Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1929-07-04
HOSPITAL CHARGES
ANSWERED BY GOOD
Some Criticisms of Walter
Reed Food Upheld, but
Majority Fail.

Criticism of food served to veterans
at Walter Reed Hospital was held to
be warranted for nine reasons, but a
number of other complaints from pa
tients regarding conditions at the hos
pital were declared to be unjustified in
the report of War Department investi-
CATION, made public last night by Chair
man Reed of the Senate military affairs
committee The report was made In
letter from Secretary of War Good.
Referring to complaints which were
held to be without justification. the
Secretary of War said the investigator
ascribed most of them to "hearsay or
erroneous deductions from only part OF
the facts" The letter also said the in
vestigator concluded that 1.-The hospital
is rendering a fine service to its pa
tients under a policy that gives equal
consideration to all, whether military
or Veterans Bureau patients, and In
that conclusion concur"
Remedies Are Ordered.
The Secretary of War said the def
ciencies of the mess have been brought
to the attention of the hospital with
instructions to remedy them.
The complaints held to be warranted
dealt principally with preparation and
serving of meals. The Secretary'S letter
to Senator Reed first lists complaints
not justified. Further in the letter he
summarizes nine conditions which war
rant criticism. The letter follows:
Dear Senator Reed:
"The investigation into unsatisfactory
conditions at Walter Reed General Hos
pital which has been reported to you
!, at that hnCT1ifQl and which
you embodied in letter to the surgeon
general under date of April 90, 1929, re-
ferred to the War Department for ap-
propriate action, has been completed.
"These conditions reported unsatiS-
factory may be listed as follows:
"(a) That the food served them Is
insufficient.
"(b) That the food is of poor quality,
monotonous and poorly prepared.
"(c) That they say they get 'slum.'
under some other name, three times a
week.
"(d) That they do not get fresh milk,
eggs and green vegetables except when
on a special diet, and that milk, which
is one of the things tubercular patients
should have, is given only to bed patti
ents.
Claimed Fruit Bad.
"(e) That one group described the
fruits they get as 'wormy'.
"(f) That patients who do complain
are either ridden by the hospital per-
sonnel or invited to leave.
"(g) That there are many occasions
when the men not only go hungry be.
cause of the inadequacy of the food, but
because the quantity provided for the
mess is insufficient to go around.
"(h) That nurses and hospital at
taches openly make insulting remarks
about World War veterans.
"O That theater tickets intended for
hospital patients are given instead to
hospital personnel. .,'
"D That hospital attendants are per-
mitted to attend theater parties ar
ranged for patients.
"Ok) That approximately 100 tickets
for the presidential inaugural supplied
for patients throughs the courtesy of
the Vice President found their way into
the hands of hospital personnel.
"O That the individuals in charge OF
the distribution of tickets in the Red
Cross Building were responsible for the
conditions mentioned In the two pre-
ceding subparagraphs, and that, In gen.
eral, the veterans receive little consider
alton in this connection as compared
with that accorded hospital personnel.
AAAI AAoO NSSAoAAo ~ OcAN oNNs-'~NAA
ally that limited appropriations are re-
sponsible in part for the quantity and
quality of the food served.>
"(n) That one veteran, I. T. Joseph,
was threatened with expulsion for fail
ure to consent to an operation when
notice of the necessity for
the operation had not been given him.
Criticism Warranted.
''By an indefatigable and searching
inquiry into all complaints and clues,
no matter how vague, the inspector has
concluded that criticism of the mess
was warranted for the following rea-
sons:
"(a) Water was not served in the
dining room.
"(b5 Soup has not been given to those
on full diet in the patients mess for
several months.
"(cl Milk for { liking purposes has
not been furnishe for more than q
year.
"(d) Hard-boiled eggs have been
served at breakfast. This not with the
intention of furnishing hard-boiled
eggs, but because the cooking arrange
ments were such that by the time the
eggs in the bottom of the large cooking
utensils have been removed they have
1TSo..|i,.,,a5 ~, Toa0o . feoI,Iy,o11 q \ -