Milford chronicle., 1963-06-07
Your Hospital
(by your hospital rsporter)

To date this column has been
devoted primarily to discussion
of nursing education, personal
qualifications of students, etc.
This week instead of talking
about personnel, 1t seems fitting
to devote this space to some dis
cussion Of hospital equipment.
The hospital, like any other
business or industry, and the
hospital is the fifth largest in
dustry In the United States,
must constantly keep abreast Of
the times In its physical plant
and equipment. In many cases,
this Is an even greater problem
In the hospital because 1t is a
non-profit organization and funds
are definitely limited. In adj
dition, its problems are greater
than some other industries be-
cause, though chronological
changes In all industry are great
today, this Is more acutely true
In medical science and related
fields. When another business
considers the purchase of more
up-to-date equipment, 1t has the
privilege Of deciding for or
against the purchase based upon
the economic advantage of the
change. This Is not true in the
hospital. Many times a piece Of
vital equipment must be purchas-
ed that may never be used but,
because Of its life saving ability,
must be available II the hospital
Is to do the maximum possible
for the benefit Of the commun-
|ity. An excellent example of this
Is the Pacemaker machine, which
is used In cases of cardiac
arrest. Many hospitals have spent
large sums of money for equip
ment Of this type only to have It
kept readily accessible in the
hospital without being put to use
at all, or only used on rare
occasions. Needless to say, Il
is impossible to debate whether
this item should or should not
be bought on the basis Of its
ultimate value, because IL 1t saves
one life, II Is worth its cost,
regardless of how high that cost
might be.
Hospital equipment, unlike
some other forms Of equipment
sometimes seems unusually ex-
pensive. This Is frequently the
result of the lack Of ability tc
manufacture many Of these items
on a production line basis be-
cause of the limited number OF
them needed throughout the coun-
try In any given year. In addition
much hospital equipment IS high
ly specialized In its fabrication
and should be manufactured with
stainless steel and other expen-
sfve materials.
Did you know, for example,
that the electric Inflow beds that
are being used at the Milforc
Memorial Hospital cost approx
|imately 1925? This Is only one
item In room full Of furniture
The bed In one's home Is cer-
tainly nowhere near this costly
but hospital beds perform specia.
functions and must be far more
flexible than an ordinary bed
The cost to furnish a semi
Iprivate room today, with beds o
this type, Is approximately $1,000
An operating room table, whicl
may be used only a few hours :
day may be between $4,000 ant
$4,000, depending upon the at.
tachments that are included a
time Of purchase. Because o
the chronological changes, o.
perhaps the addition Of surgica
procedure which had not form.
erly been done in the area, thi
table may become completed,
obsolete In three to five years
A set Of instruments for gen
eral surgical cases costs $500
These costly items are no
limited to the medical side O
hospital care. The trucks needle,
to serve food to the patients a
their bedside cost the hospita
approximately $500 each, an
six Of these are needed to serv
the patients. Ice machines, stain
less steel drug cabinets, main
tenance equipment, laundr
equipment, floor scrubbers, etc
make up only a very small par
, of the equipment needs Of hos
pital to function efficiently on
day-to-day basis. The overall
, list, II reviewed at one time
, would be overwhelming. II a hos
pital Is to continue to rende
optimum patient care to the com
munity, all Of these items mus
be constantly replaced.
The next question Is where tn
money come from, and this is
constantly perplexing probler
among those responsible for tn
operation Of a hospital. Some {
the equipment replacement
: done from the general operatin
l funds but, II this were the onl
source OF funds for this purpose