The daily worker. [volume] (Chicago, Ill.) 1924-1958, 1934-02-19
Dirt, Starvation
in the Bellevue
Hospital, N. Y.
(Bv a Worker Correspondent

NDN n WCrker COrreSponQ
NEW York; had a pain in nv
side for few days and went to Belle
vue Hospital to be examined. 1 was
told I'd have to stay for few days
Five young student doctors examined
ne and each one told me I had a
different sickness. Now I'm home
after staying there four DAYS and
still don't know what causes the pain.
The first day was examined, I was
put in a bed in the hallway, for the
wards were all filled up. The doctor
said I must rest.
I'm telling '-ou got a rest with all
the noise and pillows hard as bricks
and the dirty gown they give you that
someone wore before. Beds are made
the day you get in and they don't
change the clothing until you leave.
no matter how dirty they are. All the
food you get are the same thing over
and over every day. This is what we
get for breakfast:
Half an apricot, cereal, slice Of
bread with touch Of butter YOU can't
see. Coffee or milk.
Dinner: One cooked potato. A
piece OF hard beef, bread or tea.
Supper: One hard-boiled egg. slice
Of bread and tea.
The coffee and tea taste like dish
water and milk is about three fourths
water and one fourth milk. The beef
looks like the salt pork the Home
Relief gives us. Most of the patients
have food brought from home. But
what my husband makes on the CWA
job cannot afford to buy us food.
I stayed there four days and lost
three pounds. One supper the nurse,
Mrs. MCGEE, came running from bed
to bed and shouted, Whats the ter
rible odor from?" And we all shouted,
It's the rotten egg She shouted
back, How dare you say those eggs
aren't fresh?"
Next morning I was there, a nurse
asked us If we want to wash, but we
,ad no basins, towels or soap, so we
ou-dn't wash. I didn't wash my face
or three days. stayed in bed till I
Of up and walked to the bath room
I'd washed up without soap, wiped
y face with the bathrobe I had on.
Other patients staying in bed for
,yeral days have no towels or BIZ in,
do not wash urtiI some one CO.., s to
e them and gets them what they
r~ed.
Tuesday morning the nurse said to
me, You are going hcine today" 1t
was 5 O'Clock in the morning. She
told me to get out Of the bed and
later took my bed away. So I had to
walk around the hall till pm. wait
ing for the doctor to send us home
1t was SO cold in there that I got
the grippe and came home sicker than
l was.
The head nurse saw me walking
around and said, GO in the kitchen
and do some work" I told her ]
wouldn't, I'm supposed to be sick.
A social service lady comes around
every day asking every patient a lot
Of red tape. She came to me and
asked. Does your husband work?'
said, Eyes, on the C.WA. job" Then
she asked, rs he g. citizenP" I said
no. Then she started yelling, "He
couldn't work" I asked her what she
meant. Aren't we supposed to eatf
I was born here and SO were the chill
dren." But she said If she went to q
foreign country, nobody would want
to support her. told her she wasn't
supporting us. My husband works
hard for his money.
Tuesday morning a man patient
jumped out of the window and killed
himself. The nurses would not admit
why he did this but said he had a
fight with another man and was
killed.