Evening star., 1943-12-19
More About GulIinaer


In March of 1889 a subcommittee
OF the House District Committee
conducted hearings on Gallinger
Hospital about as extensive as those
recently completed by subcommit-
tee of the Senate District Committee
Much of the same ground was
covered in the two hearings. Much
of the same sort of testimony was
received from the same witnesses.
The chief difference lay ID the atti-
tude of the investigators. The House
subcommittee was as obviously SYM
pathetic with the Gallinger officials
as the Senate subcommittee was an
tagonistic. The House subcommittee
was chiefly interested in getting at
the cause of conditions of which the
officials complained. The Senate
subcommittee took the line that the
conditions were the fault of the
officials.
One may cite. as an example. the
testimony in 1889 of DR.. Joseph L.
Gilbert, in charge Of the psychiatric
department.. At that time he was
complaining bitterly of conditions
beyond his control which required
him to resort to types of care that
are not acceptable, and to my way
of thinking are not only not &C
ceptable, but in some cases actually
a serious hardship on the patient,
and, to my way of thinking further,
the methods that we have to resort
to, to some extent, are inhumane in
their application to the disturbed
patient"
1t is for the practice OF these same
types of care, which the Senate sub
committee seems to construe as in
dicating lack of sympathetic un-
derstanding for the PATIENTS plus
other allegations along the same line,
that the Senate subcommittee now
wants DR.. Gilbert removed. The
Star does not undertake to Judge DR..
GllbertS competence But it is
illuminating to study the parallel be-
tween DR.. Gilbert's own indictment
of conditions in his department in
1889 and the Senate committees in
dictment of DR.. Gilbert in 1943. DR..
Gilbert was as vigorous in his criti-
ciSm of conditions as the Senate
committee is in its criticism of DR..
Gilbert for permitting them to exist.
When he testified in 1889, Dr. Gill
bert was pointing out the effects of
then recently enacted law chang
ing the method of committing men,
tally i'll patients. A possibly unan-
ticipated result of a sound law was
to crowd patients for detention at
Gallinger, awaiting permanent dis
posal, who in the past had been
transferred Immediately to St. Eliz-
abeth's. There were times when as
many as 209 patients were being
cared for in wards at Gallinger de-
signed for 1853; in wards that were
not fitted with modern special
treatment rooms for homicidal or
suicidal or otherwise violent pa
tients. AS a result of DR.. Gilbert's
testimony, the committal law was
amended, liberalizing to some ex-
tent the requirements under which
he had been forced to care for all of
the dangerous patients instead Of
sending them Immediately to st.
Elizabeth's. But nothing was done
to provide the modern facilities for
which he had asked, and which the
United States Public Health Service
at the time recommended Along
with a population increase came a
labor shortage, which deprived him
of seven of his eight trained super
visors.
Now what was DR.. Gilbert-using
him merely as an illustration-sup-
posed to have done? He had al
ready made his recommendations to
a congressional committee. Should
he have given horror interviews to
the press? Should he have made
speeches condemning delays and
berating Congress for not providing
the equipment and personnel
needed? 1t is. of course, forbidden
for these officials to discuss their
budget needs publicly-they must
leave decisions in such matters to
the Commissioners and the Budget
Bureau. What was he supposed to
have done that he failed to do?
1t is unfortunate that the Senate
District Committee report does not
60 into that. For it might help
others who are in DR.. Gilbert's shoes
and who wish to hold their jobs and
protect their reputations