Alexandria gazette. [volume] (Alexandria, D.C.) 1834-1974, 1921-09-01
United States Public Health
Service
Range of U. C. Public Health Service
Work.

Range OF u. T. PUBIC Hedllu oeiNise
Work.
"Glad as the U. 5. Public Health
Service has BEEN" says Surgeon Cen
eral H. S. Cumming, ito do It's part
in the disqualification and care OF the
in and disabled soldiers with whom
it's officers had become SO well &C
ouainted while serving in the Army
Hospitals in France and elsewhere.
this duty did not constitute q part OF
the Public Health functions OF the
Service but was undertaken through
natriotism and because the Service
was the only Government agency Inat
had an organization and hospital
available when the need came. Later
its assignment to this duty was made
:. matter of law.
From March 3, 1919, when this law
went into effect, to May l92l, Wneh
the Decentralization and care OF near
" half of these patients was transfer
red to the War Risk Bureau, the MINI
her of patients formerly in the charge
If the Service increased from wv TO
d 900. with indications of still furth-
o. increase. From the first the num-
her had increased much faster thar
the total capacity of the Government
hospitals could be extended; and al.
most from, the first the Service was
compelled to place about two-thlrds
Of its patients Q0,5OO on May |, 1871
in private hospitals under contract.
RESPONSIBILITY for these lO,oOO pat
tents has already been restored to
the War Risk Bureau, and, If bills
pendine before Congress become law,
the disqualification of the patients
cared for in Government hospitals as
we'll as in Contract" hospitals Will
rest with the War Risk; ard the
public Health Service will merely
render hospital care to those whom
the War Risk assigns TO 1t.
"This will enable the Service to turn
a much larger share of its energies
TO its traditional duty of protecting
the country against the importation
Of foreign disease; conducting sclentl-
fic research into important problems
involving the cause, treatment, ana
cure of preventable or communicable
disease; Investigating the diseases to
which working-men are subject pE
reason Of their employment; oopeTat,
ing with the States in the control o.
epidemics, in rural hygiene, child n.y.
gienc, venercal disase and so on.
"The Marine Hospital Service,
which developed into the Public
Health Service, was created IN July
1898, to furnish medical care to SICK
and disabled American merchant sea-
men. Hospitals were built at the prin--
r.pal seaports and later on some or
the larger rivers and the Great Lakes.
"The officers OF the Service at the
coast hospitals were naturally the
first to come into contact with such
diseases as cholera. yellow fever, and
smallpox when imported from aboard
and were able to render aid to the
State authorities in enforcing quaran-
tine measures. Later, the States, one
by one, turned over their quarantine
stations to the Service, New York be-
ing the last to fall into line.
'In March, 1890, Congress authorl-
zed the Public Health Service to CO.
opcrate with State and local health
agencies in preventing the inter-
state spread of disease. The coopera-
ton thus initiated has been extended
to many other forms of health work
and has become settled policy. Its
workings have been exceedingly bene-
ficent. for they have brought the en-
perience gained from the whole coun-
try to bear on each particular problem
in each particular place. They have
also melted the different States to APP
propriate money for their own health
needs in order to obtain Government
leadership and other Government as
sistance. On an average the country
gets about S. worth of effective
health work for every dollar the Gov
crnment expnds in this way.
assistance in the control of yellow
fever, small pox, and other communl-
cable disease led directly to research
into their causes and to educational
work to end them by informing the
country of what had been discovered
and how to make use of it. For the
research work Congress established IN
u. S. Public Health Service which
'o02 the HYGIENE Laboratory Of the
rapidly expanded until today it is one
of the foremost research institutions
of its kind in the world. The results OF
its studies in checking disease, reduc-
UNTIL FURTHER NOTICE THE