Milford chronicle., 1921-02-18
SERVES STATE WELL AS
HOSPITAL HEAD 30 YEARS
DR.. WILLIAM H. HANCKER HOLDS AN
ENVIABLE RECORD AS SUPERIN-
TENDENT AT EARNHURST.

Appearance of bound and printe
copies of the sixteenth biennial repor
of the Board of Trustees of the Della
ware State Hospital at Farnhurst las
week recalls to those interested in tn
institution the fact that for thirt.
years DR.. William H. Hancker hal
served that institution as superin
tendent, faithfully and well, and tina
in that entire period his methods anC
management have been beyond criti
cism. 1t is an extraordinary RECORD
for one man to have served a State fol
so long time in a post of this kind
To those acquainted with the way
in which the State Hospital is man
aged it hardly needs a biennial report
to show how well the institution is
conducted. Visitors never fail to COM
ment on the absolute cleanliness OF
the building and surroundings, the
outward evidences of progressive
management and efficiency in all de-
partments.
Some of them recall that when DR..
i1ancker became superintendent of
the institution he had to recOnvert, as
the main building for the hospital, a
wornOut plant that was part of the
county institution. The entire renova-
tion of the place, installation of new
floors in all buildings, erection of new
units when needed and the constant
improvement of the staff of doctors
and nurses has made of the State Hos
pital today one which is believed to
rank we'll among the institutions of
this kind in other States of the ma
tiOn. One of the improvements for
which DR.. Hancker was responsible
was completely equipped laboratory
which has been found almost indispen-
sable in the care of the patients. An
other was the opening of a complete
ly equipped surgical room where mi
nor operations can be performed if
found necessary. And there have been
hosts of others equally, if not more
important.
1t is not generally realized that
management of the Delaware State
Hospital involves the care for pop
ulation that is actually small-sized
town. In the past two years, for in
stance, 761 patients were under treat
ment and the average daily number of
patients actually in the institution
during the two years was 500. From
this it may be understood that to be
head of such an institution is no sin
ecure.
Not only does the State Hospital
provide every possible care for the
physical comfort of the patients but
entertainments are given frequently
for their amusement. The attractions
are secured from well-known enter
tainment bureaus.
The fact that the superintendent is
not satisfied to merely conduct the in
stitutiOn as it is today without con-
slant attention to advanced methods |
is shown by the recommendations
which he makes for improvement in
the biennial report. These improve
ments include needed repairs and ad-
ditional equipment to make it possible |
for the hospital to take the best pos
sible care of the needs of the patients |
besides a building for occupational |
therapy, a nurses home and the pur-
chase of additional land for farming. |
He also recommends staff additions.
In the report of the Board of Trus-
tees it is shown that the institution |
has a balance of $4,5O6.1O unexpended |
from the appropriations and receipts
during the last two years.
'To the care and foresight of our
loyal officers and employees" the re-
port of the Board of Trustees reads,
Ito whom we extend our grateful
thanks, nothing of an extraordinary
character of any kind has happened
during this critical period"
The report of the trustees also con-
tains the report of Robert P. SchOen-
ijahn, a consulting engineer, who was
engaged to make survey and rec
what should be done to bring
the institution up to a standard COM
with present day require
ments. In this report, which was sub
mitted to the Board on December II,
1920, Mr.. Schoenijahn recommends
new boiler house and steam distribu-
ton, remodelling of the heating sys-
tenn, fire protection and water sup
ply systems, additions and repairs to
electrical installation, plumbing and
sewage disposal plant that would in !
vOlve a complete expenditure estimat-
ed at 1921 ,485. In this report he es- E
Inmates that it would cost the State r
81 ,00O, 900 to duplicate the present hos s
pital and he believes that the expend-
ture of the sum named for improve {
nents is justifable. I
The report of the superintendent
shows that there has been but four c
suicides in the institution since it was
established in 1889, over thirty years {
lgo, and in this connection the SUI /
says:
'I do not think any similar institu- Z 4
ion can show so few casualties of this n
lind in so long a time"
The report contains complete analy-
ic tables giving all information of
alue concerning the treatment of pa 7
tents. g