Show DOES RICHFIELD WANT A HOSPITAL 7 by dr J G for many months now the question of building a hospital in richfield to serve the people of this city and surrounding rouil rounding ding towns and counties who are arc without adequate hospital facilities lias has been discussed and from time to time considerable enthusiasm has developed for such a hospital economic conditions due to crop failures and so forth combined with an apathy due to failure of the people to properly understand the need for and benefit of such a hospital has delayed this undertaking preliminary work has been done by various committees for many months and we can report the following progress we have definite assurance that the I 1 church of jesus christ of latter day saints will contribute one half of the total amount necessary to build and equip this hospital we also have their assurance that if ve ue take advantage of the opportunity now applications for similar hospitals by several communities in the north end of our county and neighboring courties counties will be denied denied in our favor fa vor this means however that we must decide now whether we want to take advantage of this offer and get our hospital or whether we want to see it put in some gome not far distant city that is more progressive and more alert to her opportunities port unities than we are arc on our part half of the money required to build the hospital will have to bo be raised by subscription in the communities of our county and those counties south and east cast of us who will urill be benefited by the hospital the amount necessary to be raised is approximately this with aith the contribution from the church which will build a hospital sufficient to meet our needs for many years in the future it might be considered that this is a rather large amount to ask for a hospital but it must be considered that much is demanded of the modern modem hospital there are few people who have not had opportunity port unity to visit the large city hospitals costing hundreds of thousands of dollars and while we cannot hope to duplicate them we can hope to furnish nish the essentials of modern modem equipment such as xray x ray sterilizing plant electrical treatments adequate number of beds operating room necessities si and comfortable quarters not only for patients but for the nursing staff of course all of these things which we have come to demand of a ho hospital pi costs money anoney there was a time perhaps when a hospital might be built as a productive investment and as such would be attractive from an investing standpoint it might be con considered si dered that the doctors should build a hospital from this standpoint but the expense of building a hospital and the cost of operation is such that profit cannot be made out of any schedule of fees that any hospital patient would be willing to pay the establishment oi of a hospital is primarily a duty of the community gerred likewise it must be recognized that the provision of a hospital is not a personal gift to the medical profession in a pecuniary way the medical profession profits in no wise from the existence of a hospital it is curious how people often think otherwise and apparently believe that when they build a hospital they are making a gift to the physicians of the community the hospital is no more a gift to the physicians than is the court house to the legal profession court houses ard are built in order that pe personal anal property rights of men may be protected by proper legal processes Is it not equally worth while to pm provide vide facilities for the protection of the health and lives of mena men the hospital is ig no more a gift to the physicians than are public school buildings to the teacher school buildings court houses and hospitals are primarily for the service of the people that teachers lawyers and physicians can more efficiently serve the people in such institutions is obvious and results in an advantage to the communities the physician can take care of sickness in the home make his visits and perform such services vices as the limited facilities provide he makes his charge for these services and would world make similar charge no more or no less for his services to a patient in a hospital but how much better care the patient could receive in the hospital the court houses and school buildings are old institutions and the necessity of providing fortham for fork them by public funds has long been recognized the hospital is the outgrowth largely of a new and scientific medicine its necessity and its importance to the community must likewise become generally recognized if proper character of medical service is required in any community adequate facilities must be offered to attract proper medical talent to a place where it can render the service to which it has been educated in this way and in this way alone can rural counties solve the problem of their adequate medical service we hear much discussion today on the lack of general practitioners and particularly on the shortage of physicians in rural communities but could we expect otherwise A generation ago the physician of even a small community could make a respectable spec table living annually in the treatment of diseases typhoid malaria and the summer alone kept one pretty busy through a considerable sid erable part of a year and his horse and buggy for transportation with his own limited senses for diagnosis and a saddle bag of medicine for treatment were his complete equipment often he guessed and guessed well for his training and nothing more was expected now he must be equipped with at least the essentials of a laboratory must cover a larger territory in an automobile must most have the aid of a nurse in severe illness and finally must refer a large and perhaps tho the most valuable part of his business to a specialist better equipped or to a hospital where facilities are at hand Is it surprising that the modem man trained to modern ideas looks elsewhere the community of the future that expects modern modem medical service must expect to furnish the essential necessities for such services the laboratory the hospital and the opportunity for cooperation become henceforth the prime problems of medical practice these are offered in larger centers though even here not entirely adequate land and in some more progressive gres sive communities the need is be ing forseen county or local hospitals ta IS are becoming more numerous year by year but they must become practically universal |