Evening star., 1947-02-28
fowler S Plan 10 Shift
St. Elizabeth S Control
kHtby Health Council.
. unoualified condemnation of pis.

uS0ssisSO0iS
3 Unqualified condemnation of Dis
tfict Budget Officer Walter l..
Fowler's proposal that st. Elizabeth's
Hospital be placed under District
control was expressed yesterday by
the Co-ordinating Board of the
Washington Metropolitan Health
Council
A committee report adopted unan-
mously by the board characterized
Mr.. Fowlers plan to convert the
Institution into a local master hos
pital and welfare center" as an "un-
thinkable retrogression.
The budget officer was accused of
having failed to consult ANY of the
responsible and technically compe-
tent persons most directly involved" F"
Present Home for Aged Cited.
His suggestion that the hospital
should accommodate, in addition to
mental patients, the aged and feeble
minded as well as delinquent chill
dren was singled out for particular
disapproval as entirely contrary to
accepted standards of care"
It was pointed out that the Dis
trict already has considerable in
vestment in it's present home for the
aged and at the District Training
School in Laurel, whereas Mr.
Fowler's proposal would apparently
involve discarding this investment.
The board announced 1t had re-
ceived a communication from the
president of the American Board
of Psychiatry and Neurology that
If Mr.. Fowler's recommendation was
adopted, his organiza tion would re-
quire re-inspection of the hospital
to evaluate it's standards Of psychia-
trio instruction.
DR.. Herbert Ramsey, chairman of
the Health Council, said the organ
ization was seeking an interview
with the District Commissioners to
present its views on St. Elizabeth's.
An appointment Tuesday morning
was Cancelled by the Commissioners,
he said, due to another engagement.
The Co-ordinating Board was told
that "slow but steady progress" is
being made in analyzing the volu-
minous Metropolitan Health and
Hospital Survey, sponsored by the
council last year.
Howard Strong, vice chairman of
the council, said subcommittee are
still being set up to study each
phase of the survey staff's findings.
Eventually, he declared, a survey
committee under Vice Admiral Ross
T. McIntire will submit these recon-
mendations for the councils ap-
proval with such alterations as the
committee deems advisable.
One Report Acted Upon.
He said only one subcommittee
report has been received and acted
upon so far. This, he declared, was
the committee on the Hospital
Council, the Health Security Admin
istration, and hospital expansion.
Another subcommittee, dealing
with sanitation facilities in the Dis
trict, has presented its report to the
Survey Committee, he asserted.
The subcommittee on communi-
cable disease control, which will
make separate reports on each dis
ease, will submit the first of these
reports at the next Survey Commit
tee meeting, Mr.. Strong indicated.
Other Units Organizing.
Other subcommittees now being
set up, he said, are those on chronic
baa1fL
and child health.
He reported the fields of nutrition.
mental hygiene, dental care, public
health nursing, health education,
hospital care, out-patient care, con-
valeScent care, heart disease and
cancer still lack committee person.
mel.
When reporters pointed out that |
many of the details of the survey
would be out of date by the time
the council acted on the report as a
whole, Mr.. Strong replied the sub
committees studying the detailed
proposals were sufficiently familiar
with local health conditions to take
this into consideration.
l1c Sdlu dll SuDCOllllIuOGcC 1CpOi 10
we're expected to be completed
within six months.
Other action taken yesterday by
the -ordinating Board, which met
at the Roger Smith Hotel, included:
i. Recommendation to the presi-
dent of the Council Of Social
Agencies that DR.. Ramsey be re-
appointed as chairman of the Health
Council, and Mr.. Strong as vice
chairman.
2. Endorsement of the 1925 900
hospital equipment fund drive of
George Washington University Hos
pital.
3. Authorization of invitations to
the Army and Navy Medical Corps,
the Veterans Administration and
the United States Public Health
Service to become associate members
of the Health Council.