Evening star., 1948-10-04

meOlCdl care. 1neSe luStlGuIlOuS
to make a profit.
The ache Is that Washington
residents are being asked to con-
tribute money to these institutions
at time when the hospital patient
is forced to pay higher bills than
ever before.
Room rates in hospitals range
from about 81 a day to $18. Charges
for other services often double the
room rate and, in some cases,
multiply it many times.
Bills Out Of Reach.
Self-respecting families which can
meet other normal costs of living
but haven't planned for hospital
care, are finding that hospital bills
have zoomed out of reach. In ad-
dition, residents are paying heavily,
through taxes, for Government
hospital programs
Last year, hospitals not operated
by the Government cost more than
81 800 ,000, 900 to operate. Three
quarters of all the voluntary hospi-
tails in the country didn't get enough
money from patients to meet costs
Half of them didn't get enough
money from all their sources of in
come to meet expenses.
The famous Johns Hopkins Hos.
pital in Baltimore, which does 9
tremendous amount of charity work
operated at loss of nearly $1,000,
900 last year. The large number ol
New York voluntary hospitals ex.
pect deficits of more than $1,000 ,O0t
and Philadelphia hospitals expect
to go in the red more than $4,000.
600. Almost all Washington's volun.
tary hospitals estimated a compiled
deficit of more than 100000 last
year.
Hospital Leaders Awakening.
The picture this year is roughly
the same. George Washington ano
Georgetown University Hospitals are
losing money hand over fist with
their new, expensive and well.
equipped institutions. Other long.
established hospitals expect to lost
from $4,000 to we'll over 500. 900 be.
cause their incomes are not meet.
ing costs.
Hospital leaders are just awaken.
ing to the need for solution II
their problems. They feel the pub
lie, for the most part, is still fas
asleep about what the crisis mean!
to 1t.
The bare fact is that one of every
eight citizens must 60 to a hospita
! every year. And of the $4,000, ,00'
Americans hospitalized last year
two of every three went to voluntar!
hospitals. The other one-third wen
to city hospitals, like Gallinger
Federal hospitals like Freedmen
and st. Elizabeths, or private
profit making hospitals, like Doc
tors.
What is spurring hospital leaders
to action is the belief that the COM
munity's health is the community :,
responsibility. They feel that how
well they do the job of putting
voluntary hospitals on a firm basis
will determine largely whether the
voluntary system will disappear
to be replaced by private tax-payine
hospitals for those who can pay
their bills and Government-operated
hospitals for those who can't.
No Care without Cost.
Since no care can be given with
out cost, taxpayers pay the ex-
penses of hospitals under any
system. They must make up their
minds what type of hospital can
serve them best.
At the root Of the hospitals
dilemma are the complex changes
brought by advances in medical
treatment, the tremendous social
changes during the century and the
entrance of Government into the
hospital picture.
The charters Of voluntary hospi-
tails show they were formed pri-
marily to care for the poor. In
the early days 1t was accepted