Salt Lake Tribune | 1917-09-17 | Page 2 | Nineteen Cities to Get Hospitals

NINETEEN CITIES TO GET HOSPITALS United States Will Rehabilitate Rehabil-itate Wounded Soldiers Returning From Front, t " WASHINGTON, Sept. 16. Sites have been chosen tentatively in nineteen cities for the great "reconstruction"' hospitals in which the United States will begin the work of rehabilitating for private Ufe its soldiers who return wounded from the front in Europe.' The cities, selected as the largest centers of population, were announced an-nounced tonight by Major General Gor-gas, Gor-gas, surgeon-general of the army, as follows: fol-lows: Boston, New York. Philadelphia, Baltimore, Washington, Buffalb, Cincinnati. Cincin-nati. Chicago, St. Paul, Seattle, San Francisco, Los Angeles, Denver, Kansas City, St. Louis, Memphis, Richmond, Atlanta At-lanta and New Orleans. The hospitals at Boston, New York. Washington and Chicago probably will be the first built. They will have 500 beds, with provision for doubling their capac-; ity if necessary. "The whole conception of governmental and national r&sponsibility for caring for the wounded," said General Gorgas in maklhg the announcement, "has undergone under-gone radical change during the months of study given the subject by experts serving with the medical officers' reserve Corps ana uwiers cunsuning wiLii mem. Instead of the old idea that responsibility ended with the return of the soldier to private, life with his wounds healed and such pension as he might be given, it is now considered that It is the duty of the government to equip and re-educate the wounded man, after healing his wounds, and to return him to civil life ready to be as useful to himself and his country as possible. "When the soldiers are able to take up industrial training, further provision will be ready. The injured man may be retrained to his previous occupation to conform with his handicapped condition or retrained for a new industry compatible compati-ble with the condition. Additional education edu-cation will be given to those fitted for It, and men may in some cases be returned to more valuable work than that from which they were called to war. Workshops Work-shops will be provided at the hospitals, but arrangements will also be made with outside industries whereby more elaborate methods of training may be carried un. "Orthopedic (prevention of deformity) surgeons will be attached to the medical force near the firing line and to the different dif-ferent hospitals back to the base orthopedic ortho-pedic hospital, which will be established within 100 miles of the firing line. In this hospital, in addition to orthopedic surgical care, there will be equipment for surgical reconstruction work and 'cura-i 'cura-i tive workshops' in which men will acquire ac-quire ability to use injured members while doing work interesting and useful in itself. "It is not the Intention that men able to go back to the firing line shall be returned to this country unless their convalescence con-valescence will extend jjver a period of a considerable number 01 months. Soldiers unable to return to duty will be sent to the reconstruction hospitals In the United States."