The Telegraph-courier. [volume] (Kenosha, Wis.) 1888-1946, 1924-04-10
BUILD HOSPITALS ON THRIFT.

city r. has two excellent hospitals which are
rendering splendid service-more OF this KIND
Of service than the physical properties VIII
permit-but the conditions surrounding nos
pita1 service in Kenosha now are acute and no
provision is suggested for greater CITY,
Hospital service is not a service Tor lew
high brows or is it designed to take care Of
few Of the wealthy people Of the city. The
real patrons of hospitals in Kenosha are the
working people. They have come to know and
to feel personally the necessity of having the
right kind of care for themselves and their
families when sickness overtakes them.
To provide properly for the hospital needs
Of Kenosha at the present time, and to look
ahead Just a little a round half million dol
lars should be expended. ST. GATHERINGS hos
pital now has plans for the building of a great
er and more modern institution and the Keno
hospital feels now the need of an extension OF
its buildings with view of having an addition
which will make it nearer possible to meet the
demands made upon it. r.4ss
This is to be a service for all people, and it
is most desirable that all the people of the city
Join in paying the cost Of extending these
hospitals If this money were asked as a gift
it is probable that it would be a difficult task
to raise this half million dollars in the city,
but these hospitals are going to be great CO.
operative institutions built for profit but
for service-and it is only fair to believe that
many people would be willing to cooperate.
You can build these hospitals on thrift if
you will. Here is a suggested plan. A half
a million dollars is needed. That means ten
dollars for each man, woman and child in Ke-
nosha. 1t does not seem like a. large amount
for any man or any family to pay but with the
full cooperation of all the people the money
could be raised and raised in way to make it
a most interesting kind of an insurance policy
on the health of the people of the city
Let this sum be divided into certificates of
ten dollars each, and let it be understood that
every man who buys one of these certificates
will be entitled to it's value in hospital service
at such time as he presents it to either of the
hospitals benefited. He may select the hos
pital toward which his advance of money is to
be extended and he will know that when he
needs service part Of his hospital bill will
have been paid.
The man with wife and three children
would pay into the fund fifty dollars and in re
turn he would be guaranteed fifty dollars worth
of hospital service. Usually when hospital
service is needed it comes at time when it is
hardest for the head of the family to pay.
There are a lot of expenses connected with the
coming of the new baby and if part of them
could be paid in advance, the burden would be
lifted to an appreciable amount.
1t will take at least three years to build this
new hospital and complete additions to the
other hospital, and these thrifty people who
want to insure themselves for the future could
have three full years in which to make the pay
ments of their Hospital insurance"
The certificates could be made good for serv-
ice at any time within ten years from their is
suance. Under this plan one would be
giving but all of us would be lending to this
L. e
munity asset.
The hospitals would not in any way suffer
for lack of upkeep funds on account Of the
working out of this plan The amount adj
vanced by the prospective patients will be only
a small portion of what an average patient
spends when he goes to hospital. The amount
would be well expended from an upkeep fund
as it would bring an active interest of thou
sands of people into the work of the hospitals
of the city. 1t would be the finest kind of ad-
vertising. Many of the certificates issued prob
ably would never be presented for collection
and those presented would only serve to bet
ter advance the cause of these most necessary
Institutions
Of course not every man woman and child in
Kenosha would consent to do his part There
are always slaclers who refuse to contribute to
great worthy causes who stand on the side
lines and take the dividends of community de-
velopment and snap at the hand which feeds
them. These people are in the minority in
Kenosha.
This plan offers the idea of definite serv-,
ice for community helpfulness, 1t should APP
peal to great mass of the people. If the fund
cannot be completely RAISED by the sale of
these certificates for service tits certain that
IT the people show willingness to build this
hospital insurance for themselves shat others
interested in the general welfare will see to it