Evening star., 1954-01-18

nOSpltal pfOJeCtS III The 0CaLeS
and Territories. This sum has
been matched by over $1H
billion Of State and local
funds Projects already COM
pleted or under construction
on December 81. 1858, will add
to our national resources 106.-
900 hospital beds and AGA pub
lie health centers. The largest
proportion OF Federal funds
has been and Is being spent
in loW-tItcoEile and rural areas
where the need for hospital
beds Is greatest and where
the local means for providing
them are smallest. This Fed
orally stimulated accomplish
ment has by no means re-
tarded the building of hos
pitals without Federal aid.
Construction costing in excess
of 81 billion has been COM
pleted in the last six years
without such aid.
Hospital construction, how
ever, meets only part of the
urgent need for medical IA
cilitieS.
Not all illness need be
treated in elaborate. general
hospital facilities, costly to
construct and costly to op-
crate. Certain non-acute ill
ness conditions, including
those of our hospitalized aged
people. requiring institutional
bed care can be handled In ia
cilities more economical to
build and operate than a gen-
eral hospital. with its dag
nostic. surgical and treatment
equipment and its full staff
of professional personnel. To-
day beds in our hospitals for
the cht0nirally i'll take care
of only one out of every six
persons suffering from such
long-term illnesses as cancer.
arthritiS and heart disease.
The inadequacy Of facilities
and services to cope with such
illnesses is disturbing. More
over, if there were more nurs-
ing and convalescent home fa-
cilities, beds in general hos
pitals would be released for
the care Of the acutely Ill.
This would also help to relieve
some of the serious problems
created by the present short
supply of trained nurses.
Physical rehabilitation serv-
ices for our disabled people
can best be given in hospitals
or other facilities especially
equipped for the purpose.
Many thousands of people re-
main disabled today because
of the lack of such facilities
and services.
Many illnesses. to be sure,
can be cared for outside of any
institution. For such illnesses
a far less costly approach to
good medical care than hos
pitalization would be to provide
diagnostic and treatment ia
cilities for the ambulatory pa
tlent. The provision of such
facilities. particularly in rural
areas and small isolated COM
munities. will attract phySic-
ians to the sparsely settled
sections where they are ur-
gently needed.
recommend. therefore. that
the Hospital Survey and Con-
struction Act be amended as
necessary to authorize the sew
eral types of urgently needed
medical care facilities which /
have described. They will be
less costly to build than gen.
eral hospitals and will lessen
the burden to them.
I present four proposals to
expand or extend the present
program:
/. Added assistance in the
construction of non-profit hos
pitals for the care of the
chronically i'll. These would
be of a type more economical
to build and operate than gen.
eral hospitals.
2. Assistance in the con-
struction of non-profit med
ically supervised nursing and
convalescent homes.
3 Assistance in the con-
struction of non-profit re-
Mobilization facilities for the
disabled.
4. Assistance in the con-
struction of non-profit dag
nostic or treatment centers for
ambulatory patients.
Finally. / recommend that
in order to provide a sound
basis for Federal assistance IN
such an expanded program,
special funds be made avail
able to the States to help paw
for surveys Of their needs.
This is the procedure that the
Congress wisely required in
connection with Federal as
sistance in the construction of
hospitals under the original
act. We should also continue
to observe the principle of
State and local determination
of their needs without Federal
interference.
These recommendations are
needed forward steps in the
development of a sound pro-
gram for improving the health
of our people. No nation and
no administration can ever
afford to be complacent about
the health of its citizens.
While continuing to reject
Government regimentation of
medicine. we shall with vigor
and imagination continuously
search out by appropriate
means, recommend, and put
into effect new methods of ac-
hieving better health for all
our people We shall not relax
in the struggle against disease.
The health of our people is the
very essence of our vitality.
our strength and our progress