East Cleveland leader. [volume] (East Cleveland, Ohio) 1942-1970, 1952-05-15

The eyes Of the medical world
are upon this innovation, which
will be available at every bed
when the hospital begins operation
this coming October.
at is felt that television and
radio are q positive therapeutic
value in the convalescence Of pa
tents, said Collins. eve are con-
fident that the diversion created
by these entertainment facilities
will be q constructive factor in
taking their minds off their own
medical or personal problems, and
will speed recovery.
"This is also an attempt to
carry out our plan Of making the
new hospital as 'home-like' as pos
sible. For example, we will have
wood furniture in the patient rooms
rather than metal because most
people use wood bedroom furni-
ture. Similarly, we feel that tele-
vision and radio will help the pa
tient feel at home, be relaxed,
and recover more quickly, he
added.
Five radio programs and up to
six television channels will be
available to each patient.
The television receiving system
is unlike that found in homes. A
specially designed antennae mast
will be atop the elevator and re-
search penthouse, and will actually
consist of several special antennae
atuned to receive individually each
local telecasting station. This
guarantees maximum reception.
From the antennae, the image
and sound will travel to a central
amplifier and "mixer" where the
intensity of the signals is increas-
ed, and the images from all the
channels are superimposed upon
each other. They are distributed
to each bed in this scrambled con-
dition by q single small co-axial
cable, but the patient will receive
a perfect image on the channel he
selects.
Patients will obtain television
service by request. A specially de-
signed II inch screen consollete
on wheels will be placed at the
foot of the patients bed. Because
hospital beds are high, and be-
cause many patients will have to
view the screen from a reclining
position, the sets will be much
higher from the floor than are
the normal home-type unit.
To reduce cost Of maintenance,
the television sets have been de-
signed so that they can be re-
paired in a few minutes, no mat
ter what the problem might be.
This is done by having the work
ing unit divided into seven parts,
each Of them being Of plug-in
nature. Thus if the sound is not
working, the sound unit is un-
plugged and a replacement in
serted Immediately. The same
method is used to rectify Difficult
ties in picture, power, amplifica-
tion, etc.
Patients will receive the sound
for their television program from
an under-pillow speaker, which is
also used to receive radio pro-
grams. The speaker is rubber-in-
cased and unbreakable. Glenville
authorities recently tested one by
dropping it from a third story win
dow onto a concrete walk, with no
resultant damage to the speaker.
Controls for these units will be
in a flush wall-box at each bed,
and can be operated by the patient
merely by pulling cord. 1t will
be possible for a patient to listen
to the radio account of a ball
game, for example, and watch it
on television.
eve will not use funds donated
to our Building Fund to install
this system, Collins stated. "Some
patients will not want to use either
the radio or television, and the
medical condition Of others will
prohibit its use in their cases.
Accordingly q minimal charge will
be made to persons wishing the
service so that its cost can be
amortized over a period of years
by those persons receiving its
benefits.