Evening star., 1934-04-11
HOSPITAL STAFF
ADDITIONS DENIED
House Subcommittee Again
Turns Down Tuberculosis
Institution Item.

The House Subcommittee on Dis
trict Appropriations again has denied
the Districts request for additions to
the stan of the tuberculosis Hospital
at Fourteenth and Upshur streets.
The District appropriation bill, re-
ported to the House today, failed to
include an item of 1874 sought by
DR.. j. w. Peabody, superintendent of
the hospital, for the salaries Of an
assistant resident physician. one
nurse and one attendant. The item
had been approved by the Budget
Bureau, and its retention was asked
by DR.. Peabody, who testified before
the Appropriations Committee in
charge of the District supply bill.
There was no item included this
year for any addition to the staff Of
the tuberculosis Dispensary at 301 G
street, the committee report disclosed.
Health Officer william c. Fowler
has said he made such a request last
year and it was denied. Asked by
Chairman Cannon of the subcom-
mittee how the dispensary was
getting along" DR.. Fowler replied:
They are getting along very
nicely"
2O2 Average Patients.
The daily average of patients at
the tuberculosis Hospital, according
% ~ hn hao 40 C0C
DR.. Peabody told the committee when
it considered the appropriations item
for the institution that the standard
hospital requirement is one resident
physician for every go patients.
I'VE have only two resident physi-
clans for over 200 patients" he
testified. 1.-The second resident physi-
clan was appointed in 1917, l6 years
ago, and since that time the daily
average has increased from 128 to
1924 patients.
If we are to give the patients the
proper kind of care We must get away
from the student internes, which we
are compelled to use now, and secure
the services of a man who has had
experience with this type Of special
work. And, If this institution is to
keep abreast Of the times, research
work should be carried on.
One Nurse to Is Beds.
Standard hospital requirements
call for / nurse to every beds. At
the present time we have l nurse to
Is beds for day duty and far less
than this number for night duty. We
have Just nurses for night duty 4
nights a week and on duty the other
nights week.
I'VE are asking, therefore, for l
additional nurse for night duty, SO
that there will be / nurse for each
of the large wards in which there
are very i'll patients, many Of which
are hemorrhage cases.
I'VE have / ward maid (attend-
anti for 80 female colored patients
and / for the IS female white pa
tients-all very weak and sick pa
tients, requiring much bedside atten-
ticn. When either of these maids Is
of duty, an ambulatory, male patient
is pressed into service. This is very
unsatisfactory service and many COM
plants are made by the woman pa
tients about this service. There is
enough work in the care required for
these patients to take up the full-time
services of another ward maid"
Efforts Have Failed.
DR.. Peabody, in a recent interview
with The Star, pointed out he had
been trying to obtain the services of
at least three employees for years, but
that always the items for their SAL
aries had been cut from the budget.
Now, unless an amendment Is made
to the bill, either from the floor Of
the House or somewhere in the Sen
ate, a deficiency bill will be necessary
to give DR.. Peabody the additional
help he so urgently needs.
With respect to the Children's
tuberculosis Sanitorium. the COM
mittee allowed an item of $5l ,498 for
personal service, but recommended a
reduction from 5000 to S25, 900 of
the amount for maintenance and up
keep, explaining that "it is unlikely
that this institution will be operated
on capacity basis during the early
part of the next fiscal year as was
planned when these estimates were
prepared"
For the tuberculosis Hospital, the
committee recommended a total ap-
preparation of $140,823, which is
s5,323 more than the 1884 appropri-
alton and $3,744 less than the budget
estimates.
Through the testimony Of DR.. Pea
body, George s. Wilson, director of
public welfare, and DR.. D. L. Finu-
cane, superintendent of the Chill
dren's Sanitorium, the subcommittee
headed by Representative Clarence
Cannon obtained a general picture of
tuberculosis conditions in the National
Capital.
Facilities Lacking.
1--WE are not in position to cope
with the situation here; we have not
enough beds to take care Of these
cases." testified DR.. Peabody. I'VE
have had approximately 600 deaths
in the past year and we have not 600
beds to take care of the patients.
In the olden days, it was said that
we should have one bed for every
death. DR.. Chadwick, formerly Of
Detroit, read a paper in Toronto. at
the meeting Of the National Tubercu-
losis Association, and he said we
should have two beds per death. If
we were to properly fight this disease.
"The whole treatment of tubercu-
losis has changed; we are doing COL
lapsed therapy; we in Washington
are not prepared to do that to the
extent we should because Of lack of
bed space"
DR.. Peabody testified also that the
tuberculosis Hospital Is not equipped
to do rib operations because the op-
Grating room Is too small and there
are no rooms to take proper care Of
the patients afterwards.
Once Model Hospital.
"Our hospital in 1908, 26 years ago
this coming July, received q medal
which was awarded by the Interna-
tional Congress of tuberculosis be-
cause of the fact that 1t was sup
posed to be an ideal hospital for the