Evening star., 1924-03-16
MORE SPACE NEED
|. OF D. C. HOSPITALS
Emergency Lacks Adequate
Space in Event of Sud-
den Catastrophe.

| In event of a sudden catastrophe
! in Washington Emergency Hospital
would not have adequate space to
care for a large number of patients
at a short notice, it was pointed
out by officials of the hospital last
night.
intendent Of both Emergency and
Casualty hospitals. frequently in the
last few weeks there has not been
a private room available in Emer-
gency Hospital and that one or an
other of the wards are always filled
to capacity and often patients have
to be put in the wrong ward until
there is room where he ought to be.
These facts were presented as ex-
amples of the necessity of raising
! 100000 for the betternsent in serv-
ice and accommodation of the hos
pital.
The board of directors at Emergency
| Hospital declare their policy has al
| ways been to look ahead to the needs
of the future and to provide for the
ever-increasing need for public serv-
ice. That, they point out, explains
their recent purchase of the, Lemon
building. a tive-story structure on
New York avenue, a short distance
from the hospital building. The
Lemon building, together with the
plot of land between it and the hos
pital, was purchased at a total cost
used as a site for the new Nurses
Home.
To Use New Building.
They plan to use the Lemon build
ing for hospital purposes at some
future time. when demands for serv-
ice increase to such point that it
is necessary. Meanwhile the building
is leased to the government, under
advantageous terms. SO that the in
stitution is not sustaining a loss by
providing for the future.
No detailed plans have yet been
building, but it is known by the
directors that additional space will
be needed in few years, since the
demand for service is constantly in
creasing. Thus, they say, when a
good opportunity arose to buy the
this future increase in capacity it
was considered wise to take ad-
vantage of 1t.
The board of directors declare they
have consistently looked to the future
as we'll as to the present
Mortgage Reduced.
The main hospital building Of
Emergency was built without ade-
quate funds, so that it was necessary
for 100000 to remain on mortgage.
This has since been reduced to
$90. 900. The nurses home, which is
about $155,000 when completed. The
usual procedure, they declare. would
be to run a campaign to raise the
necessary funds and then begin con-
struction. In the present case, how
ever, the directors Of Emergency have
proceeded with the work because
they felt it was necessary, and now,
while the needed funds are being
asked of the public, the work of
building the home IS almost coni-
They emphasized the nurses home
is not simply something that the
nurses deserve and should have, but
that it will affect 4 very substantial
| increase in the capaaity OF the hospi-
, tai for patients by releasing space IN
the main building and in buildings
now used by the nurses. It Is stated
that one of the results will be 2S
per cent increase in the private room
capacity of Emergency. The ward
capacity is also to be very consider
ably increased by the construction of
the entrance court of the hospital
| building. Convalescent ward pa
! tfents can be put into these sun
porches thus releasing large amount
of space in the main wards for pa
tients in more serious condition.
Casualty Reaches Limit.
| There is financial limit beyond
which these institutions cannot 60
| Casualty reached this limit when it was
put into the hands of the receivers, and
Emergency is approaching it." declared
4 ~ ah4; 80 tkA
paign. 'iUnless this institution re-
ceives adequate public support for
; the things that 1t has already done
for the public and for the work that
! it must do in the future for the pub
result, and that must be that the
service on which we depend in case
of sudden illness or accident will be
limited to those who can pay for it,
or may be discontinued entirely" he
| There have been many ydrives in
| Washington, and, Of course, they have
been for worthy causes, but the peo-
pie of Washington are we'll able to
meet their civic obliEations. and; II
would surely meet the particularly
urgent and vital need Of those who
are MANNED in accidents or stricken
by sudden Illness" he states.
The directors Of Emergency Hos
| themselves Without Compensation OF
| any kind, they give their time and
| effort throughout the year to the di-
rection Of the institutions. In making
| this appeal for funds they are simply
presenting to the people OF Washing
| ton the need which, by virtue of their
position, they know more about than
does any one else. They are present
ing this need rs emphatically as they
can, because they know it is vital to
the safety OF our community. The
half Of the people OF Washington" hs
| emphasizes