Grand Forks herald. [volume] (Grand Forks, N.D.) 1916-1955, 1922-12-04
MORE ATTENTION TO Rural,
HEALTH WORK IN THE STATE
H.URCED BY'DR. R. OIESON.
Physician OF U. 5. Public
Health Service At Univer-
sity Says Efficient System
Could Be Built Up AT Low
Cost.

!, Rural health work, an i important
o in the health organization~of any
state, has been sadly neglected, not,
only IN North Dakota but, generally
speaking. all over the United States.
accordlng to Dr.. Robert Oleson.
United States public health surgeon
at the head Of the North Dakota state
Nhealth organization. - 7,
ihere are 3,056 counties in the AS
states OF the Union. continued the
but out of this number only
2oa have full time county. health or
carnations, showing .g~rAlingly that
rural sections are not receiving the
a OF attention they merit :
10 bring the ; situation c1oser to
nome, statistics show that IN 1920
North Dakota had a population Of APP
I Proximately GAS. 900 souls. OF these.
$4,000 nearly rs OF the total. were
resident in rural districts where little
pr no attention, comparatively speak
lng,Sis paid 20 health programs. he
added. The Legislature gia2s Provided
tnatS maximum salary of county health
'onicers in this state shall be $500 per
year and many of them receive less
than that amount, the figures drop
ping to as low as $500 m some In
stances. 4 full-time officer of course.
SS AlieSAIIld1HCV Oll 6uCll l1IIlll0Q
Consequently the problem
of solving the situation here has as
sumed tremendous proportions.
T, - Plan Outlined. Z
The rural health pan favored 4by
DR.. Oleson provides for a full-time
health officer in the county who will
nave two Nfull-time, assistants under
his direction, Because of the fact that
the population Of this state is largely
rural in character. North Dakota is
especially adapted for the installation
OF the county system, he believes. /
With tho assistance Of several out
side agencies" continued DR.. Qleson,
1T will be possible to esta blish approx
imately five whole-time county health
units in North Dakota. The purpose
OF, a county health unit is to place
+, health work upon a more substantial
possible. Primarily the units serve
as an intermediary between. the msdi-
cal profession and the lay people. Az
Automatically rs possible such a unit
Will attempt to separate-the sick from
h we'll n endeayor to put the sick
I'M contact with persons capable OF
bringing them up to the highest state
ofsmental and physical efficiency.
I Prevention Program
I'm addition to conducting tie med
1cal inspection of school children, the
county health unit. is charged with
the prevention and control Of COM
yrnunicable diseases. supervision Of wa
ter and milk supplies and the proper
disposal of human and other wastes.
In every way possible the members
of$the health unit protect the health
of!the people residing in that county,
Snrj6orf1v y.ana1 I'M IN wa oi0n NJ f1iuoa0n
from adjoining counties.
Financial Aspect
1.-THE budget which accompanie.
this explanation was prepared by DR..
Terrell, director for the United States
with the International health board.
THE budget covers a period If three
years and c~ontemplates assistance
from the state board OF health, pro
vided the state legislature makes an
appropriation at the coming session.
or course. if, this state appropriation
fails to ima%teriali2e it will be.necessary
to carry on the activities at the figure
proposed for the first year, $4,000. 1t
will also be noted that al increase
in this. Activities Of the county unit Is
contemplated after the firstsyear, these
ed opportunity. 80
Results MANIFOLD - 1
That the work Of similar rural
health organizations established in
other states is varied and far-reach-
ing, is revealed by an article in aqre-
scent repotrs OF the United States public
health service which lists the follow
ing activities of various units. Deliver
public lectures; makes sanitary In
spections; make physical examinations
of school children; treat school CHI d.
ron for physical defects; make health
visits to homes; .inOculate against con.
tageous Diseases; conduct campaigns
AGAINST hookworm disease: Jake meas
ures. to reduce spread OF malaria
.cunlbar sex diseases; prevent com.
Mllnicable diseases; improve public
milk supplies. Z
Five. counties IN North Dakota have
already expressed interest in the pro.
posed esta blishnent of the system
here. They are: Ramsey, Ward, Cass
Stark. and Dunn. Final negotiation:
have not been completed yet, how
ever, and there is still'ia possibility
that Grand Forks county. will he ont
of the five to take advantage Of thu
\ outside aid offered.
Y SsEs
"A Babylonian clay tablet of.
POO 3. c., which contained an &C.
count Of the fall Of man parallelint
the account Of Genesis in many par,
y ticulars. has been deciphered BY Dr.
Edward Chiera, of the University o.
p~ennsylyania. $&