Perth Amboy evening news., 1920-12-20
THE HASKIN LETTER
THE PASSING OF THE WARD


NEW YORK CITY. Dec. I7.-The
hospital ward. which for centuries
has been considered a wise and
practical accommodation for the
sick poor. is now being attacked as
an antiquated institution. The new
idea is that every hospital patient
should be housed in a private room,
whether he can ahord to pay for II
or not.
Doubtless il will be more than a
few years before this pleasing pro-
phecy is entirely realized, but New
York has a',eady struck the first
blow for a wardless hospital future
in its new Fifth Avenue Hospital.
This building. which is rising
slowly and magnihcently between
f05th and f06th streets on the ave
nue.. opposite Central Park, will be
it is hoped for just a short time
the only hospital of its kind In the
world. 1t will have no ward, but
private rooms. each with a bath
DOM attached. are to be rented at
rates ranging from nothing up. The
| patient without a cent to his name
will receive exactly the same treat
ment as the one with n large bank
balance.
This sliding scale of rates Is de-
signed for the special benefit of the
so-called middle class. which suffers
acutely under the present hospital
system. The extremely poor who do
not mind going into a ward a get
hospitals. and the wealthy can af-
| ford to a for private rooms, but
the middle class-that large portion
of the population which must keep
UP appearances on small salar RES
cannot take advantage of either. Its
pocketbook will not permit IL to
have a private room, and its pride
will not permit it to enter a ward.
ITO provide this in-between class
of people with comfortable, we'll
lighted. well-aired private rooms at
whatever nominal fee they feel
comfortably able to pay. is one of
the big aims of the new hospital"
according to DR.. Wiley Egan Wood
bury, who is to be its director. mo
| other hospital In the world has been
founded with sue an idea as this
behind it," he saws.
Middle Class Suffers
Consider the clerical forces, the
men and women at desks, counters
and benches. Their salaries permit
them to live comfortable home lives,
but many have large families de-
pendent upon them. and have been
able to save but little. Serious IL
ness, especially il it is of long dura-
ton, is an overwhelming calamity
to them. To swallow their pride
and to subject themselves to the
humiliation and discomfort of going
into a general ward, Or to bear the
expense of obtaining the sort of
hospital service that they really
should have-either extremity would
be unfortunate"
This is illustrated by a case which
came to the reporters attention the
other day-that of a young married
couple who are In desperate circum-
stances owing to IN unforeseen mis-
fortune. Both husband and wife
have worked bravely and ambitious
ly ever since they were married a
few years ago. The young wife did
clerical work, and the young hus-
band held a position with n future
attached to it in Wall street. AT
first they lived in cheap boarding
houses in order TO save money.
Gradually. however, they acquired
their w apartment; a judicious
amount of real antique furniture:
then a valiant little secondhand
car. and now they are expecting a
baby.
The hard struggle of their early
married years seemed to be spler-
didly worth while several weeks ago
when the Wall street explosion
occurred. The young husband was
standing too near the scene OF the
disaster. talking to a business ac-
q~uaintance, and was horribly in
jured. He has been in a hospital
ever since. at the expense of 5000 a
week. This has swept the couples
small hoard of savings away, and
the wife Is now having to sell her
household effects to pay the bills.
"As for me, l can go into a ward"
she told a friend recently, but the
boy must have the best treatment
available II he is to get well. Even
now we fear that he will lose the
use of his right leg"
Needless to say. a private hospital
room such as the Fifth Avenue
Hospital intends to provide. would
ried pair, the innocent victims of a
cruel misfortune.
The mere thought OF putting two
or more sick people together in the
same room should be argument
enough against it," declares 7.
Frank Manville, president of the
Board of Trustees OF the new hospi-
tai. The ward system. though uni
versally practiced for economy's
sake, is a relic OF The dark ages OF
hospital practice. Every sick per-
son, with or without means, should
have a room to himself. or herself,
and not be thrust into the monde
script assemblage and confusing
hustle of a general public sick ward.
Economy OF Private Rooms
But the wardless hospital is JUS
tilted from an economic as well as
a sentimental point of view. Under
the strictly private room system. for
instance, there is absolutely no
waste of neat or light. since it is
possible to shut off completely those
rooms or wings which are not in
use, whereas a ward must be kept
well-heated and lighted even though
it is only half occupied. Further
more. the elimination of and disease
ella ss~itication permits a maximum
use of the entire hospital at all
times. 1t frequently occurs in ward
hospitals that a male ward is half