Evening star., 1934-08-26
GLENN DALE SITE
Of NEW HOSPITAL
President Selects City.
Owned Land Favored
by Experts.
Continued From First Page)

|. Continued From First Page.)
Of DR.. Lawrason Brown Of Saranac
Lake, friend of the President; Col.
G. D. Buck, U. S. A., Fitzsimmons
General Hospital, Denver, Colo, and
DR.. Charles M Griffith, medical direc-
tor, Veterans Administration.
Report of Committee.
"The successful treatment of pull
monary tuberculosis takes place
through the absorption of the disease
and the replacement by scar of such
tissue as has been unfortunately de-
stroyed," their report said. Anything
which aids in this process hastens re-
covery. The improvement of the gen.
eral condition is consequently highly
important. Such improvement, man
has found since recorded history, be-
gan to be associated with change. This
change for those who have not en-
joyed an excess of the material COM
forts o. life, and especially for the.
unfortunate indigentS, does not neces-
sarily demand removal to a distant
locality but does require rest, both
bodily and mental, and freedom from
anxiety and worry, good food and un-
polluted air. We do not deny that
for the well-to-do greater change,
e. g., removal to a more distant cli-
mate, may be advantageous. Change
of climate, Of course, suggests re-
moval to higher altitude. Some hold
that altitude to prove effectual, in
the treatment of pulmonary tubercu-
losis, must be at least 5000 feet. There
is no such site available. near Wash
ington.
In the problem that confronts the
District of Columbia, however, there
are many other important considera-
tions to be taken into account. ANY
great municipality must always think
OF the health of the man on the
street. The public health then de-
mandS that prevention, which arouses
far less sympathy than treatment,
must be given in any such plan as
this much, we had almost said equal
consideration with treatment. The
problem of prevention demands that
the District have a suitable hospital
for tuberculosis near at hand whether
or not later it decides to build one in
nearby mountains. Up to this time q
large proportion of the patients ad-
mitted to the present municipal hospi-
tails have been desperately i'll. Some
state that as many as one-half to
three-fourths of the patients fail into
this class. For the purpose of preven-
ton these are the very cases that
must be removed from their families,
that demand on the ground of hu-
manity alone sympathetic care and
what is more important than many
who have given the matter only
casual thought believe, an opportunity
for the family to visit them. This
curiously enough does not hold true
for the early cases among children.
Aid of Specialists.
Again, patients with pulmonary
tuberculosis suffer from other ailments
as well and tuberculosis hospital
situated nearby could call upon many
specialists for aid who unfortunately
could not afford to give up day or
even half a day travelling to dis
tant locality.
The death rate from tuberculosis in
Washington ranks fourth among the
cities in the United States. This
means that as soon as the District
builds suitable hospital it will have
many applicants for admission. Ey-
perience in other communities has
shown that to be able to cope effect
ually with tuberculosis, two hospital
beds are required for each death.
Such provision cannot be made at
once, but it should be kept in mind
that a nearby hospital greatly facili-
tates its use and greatly reduces its
cost of maintenance. The cost of
maintenance is of course the most
important expense connected with any
hospital. To locate the hospital In
the mountains would greatly increase
the cost of maintenance.
AS the present treatment Of pull
monary tuberculosis involves surgery
it is highly important that a tubercu-
losis ward, properly equipped for the
thorough and modern treatment of
pulmonary tuberculosis, be erected as
soon as possible at the Gallinger Hos
pital This would also greatly facili-
tate diagnosis of all pulmonary con-
ditions. Later transfer from this ward
to the tuberculosis hospital and from
the hospital to the ward would greatly
aid in successful treatment"