Evening star., 1946-04-17
Figures on Baby
Deaths Disputed
ByDr. Ruh|and
Health Chief Denies
267 at GoIIinger Could
Have Been Saved
By Don S. Worren

care had this been available.
DR.. Lewis K. Sweet, head of the
pediatrics division at Gallinger, who
brought the issues into the Senate
Appropriations Committee spotlight
last week, maintained it Should be
possible to save the lives of all
babies from infection and other
death causes not present at birth.
Health Officer George C. Rutland
his top superior in the District gov
ernment medical lineup, who at first
had announced his support of Dr.
Sweets contentious, now has taken
the position the pediatrician's claims
are scientifically unprovable,"
Nursing Only One Factor.
DR.. Ruhland fully agreed that
nursing care at Gallinger is far from
adequate but insisted this is caused
by a continuing lack of nurses to
hire rather than lack of funds.
The health officer said nursing
care, as vital as it is, constituted
but one of great variety" of rea.
sons for first-month deaths of pre-
mature babies who survive the first
few hours after birth.
"Dr. Sweets intentions are the
best, but to say we could have saved
them all is too big an ORDER" DR.
Rutland declared.
An additional factor in the health
and hospital situation here. to be
explored today by the O'Mahoney
Subcommittee of the Senate Ap.
preparations Committee as it con.
tinued hearings on the 1947 mu.
nicipal bill, is whether nurses now
employed are being utilized to the
maximum degree.
Miss Beatrice Ritter, chief oi
nurses at Gallinger, was scheduled
to testify today as to utilization OF
nursing staffs as a result of a dis.
closure to the O'Mahoney group
Monday that at Health Department
clinics nurses must do part of the
cleanup of the buildings, for lack Of
janitor service.
Mystified by Procedure.
Capitol Hill officials today still,
were rather mystified as to why
written reports on "preventable'
deaths among the newborn at Gal
linger-formally sent up the line
more than two years ago-never
reached the attention of either the
Commissioners or congressional
committees until the new and
Startling" report got to the Senate
group last week. The new report
was not studied by top officials
prior to its presentation to Con-
gress.
DR.. Rutland admitted to the
O'Mahoney Subcommittee yester-
day he had received but had not
read the data submitted in 1914 by
DR.. Sweet for inclusion in the Dis
trict's annual report for that fiscal
year.
"Manifestly, I did not have time
to read the full report" he told
reporters.
Further, he contended that II
DR.. Sweet or other division chiefs
thought they had something of such
Importance as this ''it should have
been made a matter of special COM
munication" to the health officer
In the future, he said, he would in.
sist that all such exceptional con.
ditions be relayed to him by specia,
communications.
Had he read the 1914 report wl1er
1t was received, the health Officer
added. Il don't know what we coule
have done about it, for there were
no nurses. They had been taker
into the war service-so much st
that We had to close down some
hospital wards to prevent Who'll,
services from eollapsing."
This might have happened if w
had tried to spread our few nurse!
too thinly among so many patients,
he said. I'VE did appeal for volun
teer aides and got much help from
the Red Cross and the Gray Ladies
and others"
Seckinger Recalls Report.
Other names were brought into tn,
story about the buried" report O,
;'preventahle deaths" DR.. Daniel
Seckinger, assistant health officer
the co-ordinator of hospital services
who in 1914 was acting head o
Gallinger Hospital, was the first t.
receive the Sweet report.
DR.. Seckinger said he remembers
the report and its general substanc
and that he had forwarded" it t
DR.. Rutland. He did not remember
he said, whether he had ever calle
it to the attention of the healtl
officer.
DR.. Melvin Price Isamingel
Health Department public relation
director, edited all submissions TO
annual reports, DR.. Rutland sale
but he added he was not blaming
DR.. Isaminger.
"As the administrative head G
the Health Department I am re
sponsible," said DR.. Rutland, "bu
it is impossible for me to get
all the minutiae."
After making a deliberate stud
of the protests of DR.. Sweet, tn
health officer concluded his pedi
atrics hospital chief was adoptin
a very individualistic interpreta
ton" as to what were preventabl
deaths. DR.. Rutland quoted fror
recent reports from the Distric
Nurses Register to show Washingto
still lacks enough nurses.
The report of the registry agenc,
he said, showed that while $50 nurse
had left the District to go into tn
military and naval services, onl
100 of them had returned up
several weeks ago.
Gifts for Wounded Sought
The Prince Georges County Re
Cross Camp and Hospital Committe
announced today that it would lik
to have comic books, candy, flower
writing naner and nhonopranh ree