ed by the other absurdity alleged as
an excuse for not building the hos
pital, that people will come over from
other counties and take up their resi-
dence in Wayne to avail themselves
of the advantages which this hospital
offers. In other words, people will
move over here because they want to
so, and yet, patients do not want to
go at all, and therefore, we have got
to wait until we have law to compel
them, a law which we have already!