MAIL TRIBUNE, Medford, Oregon, Monday, July 28, 1958 5
Neuherger Appeals ffor Camp White
(Hospital Before Gilo use Committee
Editor's note: Following are ex
rerpts of statements made by Sen.
Richard L. Neuberger (D-Ore.) be
bre the house committee on vet
r0tni affairs with respect to the
Veterans Administration hospital
program and establishment of a
VA hospital at Camp White.
Mr. Chairman, the Veterans
Administration hospital pro
gram, the largest hospital pro
gram in the United States,
facts severe crisis. While
i the need for hospital facilities
and beds continues to in
crease, the Veterans Adminis
tration reflects the Adminis
tration's philosophy on econo
rzing and reducing medical
ffrt for our veterans.
Congress has provided that
(8) veteran of any war who has
&en onorable service is en
itl3 to hospitalization for a
G Jvice - connected disability,
O t4 for any other disability
& the veteran is unable to
O . fc"y the expenses of neces
sary hospital care.
lSt To Reduce Load
Let us take a specific ex
(ffcnple of what the present
Veterans Administration hos
pital program means. At the
3EA. hospital at Roseburg, Ore.,
j $!ri9 Administration plans to re-
I J&ice the average annual pa-
i Oijnt load by 60, from 630 to
q $70, for the fiscal year 1959.
&t the same time I was ad
i O ised on July 7, by the di
i ?,G rlctor of the Veterans Admin
! ' istration Congressional Liai
son Service that "as of May
31, 1958, there was a total of
65 eligible applicants await
ing admission to the Roseburg
Hospital." So while 65 eligible
applicants "wait for hospitali
zation, the Veterans Adminis
tration plans to reduce by 60
the number of hospital beds.
The Roseburg hospital is a
neuropsychiatric hospital
where hospitalization is espe
cially important. In April of
this year the Veterans Admin
istration threatened to close a
ward at the Portland Veterans
Administration Hospital, lay
off hospital personnel and
further increase the waiting
list. This was prevented from
happening by an emergency
allocation of funds which I
urged the Veterans Adminis
tration to make.
Program Being Strangled
The Veterans Administra
tion hospital program is being
slowly strangled by the admin
istration. There is a vast dif
ference between what the Bu
reau of the Budget permits the
Veterans Administration to re
quest and what the Veterans
Administration actually needs.
I would like to discuss the
need for a new Veterans Ad
ministration hospital at Ca:p
White, Ore., which is located
just outside of Medford. This
subject has been ably cover-
O
Try and Stop Me
-By BENNETT CERF-
o o
G
A TROUBLED wife told an analyst that her husband was
as sane and normal as she was herself but for one minor
detail: he thought he was a race horse! "Odd delusion," ad
mittd the analyst, "and I'm
gfraid I'll have to charge
you $10,000 to cure him.'
'"Xhat's t turn we can easily
gffcrd today," she agreed
lijhtly. "Last May, you see,
&f husband says he won
3t lontucky Derby."
Wmf excuse for staying away
4k?a York popped up in a
fcnhattan office. A long
- li?d accountant, asked to ex
plain why he hadn't shown up
au me day previous, ex
kuaed ajrfly, "Gee, Boss, it
Au Mozart's birthday, and I
it I ought to spend it with the tods!"
ITaa in midtown night club gazed appreciatively as one of those
rtraorinarily-endowed new movie queens swept majestically into
em "That girl will go far," he predicted, then added, "In fact,
gb's halfway there already
tJ 195&V by Bennett Cerf. Distributed by Xing Featucea jimuaI&
ed in detail by Congressman
Charles O. Porter.
Medford is a city of slightly
over 23,000 people. The Vet
erans Administration operates
general medical hospitals in
Portland,- Ore., and Oakland,
Calif., but there is no Veterans
Administration general medi
cal hospitals located between
these two cities. To the east
there is a Veterans Adminis
tration hospital located at
Boise, Idaho, some 400 miles
distant. Within a radius of
125 miles from Medford there
lives a population of a half
million people and the veteran
population totals almost 100,
000. Southern Oregon and
Northern California are rap
idly increasing in population,
at a rate much faster than the
national average. The Vet
erans Administration present
ly operates a 950-bed domicil
iary at Camp White, including
a 50-bed infirmary. Camp
White was built originally by
the Army in 1942-43 and pro
vided a 1,754-bed hospital.
The buildings are of brick
construction, having a useful
life expectanc of 50 years.
There are permanent build
ings at Camp White, presently
unused, which are fully equip
ped to accommodate a 400
bed hospital.
Space for 100 Beds
The 50-bed infirmary has
adequate space for a 100-bed
hospital. At the present time
the infirmary operates a lab
oratory, operating rooms, x
ray rooms and a dental clinic
at the infirmary. The infirm
ary is operated for those vet
erans at the domiciliary, and
patients are allowed to stay at
the infirmary for not more
than 30 days.
