Evening star., 1949-05-08

psychiatrist. therefore. hamper
the Administration In the task o.
securing qualified professiona
men. That the salary which Il
established by Congress to pa,
for this position is too meager Il
attract a physician. Is also an.
other handicap. not mention tn.
delay In the pay boost which hal
been long delayed.
Other personnel shortages il
the Psychiatric Service may b.
listed as follows: A male physio.
therapist. a male occupations
therapist, secretarial and clerica
positions; and additional nursing
positions.
Recruitment Hampered.
"One would gather from tn,
newspaper tThe STAR reporter!
story that there has been littl'
done to attract personnel to stat
the Psychiatric Service. Not onl,
is the lack of personnel a prob
lem In Gallinger. 1t is also a seri'
Gus problem in their brapches o.
the Health Department anc
notably In the Bureau of Menta
Hygiene, as well as q Nation.
wide problem. Just to say tina
these vacancies exist does moi
mean that there are people will
ing to or capable of filing the
vacancies.
1T is felt that because Of the
adverse criticism and the labelling
of the Psychiatric Service as "ths
disgrace Of Washington" (by Ths
STAR has very seriously hamperet
the personnel officer from procur.
ing qualified personnel - profes-
sional. clerical and auxiliary-ts
accept positions in this service"
DR.. Ruhland's statement sale
that. as of April /. there were 25t
vacancies among the !, 1,406 author.
lied positions at Gallinger. A
total Of 207 Of the vacancies wer.
in nursing services.
While established standards rec.
ommend such an institution
should have two or more employe.
per patient. the 1.543-bed Gallin.
gre has operated most of tn,
time throughout the last calendar
year with less than one employs
per patient" he added.
Affects Operation.
This situation" he continued
affects the overall operation o.
the hospital, and the inadequac,
Of personnel has been felt in nurs.
ing. housekeeping. clinical ane
pathological laboratory and in thu
X-ray services"
During the last year, the hos.
pital has begun a physiotherap.
unit and increased maintenance
activities, including painting 9
large part of the institution
Plans also are completed for new
laboratory and pediatrics-cripplee
childreri's buildings.
One of the major Gallingel
services is, its tuberculosis pro.
gram, which has had new de.
mands placed upon it as q result
OF the city wide chest x-r-ay sur.
yey last year. One Of the serv.
ices greatest needs. DR.. Ruhlanf
said, is for more recreational anf
entertainment activities.
The Gallinger medical service
wards had an average daily occu.
|pancy Of 1928 patients last year
while 5,667 operations were per.
formed on the surgical service.
Other Services Operated.
"With the insufficient mum.
ber of operating rooms, none oi
which are air-conditioned. and ar
increasing number of operations
the surgical service has caused ar
overcrowding of the wards" DR.
Rutland said.
Separate services at the hospita,
also are In operation for obstetrics
and gynecology. crippled children
pediatrics, venereal disease anc
communicable disease.
A high point at Gallinger last
year was q rating of 80 per cent
by the American College Of Sur.
geons, which placed the hospita
In the colleges category Of excel
lent" institutions.
The overall service was aided BY
2.701 women volunteers who con-
tributed a total of 29.689 hours
duty during 1948.
DR.. Rutland will be at the hos
pital during the open house time
Thursday, along with his assistant
DR.. Daniel L. Seckinger; DR.. Philip
A. E. Stebbing. new superintendent
and DR.. Joseph Fazekas. new CHIEF
Of staff. The Commissioners and
members of Congress also have
hcey, iyuifod IN affnnd