Evening star., 1938-05-05
10,0OO-MEMBER
EXPANSION STUDY
VOTED BY c. H. A.
Plans to Repay $4,000 and
Have Own Hospital Also
to Be Scrutinized.
POLITICS. is CHARGED
TO MEDICAL SOCIETY
Rochester (Minn.) Doctor Assails
'Fascism' Barrier Against
Low-Cost Health.

Declaring fresh war against the
American Medical Association, Group
Health Association officials today
plunged into study of plan to expand
G. H. A. into 10.000-member organ
iZation, to repay $4,000 advanced to
it by the Home Owners Loan Corp.
and to build its own hospital.
Action was taken as result of an
enthusiastic mass meeting of about
825 G. H. A. members and interested
friends at the Departmental Audi
torium last night.
The action. in the form of two
votes, came after proposed reorganiza-
! ton had been suggested by John M.
Carmody, rural electrification admin
istrator, and the American Medical
Association had been scored by DR..
Hugh Cabot of Rochester, Mimi, for
its efforts to control medicine.
DR.. Cabot, although he praised the
A. M. A. for its progress along strictly
medical lines. took it sharply to task
as political" organization. now at
tempting to control the entire medical
lini brand of Fascism."
Sees Setback in Loss.
He challenged Group Health Asso-
-ciation to bring the long-fought dis
pute with organized medicine here to
head, and warned that if the G. H. A..
fight is lost it would set back the
cause of group medicine for genera
ton" He delivered caustic attack on
the critics of Group Health Associa-
ton. taking up many questions raised
in the G.. H. A.-District Medical So
ciety row.
The action of the meeting was in
terpreted by William c. Kirkpatrick,
president of Group Health Association,
Who presided. as an actual mandate
to G. H. A. officials to look into the
questions and to report back officially
tn members on several phases of the
problems involved. A report on the
study will be mailed to each member
The first vote, by standing, favored
investigation of the proposal to reor-
ganize G. H. A. to four times its pres
ent size and to build its hospital The
ccCOliu NOtC Ii NOlcu tlle lued VI IC.
turning $4,000 advanced by H. o.
L. c., so the G. H. A. could stand on
its own feet. as an independent COR
'poration without Government funds
Use Of this $4,000 has been stoutly
attacked and defended on Capitol Hill.
Asked by member from the
audience If negotiations with Casualty
Hospital for use of that institution
for G. H. A. patients was still pending,
Mr.. Kirkpatrick replied: I'VE still
have hope, but that's all"
New Institution Favored.
Sentiment appeared to favor a new
hospital rather than any present in
stitution. Discussion from the floor
proposed also looking further into the
possibility of using some present hos
pitals.
The questions to be looked into in
the present inquiry. as outlined by
Mr.. Carmody, who explained he was
G. H. A. member. but not trustee,
included the following:
What kind of a hospital? How
should it be manned, organized?
What would its income be, what its
expenses? What kind of balance
sheet would it have at the end Of
/, 2, 8. 4, 5. or 10 years, as we'll
as can be estimated?
The action of the medical profess
sion here in refusing to permit G.
H. A. members to be operated on in
Washington hospitals was branded
by DR.. Cabot as a boycott" by the
doctors. 1t was part of Nationwide
fight, he explained, vitality important
because taking place here at the
Nations Capital.
He called on Group Health men,
bers to rally public opinion to their
support, to "ask your friends
"The doctors are your servants"
declared DR.. Cabot. They are acting
as your masters"
Points Vicotry Path.
The organized medical profession,
he charged, is out to "annihilate" Ger
tain group medical practice because
1t competes with the private practice
Of medicine. But" he declared, IF
you mobilize the force of public opin-
ion under a democracy, you can
drive the Medical Society to the wall"
Are you going to allow relatively
small group of physicians to dictate
to you whether you are going to use
your own hospitals or not? This is
- pure fiat case of boycott"
The real objection of organized
medicine to group medical practice,
DR.. Cabot charged, was the economic
competition offered. The medical pro-
fession was willing enough to let
"State medicine" take care of dis
eases in which the patients soon run
out Of funds. such as insanity, tubur-
culosis, arthritis and probably venereal
diseases.
when there is no money in it,"
. he declared, "the doctors were per-