Iron County news. [volume] (Hurley, Wis.) 1913-1950, 1923-12-29
TUBERCULOSIS AND
THE SANATORICM
DIR. Hosmer Tells How ''Pureair" Is
and May Continue to Be a
Money Maker.

y
are not taught how to take care of
themselves, tuberculosis will ever be
an ever present menace TO US and an
ever present source Of expense to the
counties.
It is quite important that we con-
tinue to advertise the fact that tuber-
culosis is preventable and cureable.
Cases that are sent to the sanatori-
UNI while still in the incipient stage
will soon be well and able to take
care of themselves. If not sent to
the sanatorium in the early stage of
the disease, they still should go to the
sanatorium long cough to learn how
to conduct themselves so that they
will not be a source of danger to the
people with whom they associate.
They should be taught not TO cough
or sneeze without having the nose
and mouth covered with paper nap
kin or handkerchief, and not to spit
where it might be a means of infec-
ton.
Where people are in the second
and third stage of tuberculosis and
they will not be careful in their hab-
its, it is safer and an economy to
keep them in the sanatorium, other
wise it will not be possible to con-
trol the mortality of tuberculosis.
Take for instance, a case in your
own locality, or in your own family.
if he does as most people nave done
in the past. He ha2 start of
consumption he says nothing to any
one about it as he does not think it
can be cured. The result
is he tries to get his financial
affairs in the best condition
possible before the inevitable hap
pens. AS long as he is able to work
he does not consult physician, but
when he can no longer work he be-
comes excited and tries to find cure
after his chances to get well are gone.
His last year of life is spent in bed,
perhaps in some hospital or sanatori-
um and maybe at the expense of the
county, and if he has no insurance
the county will have TO pay his fun
eral expenses and support his family
until they are able to take care of
themselves. That is not all the chill
dren, with no one to take care Of
them, become criminals and GRIMM
ais beget criminals and the expense
of the county may become continu-
Gus. If this man had known that
tuberculosis was cureable and pre-
ventable, it would have been cheap
er for the county TO have sent him
to the sanatorium at once and taken
care of his family while he was there;
and in average of five months he
would have been back at home a well
man taking care of his family.
In many Of the states where
statistics and records of contagious
and infectious diseases are kept,
they have passed laws whereby any
one who has tuberculosis may and
are expected to go to a sanatorium
with expense. | think that may be a
good law as many people who should
20 when there is not such a law do
not go on account of the expense.
In most cases where people are well
able to pay the expense, they are
paying enough taxes so that they
are paying their share of the
expense in that way. In every
community there are many families
who have made nice little start in a
financial way, but who are not quite
able to bear the expense of one of
the family at the sanatorium and
who would not go on the county's
expense without law to that effect.
think that most Of US feel that
we are we'll and able to take care of
ourselves that if our brother is sick
with tuberculosis and needs as
sistance that we would like to have
him in our sanatorium.
We have a wonderful sanatorium
with a first class full-time medical
man to take care of it, who at the
same time is looking after the health
condition of the three counties by
giving chest clinics with the assist
anee of the county nurses in many
places. and assisting the local
physician with their suspicious and
tuberculosis cases.
With the educational feature Of
che sanatorium and the cooperation
of the full-time physician with the
physicians of the three counties,
from three to five people annually in
each county will have their cases
detected in the incipient stage and
saved with comparatively no extra
expense TO the counties; where other
wise, they would go on to the
advanced stages with a fatal ter
minatiou, AS it is considered that
each life saved is worth $4,000 to the
state, the sanatorium is more than
paying its expenses each year.
DR. NJ S Hosmer,
Trustee for Ashland County