Evening star., 1942-10-20
Hospital Expansion
Held Useless Unless
Help Is Available
HSA Aide Says Stoffs
Are Lacking Even for
Present Facilities

The problem of the critical short
age of medical facilities in the Dis
trict cannot be solved with the COM
pletion of the hospital expansion
program, Willard C. Smith, admin
istrator of the Health Security Ad-
ministration told members of the
health division of the Council of
Social Agencies at a luncheon meet
ing yesterday.
Speaking of the shortage of nurses
and physicians, he said. "If you
can't even staff the wards and beds
you already have" it will do little
good to increase the present facili-
ties.
Asks More Volunteers.
In an urgent plea for more en-
1istees in the Volunteer Nurses Aide
program, Mrs. Walter Lippman, as
sistant national director of the VOL
unteer Special Services of the Amer
ican Red Gross and guest speaker
at the luncheon, said that when the
program first began, hospitals were
skeptical about taking volunteers in.
but now we are being sought all
over the country. Mrs. Lippman
was nurses's aide in France dur
ing the World War.
Compared with the 10 chapters OF
Nurses Aide Corps with 400 men,
bers in i941, she said that today
there are $40 chapters with $4,000
members, $4,000 of which have COM
pleted their training. The chief
worries today, she added, are that
there are not enough recruits and
many of the aides are being asked to
do work they are not really trained
to do because of the shortage of
nurses and internes.
However, she declared, the trained
aides are ready to do whatever they
are asked to do.
No Shortage Of Grit.
Mrs Lippman recently returned
from an official visit to England on
the invitation of the British Minis
try of Information. In discussing
the critical shortages" and how
they are being met in England, she
said the British are short of every
thing but grit and determination
and a sense y humor.'
The shortage of food in the British
Isles. Mrs. Lippman said, has been
greatly alleviated with their far
sighted agricultural policy" by which
65 per cent of the needed food is pro-
duced at home, mostly by Land
Army Girls, who work from 4 am.
until dark seven days week, some
times even do their plowing at night.
No Rationing Complaints.
Although by using "subversive"
methods, the Red Cross director
tried to discover the complaints of
the people in respect to their gen.
eral rationing, there were no COM
plants to be found: They be-
lieve that the work, clothing and
food are fairly distributed" she
said.
Even with the rationing of food,
she added, the general health is
much better than it was before the
rationing, for today greater
number" of people are getting an
adequate diet For those people
who can never eat at restaurants,
the Government has created a
chain of British restaurants"
where the laboring classes are able
to get a substantial meal for a
small price.
However, there is a rising rate
of tuberculosis which is due in part
to the overcroWded conditions of
industrial areas, the long working
hours and the lack of fresh fruits
and vegetables.
The manpoWer situation is crit
ical, she declared. All men and
women between the ages of 10 and
IS are required to register for draft
ing. However, women with children
under IA are not required to leave
their homes but must do some sort
of work where they are. Some of
the women in the Auxiliary Terri
torial Service, which is similar to
the WAACS in this country, even
help man the battery guns "and are
proud to do it,"
Other speakers at the luncheon
meeting which was held at the
YWCA, Seventeenth and K streets
NV, included DR.. Russell Fields,
vice chairman of the Health Divi-
sion, who spoke on the shortage of
available physicians, and Miss Esther
Beattie, head of the Registry of
Nurses, who made an urgent plea
for all women who have had nursing
training and who are not in active
duty to return to the job.
Miss Gertrude H. Bowling chair
man of the Health Division, intro
duced Mrs. Lippman.
l,,{hox,ne Wo,II N>lo.