The Administrator of Vet
erans Affairs has told me that
it would not be possible to ob
tain a hospital staff if a hos
pital were established at
Camp White. I do not believe
that this is so, due to the rap
idly increasing number of phy
sicians and specialists in Jack
son county, where Camp
White is located. In 1946
there were 36 practicing doc
tors in Jackson county; in
1958 there are 73 practicing
physicians there. In 1954 there
were 18 certified specialists;
in 1958 there are 42 certified
specialists. There has been no
trouble in keeping an ade
quate medical staff at the
establishment.
The establishment of a Vet
erans Administration hospital
at Camp White has the unani
mous support of all members
of the Oregon Congressional
delegation, state officials and
civic groups within the area
it would serve. I believe that
it is also worth noting that
the manager of the domicil
iary establishment when asked
the question: "What, in your
opinion, are the most pressing
needs in your installation,"
replied that, "conversion from
a domiciliary to a center hav
ing a hospital, intermediate
beds and domiciliary activi
ties with supporting person
nel." I believe that we have dem
onstrated the need for a vet
erans hospital to be located
at Camp White. It would be
desirable at this time to estab
lish a 100-bed general medi
cal hospital at Camp White to
serve the veterans of South
ern Oregon and Northern Cali
fornia.
I IMJvMJ (1 1
DOLLAR DAYS
FINAL DAYS OF
usier Brown Clearance Sale
Just A Few More Days
Sandals or Pumps
NOT ALL SIZES
One lot 5 1.00 and $2.00
I fil l
DRESSY FLATS
In White, Red,
Blue and Black
Value $7.95
WOMEN'S CASUAL
AND FLATS
Values to $10.95
NOW
ONLY
54.90
ONE LOT
CHILDREN'S AND
BOYS' SHOES
ONLY 3.90
Value $7.95
MEN'S
SHOES
ONLY
57
uster Broun Shoe Store
Fluhref B!dg.
15 So. Central
Record Portland
Sale Reported
Portland (UPD Portlands
eight-story Lincoln building
was sold for $3,900,000 Satur
day to an investment firm
headed by two Oregon lum
bermen. It was the biggest
sale of a single piece of invest
ment property in . the city's
history.
Norris, Beggs and Simpson,
West Coast investment com
pany, said larger transactions
have been recorded but the
others involved several prop
erty units.
The Equity Management
Co., headed by Charles F. Wil
son, San Francisco and' Rob
ert B. Wilson, Portland, pur
chased the block-square build
ing. The men are officers of
the Warm Springs Lumber
company here.
The building was sold by
McCabe Company, Inc. It was
constructed in 1947-48 and is
occupied under long - term
lease by Pacific Telephone
and Telgraph Co., the Veter
ans Administration, U. S. Post
Office, General Insurance Co.
of America and the Glen
Galls Insurance Co.
Life Expectancy
Extension Seen
Los Angeles (UPD Life
expectancy in the United
States may be extended from
70 to 75 by the year 2,000,
according to Dr. Louis I. Dub
lin of the Institute of Life In
surance. Dublin based his statement
Sunday on estimates by actu
aries in government and life
insurance business. However,
he said the rate at which the
average life span has length
ened is slowing down.
Since 1900, according to
Dublin the conquest of dis
eases which primarily affect
the young has added 22 years
onto the average life expect
ancy, bringing it to 70 years.
He said the problem now
is to find ways to control dis
eases which mostly affect old
er persons.
"Although people will live
longer, man's life span will
not change materially in the
future," he said. "Nature has
apparently decreed that man,
at the most, can live to 110
years, even -with much im
proved health conditions."
Memorial Services
Planned for Airman
Edwards AFB, Calif.
(UPI) Capt. Iven Kincheloe,
a most exceptional airman
picked to carry his nation's
colors into space in the rocket
ship X15, will be honored in
memorial services here Tues
day. After that, the body of the
30-year-old Air Force officer
will be taken to Arlington
National Cemetery in the na
tion's capital for burial with
military honors.
Kincheloe died Saturday 10
miles from this Air Force test
center when his F104 Star
fighter developed trouble on
routine "test support mis
sion," spun to earth, exploded
and burst into flames.
PREMIER IN HOSPITAL
Capetown, South Africa
(UPI) Premier J. G. Strij
dom underwent routine .treat
ment for his heart ailment at
a hospital today. He has been
suffering from a heart con
dition for several years.
.The University of Illinois
Agriculture College advises
buying herd bulls on the basis
of good performance records.
The college says this will
greatly improve chances of
getting offspring that will per
mm
MAC Mi JACK
IffiSM f URRlTUgi
- . 1 "
Eme Staire S
task
1
INIHW camd U
16)
1911
HE MUST VACATE OUR BUILDING
Is
IMS
mm
IS
Buy at Wholesale and ielow
Everything Must (Go
Rugs, Appliances, Bedroom Sets,
Mattresses, Sectionals, Davenos
SALE STARTS TUESDAY "MORNING
Open Both Nites Till 8:30
ML SALES TOAl
EASY
BUDGET
TERMS
1 Block North of Big Y on Highway 99
Lots of Parking
AG & '.-JACK: Bargain Fmnronitair
1
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form welL
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