New Britain herald., 1928-02-10

New York. Feb. 1o.-R-A $:f.- o0o, 900 cluster of skyscrapers near ing completion above the Hudson on New York's upper West Side sym bolizes | trend in medicine that leads far from the beat Of the old family doctor with his little black bag and pill boxes. M
 The terraced pile of masonry is the New York Medical Center, largest coordinated enterprise in the history of medicine, where spe- cialty hospitals, clinics. schools and research laboratories will collabor- ste in the study and treatment o( every human ailment.
 Eleven metropolitan institutions, devoted to specialized branches of medical science. will move into the buildings within the next year. ready to pool their extensive re- sources to a large extent in a Ei- gantic attack on disease.
 The keystone of the group is a 22-story structure. almost finished. erected by Presbyterian Hospital and the Columbia University Col lege of Physicians and Surgeons, the two institutions that establish ed the center six years ago. This is the tallest hospital building in the world. Its baseline. augmented by many wings. measures half a mile. All it's wards and private rooms have outside exposure.
 Other Units Included
 The vast structure will also uhel- ter the Sloane Hospital for Won en. the Hardness Pavilion for private patients, the Squier Urological Clinic, the New York Babies Hos- pital, the Vanderbilt Clinic and the Columbia University School of Dem tai and Oral Surgery.
 Grouned around the central unit or the 2o-acre plot will be the Neu- rological Institute. the New York State Psychiatric Institute and Hos pital and the Presbyterian Hospital School of Nursing. AS other insti- tutions affiliate new buildings will be erected. Further construction already contemplated brings the ultimate cost of the center to &C., GOO. 900. Its capacitv when com pleted will be about 2.6o6 beds.
 pr. c. Charles Burlingame. execu- tive officer of the Joint Administra- . tive Board that Is to direct the common destinies of the center, says the concentration Of resources represents an opportunity for ''the complete intellectual unifying of scientific medicine in all itA branches"
 "The medical center movement is the latest step in the evolution of specialized medicine" he ex- plains. Its aim Is 10 produce the best doctors. the best nurses, the best research workers and the most Ideal conditions. under which all can cooperate toward making life happy. healthy and long.
 IffCfency InCfe4AcO "The assembling of all this med. ical knowledge in one place means 1 that it can be used more effective ly. Industry realized long ago that duplication Of plant and effort was wasteful. Medicine realizes 1t now If a person can go to one place and : get everything necessary to make him we'll he will find that his cure I will be cheaper than if he had te travel from specialist to specialist from hospital to rosoital.
 "Tor years medicine has beer growing mp in pieces. 50 to speak each part Of an unassemblet whole. The medical center bring these fragments together and fabri cates them into a structure of ser vice to humanity.
 "It has been difficult for all thes' clements to assemble because eacl has had its own organization. 1t own physical plant. its own endow ments. it's own personalities. Tn task Of the medical center Is 20 t' coordinate. plan and build that th. future can continue to fabricat pieces that will fit into the schem indefinitely
 "The medical student of today 1 being strained almost 10 the break ing point by his efforts 10 keep il touch with the progress of the pro fession. The center assemblies thi knowledge. and the result is tha student as well as patient get more for his outlay of time. none. and cffort.~