The Daily Alaska empire., 1947-01-24
ALASKA'S FISHING SEASON IS REDUCED

A1IdlIS III SluCdSO. DULL llllS OA-
 flee and the Bureau of the Budget
 approved the proposed plan and
 gave their endorsement to the transfer.
 While the present quarters at Skagway are inadequate, unsatis- factory, and not conducive to the morale of the patients, Sitka facil- ities are ample, modern, well furn- ished, and surrounded with an at
 mosphere of pleasant environment. Excellent recreational facilities are [ available on Japonski Island at
 Sitka a fine gymnasium, six lane bowling alley, pool tables, in-
 door tennis and badminton courts, and many other recreations in ad- dition to good hunting and fishing in the nearby vicinity.
 Heating Inadequate
 Ralph Mize, District Construction
 Engineer for ANS. in commenting on the transfer said: The heating system of Skagway Hospital con-
 sists of two decrepit boilers and these have been limping along since December-a constant threat to an emergency breakdown that would force patients and personnel into seeking temporary shelter else where. During the last cold spell, the temperature in one of the hos pital corridors was recorded at '
 degrees below zero, while the tenn perature in the ward could not be
 bolstered much beyond 40 degrees. On January l, day of moderate temperature, only one remaining boiler was operating and this at 90 percent efficiency. The distant buildings were barely comfortable on this mild day. Such condition endangers the welfare of both the patients and the personnel employ ed in the building"
 i Physical condition and high op- erational costs of the worn-out heating system combined to discour- age any consideration of large ex- penditure to revise standing equip
 ment, the ANS Engineer added. { Flood Threat
 ! Mize also mentioned that no work had been done on flood con-
 trol for this area since 1943 when part of the hospital was washed away and only the combined ef-
 forts of engineers and the Army | prevented the entire hospital from i being washed down the river. Mize said that despite the dike which offers some extent of protection, 1 the hospital lies in the pathway of serious flood threat at certain times : of the year.
 !; Dr. H. c. Rufus. ANS Medical
 Director, and Dr. Max Van Sandt,
 Medical Officer. revealed that a boat has been chartered for Feb ruary for the removal of patients, personnel and staff members fam lilies to their new quarters on Alice Island Facilities and functions on Alice Island will be consolidated so that the new Skagway unit will share central mess hall with the Orthopedic and Mt. Edgecumte hospitals. Merging of positions all ready established in Skagway will be combined for the furtherance of the organization as a whole, Ii. e. dieticians, physio-thrapysts,
 medical technicians, laboratories, iand centrally operated laundry. Transportation
 Dr. Van Sandt stated that anoth- CT disadvantage of the Skagway , institute was the inconvenience of transportation for personnel Sit
 uated three miles from town, the only means of conveyance, since
 government regulations forbid use
 of government vehicles for any purpose outside of official busi- ness, is taxicab service. This was found to be too costly for the av- craze Stdl WOlhCl dIlQ tiic CAty of Skagway refused to install buses
 to link the hospital with the town. Transportation and freight deliv- cry from the outside was unsatis-
 factory in that the Princess line is the only boat that calls in Skagway
 on a regular schedule and tuber-
 cular patients are not accepted on
 this run. This necessitated travel 1 by either plane or mail boat only for patients committed to the
 Sanatorium.
 Sitka has the advantage of one other means of water transporta- ton in addition to daily flights out ] of Juneau and Ketchikan for Sitka. This, coupled with much more favorable climate for tubercular cases and less hardship in heating problems added more weight to the planned economy move which will
 be carried out on February 4, Dr.. Van Sandt stated