Evening star., 1948-03-04
Letters to The Star
Former Chief Discusses Gallinser

Former Chief Discusses GallinSer
To the Editor of The Star:
was chief of staff Of Gallinger Hospital
from 1914 to 1928, and have been following
the articles concerning the hospital contrib
uted by Thomas G. Buchanan which have
appeared in The Star recently. An examna-
ton of your files from 1914 to 1928 will not
reveal any printed criticism of the manage
ment of the hospital although the buildings
were antiquated at that time and the facilities
were not nearly so adequate as they are today
Newspaper articles which did appear were
printed at the instigation of the medical staff
in order to arouse sentiment in the public and
in Congress so that we might obtain parapher-
MALTA to care for the patients decently.
The food situation was handled as follows:
A notice was placed in each ward which read:
Whenever any patient refuses to eat any
article of diet, the ward nurse shall deliver the
patients tray to the superintendent and report
the name of the patient and his reason for
rejecting the food. The nurse has no discre-
ton in carrying out this order" This order
focused the attention of the superintendent on
the food, and soon the inspection, preparation
and serving of the food improved immensely.
Hospital authorities everywhere should keep
in mind that the reason for the existence Of
the hospital is the care and comfort of the
patients. It should be the duty of the chief
of staff to visit each patient at frequent in
tervals, examine his chart, and satisfy himself
that the patient is receiving adequate medical
service He should talk to the patient and
ask if he is satisfied with the attention he Is
getting from the orderies and the nurses; =
the ward temperature and ventilation have
been comfortable, and if the bed linen has
been changed frequently; if the food is good,
and If it is served in an appetizing manner.
ALI complaints must be investigated at once.
Satisfied happy patients prove good hospital
management. Doctors should not treat disease
they should treat patients who have disease.
Any one who is forced to accept charity is
sensitive, suspicious, and has chip on his
shoulder He is expecting to be sighted Hos
pital authorities should know this and be
ready with the antidote. which Is personal.
human, interest in the welfare Of the patient
I notice that it is proposed to allow Howard
University doctors and nurses to treat linz
tied number Of patients at Galhnger, their
activities to be confined to certain wards. II
this change Is to occur, think that Howard
should be represented equally with George
Washington and Georgetown. Each medical
school should be entitled to one-third repre-
sentation on the staff and one-third OF the
patients both white and colored. Many COL
ored doctors in Washington treat white pr1-
vate patients. Science does not recognize any
color line and any effort to limit the activities
of Howard doctors and nurses, because they
are colored, would be offensive and unfair to
them.
I think that the present superintendent is
doing q good job under the handicaps OF red
tape and insufficient help. He should not be
criticized for situations which he cannot cor
rect by himself. The medical side OF the nos
pital is distinct from the administration Both
sides must cooperate to secure the best inter-
ests of the patients.
JAMES A. CANNON, MD, FA.C.s.