Evening star., 1948-10-05

Association, spent an average OF
$11.09 to care for each patient
every day. But the income from
each patient averaged only $9.7l.
What was the $11.09 spent for?
Compared to Hotel.
Compare a hospital building with
a hotel. They have similar over
head expenses of labor and upkeep.
Then add a large nursing staff.
kitchen to feed every patient and
most employees three meals a day,
laundry, an enormous supply room
that sends hundreds of items of
equipment and supply daily to bed
sides. Add a pharmacy, a laboratory
X-ray. delivery and operating rooms,
all kept ready for immediate use
"a hours a day-end all filled with
thousands of dollars worth of
equipment.
/ Add also a clinic operated for
those who can't afford private doc
tors. where perhaps 100 persons
come every day for treatment and
medicines. Finally, add a school
Of nursing and a staff of resident
doctors and interns.
Rising Operation Costs.
Any businessman can tell you how
the cost of operating his business
has spiraled during the last few
years. Hospital labor wages always
have been below par, and just now
are beginning to catch up. In addi-
ton, hospitals must keep pace with
the rapid developments of medi-
cine-and most OF them are ex-
.pensive.
Faced with these expenses. hospi-
tai administrators would be happier
people if every patient paid the
s11.09, the s13 or the SIS it costs
to care for him. Every patient
can't.
| One result has been that paying
patients have been charged lust
about what the traffic would bear
as one administrator put ito
!! help pay for some of the nonpaying
patients in wards.
But there is limit to what pay
ing patients, too, can afford.
Census Report Worry.
A constant worry to hospital book
keepers is their daily census re-
port" which shows how many beds
are occupied When the occupancy
in hospital drops-and it frequent
! ly does-it means trouble. The
reason is that normal expenses con-
tinue, whether full house is there
to pay for them or not.
Another factor that bears on in
come is the drastic cut-down in the
length of time people have to stay
in hospitals. The American Hospital
Association reported a reduction
from 81 to 8 days during the 1886
1947 period alone
This is good for patients The
shorter the stay, the smaller their
hospital bill. 1t isn't so good for
hospital finances because most ex-
,pensive services are given to patients
EduringE the first few days. 80
Losses In Ward Beds.
Most hospitals have some ward
beds-priced below the actual cost of
care-for patients who realize they
can't afford semi-private or private
rooms but can pay the lower prices.
But many ward patients pay the
hospitals either nothing or only part
of what the hospitals ask. Doctors
usually contribute their services to
this latter group.
1t is this group for which the
voluntary hospitals look to the COM
munity and Government for support.
Nine voluntary Washington hos
pitfalls told Congress last year they
spent 100000 in care to patients
eligible for care at unsupported
Gallinger Hospital. AS a result,
Congress gave the District $735, 900
to pay the nine hospitals this year
for such care-at the rate of SO for
each patient day and 81 for each
clinic visit.
Contracts With Three.
Previously, the District had con-
tracts with only three hospitals for
such reimbursements. The three,
Emergency, Casualty and Children's
were paid $4,000 last year, but
submitted claims totalling $422 900.
Health Department officials said the
Commissioners will be asked to re-
quest deficiency appropriation for
the rest.
Contracts for the payment with
the six other hospitals were expected
to be ready by July l, but still have
not been submitted to the insti-
tutions.
One provision of the agreement
probably will be that hospitals will
be paid only for very-low- Income
INDECENT patients who have lived
here for year and who are "emer-
gencies." This would mean that if
hospitals admit eligible, non-emer-
.gency patients whose conditions
allow them to be sent to Gallinger
they must expect to stand the loss
for treating them.
Gallinger Not Full.
While the number of patients at
Gallinger has been rising this year,
the hospital is not full. The daily
average number of patients at GAL
linger and the Upshur street Tuber-
culosis Hospital-with 1,545 beds
was l,118.2 for the year ending
July 81. The average cost of ope-
rating Gallinger for one patient for
one day is about $3.50.
In addition, INDECENT patients
treated at Freedmen's Hospital cost
taxpayers 1897 7,748, and another ST.
$4,000 was spent to operate Glenn
Dale Sanatorium. All these were
dwarfed by the $6,229, 900 the Dis
trict paid last year for patients un-
der care at st. Elizabeths Hospital,
about 100000 of which was re-
covered from the patients.
Many residents make individual
contributions to hospitals for the
care OF patients who don't fall in the
Governments category of indigents.
Hospitals have applied the term
medically INDECENT to these pa
tients-many of whom can meet
other normal costs OF living.