, 1962-08-27
LEGISLATIVE RECORD
Continued

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that you cannot move a body or touch a person hardly
without being liable to a lawsuit. Inc government IS res
ponslDIe, Mr.. Chairman. And we as legislators repre-.
senting the people are also IN an advisory capacity 70 au,
wise the Governor and the Administrator ABOUT Waat
is happening, to correct those situations-people come
to US about them. And | think, Mr.. Chairman, besides
correcting the private practice OF doctors IN the hospital
because many times a doctor is doing his private bust
ness when he should be in the hospital provide a rest
room; if there is no case at the moment, no work for him
to do let him lie on a couch, lounge around in a rest
room and wait until he is needed. I've had the experience
Mr.. Chairman, Of taking two or three people who were
seriously i'll to the hospital. / have opened doors, which
they told me / had no right to do; pulled out s%tretchers
out Of cars and ambulances and lifting up a Wounded~Wo'
man with five stab wounds in her body. And ] was told
by the nurses not to do this or that, because the stretcher
did not belong there, it belonged to the operating room,
used the wrong one. had to take care OF that woman
myself before a doctor could get to the hospital. Former
Senator Rhymer Weymouth Rhymer) was present al
another time when there were five people involved in
an accident on the South-Side Road. Senator Gomez was
also present when we took them in there and put them
on different beds. They told us we were dirtying the
sheets and we had no right to put them there. Senator
Rhymer was hopping the floor which was covered with
water and blood, and they told him to get out OF the
place.
And1 have been trying my utmost to see If can get
some support to correct this situation. We are not against
Tie aoctors, Dut right is right. They are out on. private
practice when they are supposed to be in the hospital
on duty, And Wnen you 60 there and ask to see the doc
tor, he is out. So you ask the nurse who is the doctor
on duty. You tell her that you have your own car and
you'll 90 and get him. But she lets YOU know that she's
not supposed to tell you that. Then she'll call and the
doctor will ask her what's wrong with the patient. And
he'll give her instructions on the phone and tell her to
tell yout come back in the morning at 800 o'clock.
had a case Of woman who fell out of a bus. took
her to the hospital; it happened to be a Friday, and she
was told to come back on Monday. They said that due to
mechanical difficulties the X-Ray couldn't work. | took
il upon myself to put on a splint q happened to know a
little frst-aid from my service in the Merchant Marine)
and from Friday, five days passed before they took X
Ray pictures of her hand. And the arm was broken at
the elbow. 1t was painful to reset that, and as a matter
%oifact, the woman happened to be pregnant at the time,
Two months before she would deliver her child.
Those are cases, Mr.. Chairman, that have hit me
very seriously. And l think that even though many PEG.
pie try to get you scared by saying, Reese, if you raise
too much cain, or Senator Maduro if you raise too much
cain, remember we have only one hospital, you may have