Evening star., 1916-03-26
URGENT PLEA MADE
FOR NEW HOSPITAL
Demand for Municipal Institu-
ton for Care of the INDECENT
Sick.
PETITION is CIRCULATED
BY MONDAY EVENING CLUB
Large Number of Individuals and
Organizations Unite in Request
for Congressional Action.


INDECENT sick is to be presented to Con-
gress by the people Of Washington.
Following up it's decision Monday
night to get behind the municipal hos
pital project. the Monday Evening
Club. with the help of large number
Of organizations and individuals. is
circulating an appeal to Congress in
the mtter. which is expected to receive
an overwhelming indorsenent by the
adult population OF the city
\ letter and blank petition have been
mailed 10 each member of the club with
the request that he or she obtain as
many signatures to the petition as pos
sible Walter s. Urord. DR.. George F.
Bowerman and A. ]. Mckelway COM
pose the special committee, which was
appointed to bring the need of i'm
mediately providing for new hospital
10 the attention OF Congress. Care is
being taken to avoid an overlapping of
the work of the members and to insure
the circulation of the petition in every
section of the city, so that a represen-
tative expression of opinion may be OBJ
tanned.
Ask for Initial Appropriation.
The District Commissioners. in their
estimates now before Congress. ask for
an initial appropriation of Sl50,00o
with which to begin work on munich
pal hospital. the site proposed being
at 10Th and Upshur streets northwest.
Plans for the structure hive been
drawn. They contemplate an institu-
tion costing ultimately s500.ooo. and
having a capacity for 800 patients.
The Monday Evening Clubs cam
paign is committed to no particular
site for the hospital. What this or
xanization Is emphasizing is the neces-
sity Of Immediately providing a new
hospital to replace the present dilapi-
dated structures at the Washington
asylum and jail. which not only are
antiquated and insanitary. IL is stated.
but Inadequate to meet the demands
made upon them.
With the Inauguration of the clubs
campaign to provide a new hospital in
place Of the present one. which II char
acterizes as disgrace to the capital.
. statement was given out yesterday
by George S. Wilson. secretary of the
board of charities, to the effect that
conditions in the existing Institution
could not possibly be worse than they
are.
Says Hospital Is overcrowded.
We are taking care of approximate
20 care for only 125 patients" said Mr.
Wilson. Tn order to do this we have
. ward In the basement of one of the
hespital buildings which accommo-
dates twenty persons. while others are
13ven accommodations in the halls and
on the porches.
Tt is by no means the worst feature
Of the situation that the patients feel
that they are classed with criminals
through the hospital being part of
the Jail. While this stigma is keenly
felt by the INDECENT wards, the situa-
tion is most depressing because of the
fact that II is impossible to give them
proper care and treatment. The build
ings were antiouated twenty years ago
and. of course. are in much worse con-
dition today. The plumbing is inferior
and the flooring is bad
Congress alone can afford relief and
at the earliest. II will be year or a
year and a half before suitable quar-
ters can be provided"