Evening star., 1933-06-29
1@WA[TERREED
FORCE TO Be OUT
Few Civilian Workers Remain
as Hospital Will Be
Strictly Military.

With the exception of a mere hand
full" it was disclosed today, all the
1875 civilian employees remaining at
Walter Reed General Hospital since re-
trenchment began more than a month
ago will have been dropped from the
rolls by tomorrow, the end Of the pres
ent fiscal year. In the future it will
be operated strictly as an Army hos
pital.
Only about is Of the once-numerous
civilian staff will be retained tempo
rarily. it was said. to take care OF
the So World War veterans among the
patients, who are in no condition to be
discharged from treatment at this time.
Added to this number are about 35
forestry recruits sent to the hospital
from camps in nearby localities.
Under the provisions of the 1nde-
pendent Offices appropriation act, all
veterans in Army hospitals whose in
juries or ailments are classified as
"non-service connected" are being dis
charged as rapidly as possible OF the
more than 1000 cases OF this kind,
turned over by the Veterans Admin
istration. only All were on the rolls of
all Army hospitals on June "a.
Many Are Discharged.
Walter Reed Hospital one of the
largest and finest in the country, has
had continuously in its wards an av-
erage of more than 400 of these World
War veterans. They have been dis
charged as soon as their physical con-
dition permitted. At the Army Medical
Corps it was said the remaining 50
veterans, who represent extreme cases,
will be sent to hospitals under the con-
troll of the Veterans Administration or
discharged as soon as they are cured.
After July l Walter Reed will be
conducted on strictly an Army basis
Its normal bed capacity of 1,131 is
only partially filled now. Whole wards
have been depleted. From now on all
will be Army men, Sometimes the
hospital has about 500 Army patients.
These Army patients will constitute in
the future, unless the law is repealed,
the only cases to be admitted to the
hospital.
For years Walter Reed Hospital has
been famous for its occupational ther-
apy aids, supported from funds of the
Veterans Bureau. Patients have been
trained for many kinds OF useful
trades in its many shops. All these are
now closed and, compared with the
usual hustle, the big establishment is
taking on a deserted air.
Fitzsimons General Hospital at Den
yer, Colo, another of the fine Army
hospitals where hundreds of veterans
were once given treatment, was origi-
nally scheduled to be closed under
N,tn -
brought to bear on the War Depart
ment, this hospital will be continued
in operation. There are only 267 vet
Grams left of the 670 that were formerly
patients at Fitzsimons Hospital. 1t is
one of the best locations for tubercu-
losiS treatment and most of the Army
tubercular patients, and some from the
Navy, are sent to the Denver institu-
ton.
Sum May Be Held Up.
The present situation at Walter
Reed Hospital, it was believed, will
have the effect of holding up indefl-
nitely the proposed expenditure OF
s663,o58 on Improvements at the Army
Medical Center in Washington.
These items, mainly for new con-
struction and renovizing, were approved
some time before the plans for dis
charging veterans had been drawn up.
With the hospital now less than half
occupied, it is regarded as doubtful if
the new building program will be au-
thoriZed by the Public Works Admins
tration.
Among the desired improvements are
S424,200 apartment dwelling for Off
GERS; another of s125,000 for enlisted
men. and $4,000 for new nurses quar-
ters. 1t was planned also to expend
S25 900 for renovizing old buildings.
An extensive telephone expansion
program estimated at s2,500 and an
electric refrigeration system and new
roads in the grounds called for an ex-
penditure of $32,435. Under the
changed conditions at the hospital. it
is believed probable that no effort
would be made to secure the public
works funds for this entire program.