Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1961-10-02
GNU GETS ANOTHER DORM
Costs PutIndigentAged
And Homes in Squeeze

ing the maximum grant Of I
$685. fares: /
The State provides medical
attention and medicine and |
also a supplementary $3.50 per !
month for clothing and Incl
dentals such as toothpaste. /
The nursing home must pro- ]
vide food to meet basic nutri-
tional requirements at cost /
of at least 81 per patient per
day. The law requires two |
hours of nursing care per pa
tent each day which. MIR. !
Howe says, cannot be provided !
at 81 per hour.
However. after accounting |
for SO in this manner. IS cents !
is left to pay for housing, heat !
ing. utility and other bills and |
a staff payroll.
Mr.. Howe said Is homes-or /
about 30 per cent of those Ii
censed-are presently caring !
for the 1875 cases of old. i'll and |
INDECENT persons now supported |
by public funds.
A woman who operates a
small home or business-like |
basis realizes that she must !
limit strictly the number of |
Etax-supported cases she takes.
Il run small home" she |
says, land l cannot keep It go
/ ing If l take more than two
such cases. If I happen to have
only one at the moment, I &C
cept a second right away. But
I always say no to requests to
take more, no matter how
/ pleadingly the request is put"
Husband Makes up Deficit
Another home is operated by
a woman who owns it with her
husband.
Although this case deserves
public thanks" Mr. Howe says,
I'VE can, instead. give it only
an anonymous label. The OPP
orator is tender-hearted and
cannot bring herself to turn
down these unsupported cases
and thus (from a business point
of view takes too many of
them.
THE home chronically OPP
crates in the red. The hus-
band has a fairly good position,
and his income is used to make
up the deficit"
Mrs. Virginia Maxwell, pro-
gram COORDINATION for the
Montgomery County Health
Department. says, This is only
one case. wish it were pos
sible for the voters of this
county to know more about the
acts of generosity and charity,
large and small, performed
routinely by so many nursing
homes"
Mr.. Howe adds, Mont
gomery County has not de-
liberately allowed its nursing
homes and it's old-age nursing
home cases to get into this i'm
passe. Part of the explanation
is the great number Of govern
ment agencies involved in the
process by which each of these
patients is certified as such a
case.
Since each of these agen-
cies has only partial-and
none has total-jurdisdiction.
no one agency has felt itself
obliged to face and solve the
problem"
state 10 RAISE snare
DR.. William j. Peoples, coun-
ty health officer, said the
State Welfare Board has
agreed to raise its share by so
cents per day on January /.
bringing the total to $4.35. But,
he adds:
This will be case of too
little and too late. The State
Of Virginia, known to be a less
wealthy State than Maryland.
provides approximately IS per
day for such cases, and is said
to be planning to increase the
amount"
Delegate Margaret Schwein-
haut believes a supplemental
payment of 81 per day by the
county would go far toward
solving the problem.
THE forthcoming $4.35 per
patient per day State grant Is
inadequate In an area of high
living costs such as Montgom-
cry County" she says" l
: believe the time has come for
our county to face up to its
RESPONSIBILITIES