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HOW HOSPITALS
ARE CURING THEIR ILLS
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time. Some think this plan has its draw
backs "when a mother may be physically
exhausted. But the Oklahoma terminal
rooming-in plan is different. In the first
days after birth, the mother sees the child
only at feeding times, as at most hospitals.
But on the final day, she has her baby in
with her all day. '
A nurse spends the better part of an
hour orienting, the mother on baby care in
general and on her own infant's daily rou
tine. All during the day she has the oppor
tunity as does her husband to get to
know her child, and to feed, handle,,
change and otherwise care for him.
. . . :
Some hospitals have been devising bet- .
ter methods of care for sick children.
i One of the ' most heart-warming is , the
Mother's, Bank at Chicago's Children's
Memorial Hospital. The bank is composed
of volunteers most of them grand
mothers, all of them kindly and experi
' ehced Whose job it is to "mother" sick
babies, .especially those with emotional
disturbances. Each hospital "mother" is '
assigned to one baby during its entire ,
stay. She is with the child six- hours a
day, not only feeding, bathing and chang
ing it, but also holding and playing with
the baby as much as possible:
Los Angeles Children's Hospital is
meeting another problem. When a child is .
hospitalized, parents want to know what ,
is being done. If they're ignored or given
only a smattering of information, their
worry might be communicated to the
child. Leaving the problem (to doctors and
nurses isn't 'always satisfactory. Its solu
tion was to appoint Marie' Biotherton, a
nurse out of uniform, to be Director of
' Parents' Public Relations'. The hospital's
operating room supervisor for 26 years,
Miss Brotherton performs a host of valu
able functions. When a child is to have ,
an operation, she is the link between par
erits' and operating room, providing in-
formation about the surgery and enabling
the parents to be with their .child im
mediately afterward. ' ,
Perhaps the most crucial medical prob- 1
lem today is the skyrocketing cost of ,
hosp'ital care up 132 percent in eight
years, while the consumer price index
rose 37.6 percent.
. '. Dr. Lowell T. Coggeshall, assistant to
the Secretary of Health, Education and
Welfare, has suggested that what we may
need is a new concept of hospital opera
tion to include "do-it-yourself" projects
for patients to help bring down costs.
by Lawrence Galton
Intercom systems now permit patients
to tell nurse their needs, thus saving her
an extra walk from her 'desk to bed.
A start has been made with a new re
habilitation pavilion at Michael Reese
Medical Center in Chicago. Probably the
only facility ever built specifically to cut
the time and cost of rehabilitation for
convalescent patients, it is called "a bridge
on the road to recovery between the hos
pital bed and the patient's own home,"
by Dr. Robert C. Levy, staff president. "
Costs are cut by discouraging pamper
ing. Accident victims, patients recovering
from heart attacks and strokes and others
on the mend are encouraged to eat in a
community dining room. There are no
hospital beds; instead, there are day beds
that can be made up as studio couches.
Patients are expected to care for them- .
selves as much as their doctors allow. Not
only are room rates in the "do-it-yourself"
pavilion lower, but recovery periods
afe considerably shorter.
In other ways, hospitals are using new
approaches to old problems.
There's the matter of gifts, often a head
ache for relatives andjriends who puzzle
over their choices, patients who are inun-'
dated with duplications of flowers, candy
and fruit and hospital workers with ex
tra cleanup work.
'The Reading, Pa., Hospital's solution, a
happy one, is a "Guest Card" plan. The
card, sold by the hospital, reads: "Dear
1 -: This card indicates that you are
my guest in the Reading Hospital for the
day. I ; wish for you a speedy recovery.
..Sincerely, ." The donor pays for
' one or more days of hospital care, signs
the card and sends it to the patient. In
addition to simplifying gift choices, the
guest cards ease the financial burden of
hospital care without embarrassment.
Hospitals are among the most complex
of man's institutions, but a fresh approach
can help solve most problems, with bene
fit to everybody concerned.
Cafeteria-style dining for patients who
can walk replaces tray feeding, cuts
down on expenses and boosts morale.'
I I
Getting patients off.bed and on feet
soon after operations is speeded up
with a therapeutic handrail device.'
"Ho Sugar to add
to this Eagle Brand
toys Elsie, the
Bordtn Cow
Family Weekly, September 13, 1959
13
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