Evening star., 1948-10-04

medical care. These institutions
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 ST day to SIS. 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
81 300 100000 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 a
tremendous amount of charity work
operated at loss of nearly $1,000,-
900 last year. The large number oil
New York voluntary hospitals ex-
pect deficits of more than $5,000,00t
and Philadelphia hospitals expect
to go in the red more than $4,000,
600. Almost all Washington's volun-
tary hospitals estimated compiled
deficit of more than 100000 last
year.
Hospital Leaders Awakening.
The picture this year is roughly
the same. George Washington and
Georgetown University Hospitals are
losing money hand over fist with
their new, expensive and we'll
equipped institutions. Other long
established hospitals expect to lose
from $4,000 to we'll over 100000 be-
cause their incomes are not meet
ing costs.
Hospital leaders are just awaken
ing to the need for a solution to
their problems. They feel the pub
lie, for the most part, is still fast
asleep about what the crisis means
to it.
The bare fact is that one of every
eight citizens must go to hospital
every year. And of the 1905, 900
Americans hospitalized last year,
two of every three went to voluntary
hospitals. The other one-third went
to city hospitals. like Gallinger;
Federal hospitals like Freedmen's S
and st. Elizabeths, or private,
profit-making hospitals. like Doc
tors.
What is squirting hospital leaders
to action is the belief that the COM
munity's health is the community's
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-paying
hospitals for those who can pay
their bills and Government-operate
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 we're formed pri-
marily to care for the poor. In
the early days it was accepted