Detroit tribune. [volume] (Detroit, Mich.) 1933-1933, 1933-10-21
Burris Tells Conditions
Of Tubercular Hospitals

occupied by Negroes In Detroit
palaces compared with some of tn
white institutions engaged in tu
berculosis work for the Board o
Health, the storm Of criticism
broke. For was not Fairview own
ed and operated by group o
Negro physicians? And is not $2.9I
per patient-day Ga sum calculate,
by county auditors 10 be the min
imum fee for which hospital car
adequately house. board and trea
TB patient too much money To be-
passing through the hands of Ne
groes?
Bethesda Hospital, largest Oi
five Negro institutions, occupies q
plant more than hundred and
fifty feet long, a hundred feet oil
which is newly constructed. sew
cnty feet I'm the rear and thirty feet
in front. The central portion of tho
building was formerly an apart
ment house, but by remOdeline
even this portion has been con
yerted into modern hospital
structure.
Prior TO the establishment Of
these Negro TB hspitals there was
"A long waiting list OF Negro tu-
bercuars. for whom the city had
berculars. for whom the city did
not have available beds. These pa
( tents We're allowed TO remain M
home where they were spreading
the disease TO their families there
by increasing the number OF Negro
cases and augmcnting the death
rate.
Since these institutions I'm ques.
ton have been operating. and WI
have statistics from the Depart
ment of Health To substantiatc this
the tuberculosis death rate amonl
Negroes has decreased cOnsidera
bly,. Statistics for 1882 reveal that
the decrease that year was 10 per
cent for Negroes and per cent
for whites.
The following statement was
published In the Annual Report of
! the Detroit Department OF Health
for 1892. Negroes account for
about one-third OF all the tuber
culosis deaths in the city. Much
effective educational work in pre-
vention. diagnosis and treatment
was done during the year through
the four hospitals for colored tn
bcrcular patients which have a
total bed capacity OF two hundred
Two OF the physicians doing IN,
medical work in these hospitals
have had the benefit OF part-tim,
positions on the Herman KicfeI
Hospital staff. The type OF treat
ment carried ON and the results
obtained compares very favorabl,
with that being done In other hos
pitals."
But Grigsby says these hospitals
are racketeering In tuberculosis
and his statement has been widel,
heralded through the Associate,
Negro Press in all the Negro pa
: pers In the country. Whose state
ment shall we accept. that o
Grigsby, n postal clerk who ha
never visited any Of the hospital
p and who Is obviously ignorant o
any phase of hospital work. or tina
? of Board OF Health officials VIII
for years have held the conildenc
. of the entire city.
II these hospitals are racket
r then Herman Kicfcr, Receiving
and Maybury are also rackcts.
Grigsby calls them "jim-crow
hospitals. He Is correct. They ar
jim-crow hospitals. hut Negro pa
TENTS are Jim crowcd In every hos
pital In the city Of Detroit. Tn
, only difference Is that In the whit
. hospitals Negro patients hav
white nurses. white doctors. an
every thing hut the patients (
white. while the Negro hospital
afford an opportunity for the en-
ploymcnt and consequent develop
ment OF our own nurses and doc
tors.
Aside from the aforementionc
advantages OF Negro hospitals
their economic contributions dc
finitoly establish them as valuabl
assets to Negro Detroit. They ar
carrying more than hundred en-
ployees on their payrolls. They ar
patronizing Negro business enter
prises wherever and wheneye
possible. Old Cows Coffee. Peoples
Sausage, Otis Butler Janitor Sup
p plies, Tolbert's Syrup. Cobra
b Electrical. Hadley Brothers, Con
E tractors. T IAN d US Prescriptio
b Laboratory, and many other Negr
} concerns list thpso hospitals n
! their best customers. Negro bust
a naaa man Lnatn 1Ha olgaUf ,