The Rock Island Argus and daily union. (Rock Island, Ill.) 1920-1923, 1921-01-19

IS Z
Naw ynrk fafx Tan fa-What
-. $50, q. So. .. $. ~.
neclsn g - eaty' ane waes moFs
could Il Do?
Thhaa are ~ ouestinns which
~. ..A,.. A..,.rs .....,s.4....' ~ ~.
$3.50. >. >' Il.
NV 1oTH Aeeee1v OF eoiclne
has recently sought 70 answer BY
m .exfs1siya invaatieation Of New
York ,dippensariee and the people
Who patronise them.
The growth 81 the dispensary
during tie past 20 years has. been
phenomenal. n 1904, there were
only $50 dispensaries in the entire
United States. whereas today there
arc NJ least 1000. From . few
diu4v rooms. nresfded over by 4
couple Of doctors vhosa chief. duty
vas the vaccination of people
against smallpox. the dispensary
has developed mo ! modern, we'll
equipped. small hospital, whore
the moor receive almost free Of
charge the same treatment TOR
which the wealthy nav large sums.
In New York there are now 1853
Slispensaries. In. this number are
included 81 tuberculosis. eight den
tai, 10 eve and three rabies clinics
OF the denarfment of health. and
six school clinics maintained BY the
Children's Aid society. Of the los
le@ALas' % ZIG OUT oe-
pAItmeAts OF nospltais' % gre oe-
tacned oispensafles ana SIX are
connected Win colieses. In aoai-
t9n' tne nealtn department NAM
Jams 70 venereai disease Clinics
taii out TWO aavlsoIy onlyl. three
occupational clinlcs ana ~ DaDy
nesitn stations. several private
AGENCIES maintalned an addltionai
na10ef Oh mhk stations'
Inc average NUMBER sol Pei sons
treeted annually IN rev Iolk ais
penssnes mas peen one ana = quaI-
ter million Tor the last nve years.
over 1'oO0 New YORK pnysicians
are giving tneir services 70 tnis
cause, IN the majority OF cases aD-
soluteiy witnout compensation.
Thus' New YORK Is plenthuily
supplied with dispensarfes. but the
pubic health committee believes
that quanty could Do improved
upon.
Faults Of Dispensaries.
"Of late the dispensaries have
taken on functions along the lines
of preventive medicine and public
health, but this development is still
in its infancy" is the committees
first criticism. THE great oppor-
.tunities of the dispensaries in the
fields of both curative and prevent
i've medicine have not yet been
fully grasped by the institutions.
nor have their social responsible
ties been clearly realized"
IN other words, the committee
finds the dispensaries quite, eff
cielk in the treatment of specific
ills, such al abscessed ear or .
broken leg, but they do not give
complete .ysical examinations to
determine tn, general health of a
patient; they do not 60 in for edu-
cational work, such as the teaching
of good health habits, and they do
not have the time for the sort Of
follow-up work that would make
them one of the greatest social in
fiuencea in the community. Only a
few OF the dispensaries. as yet,
have vell-organised social service
denartmants.
Two things that also need i'm
mediate amelioration in clinic pro-
csdure, t says, are the reduction of
waiting time before admission and
the method Of assignment of pa
tients to clinics. Patients are made
In wait unduly long periods Of time,
which il a hardship for most OF
them II they are employed. or as in
the case OF mothers, il they have
domestic duties. The committee
believes that this could be obviAted
10 a larre extent By system of APP
nointments. an ia customary IL pri-