Fcbruoty 20, 1937
ГНЕ
STATE
Роде
Seven
Caring for the Tubercular
DESPITE everything l ha I ban
boon dune to tako caro of vie-
tinis of tuberculosis, there
are hundreds of patients un-
able to obtain ado«|uate care
in combatting the disease.
H4 JOHN >1. C.IHSON
A
ГНПГ011
IT <• f North Caro¬
lina's 100 counties
во»
provide
bed. for a total of nearly
ЫН
mli'iii patient" in county
ЙГГ
of providing adequate csre
sands of tubereufom sufferers who ran
not be accommodated at Male-support¬
ed institution" ami who arc unable,
because of I lie neprnre, to rntrr the
numerous excellent private «anntorio
to be found hero and there in tlic state,
i- still far from being "olvod. The
fact (bat 83 counties have no county-
supported institution» of this kind in¬
dicates that the overwhelming ma¬
jority of the people of North Carolina
arc still dependent for a chance to re¬
cover their health after developing tu-
lwreolo.it upon the
Ш
beds available
at the North Carolina Sanatorium,
■bore facilities, it
все.)
hardly he added,
are bopelesdr inadequate to meet the
demand" made upon them.
Only Slight Relief in Sight
Nor will the situation be materially
relieved bv the opening of the new
Western North Carolina Sanatorium,
now slowly coming into being in the
mountains of Buncombe County, and
the completion of thn now wing at the
present colored division, nl»o under con¬
struction The 330 additional beds
which these two new unite will make
available will fall far short of caring
for those on the long waiting list, some
of whom bar* been figuratively knock¬
ing at tbe doors of the present North
Carolina Sanatorium for eight or nine
month, and begging for a chance at
the health giving f.eilitire it provide
Carefully conducted survey» cover¬
ing many part" of the country show
•hat there arc from eight to ten active
e«*c« of tulwreulosi" for every annual
tuberculosis death. TWi.
there are probably letween I *>.000
30.000 tubereuWas North Car
at the prereat time. Yrt the beds in
all the state and county sanatoria num¬
ber W. lhaa 1.300.
Generally speaking. North Carolina’s
tuberculosis-control program is
program
on tbe assumption that tho
bility of providing ■anntorinrn care for
those unprepared financially to pay the
rates which private sanatoria are
obliged to charge mti.l 1“’ shouldered
jointly by the State a- n whole and by
the individual countie". Doth the pres¬
ent North Carolina Sanatorium and
the new Western North Carolina Sana¬
torium are equipped primarily to treat
there patient, requiring "peeial pro¬
cedures. such a. artificial
and other surgical measures. The task
of providing bed* for those requiring
ouly prolonged bed re*, rsther than
the special procedures already men¬
tioned. i. regarded at essentially that
of the individual counties.
Because of the long waiting list nt
the North Carolina Sanatorium, many
BEDS ARE PROVIDED
County sanatoria
ie the fob
lowing 17 counties provide tho
number of bedi indicated:
Buncombe. <0
Wilkes, 10
Catawba, 60
Davie. 8
Mecklenburg. 160
Stanly. 4
Guilford. 125
Durham. 36
Vance. 14
Wake. 50
Columbus, 16
Nash, 20
New Hanover. 36
Forsvth. 140
Edgecombe. 28
Halifax, 20
Johnston. 16
ing «be mouth, that mu.t intervene be¬
tween diagnoti. and admission. In a
pathetically Urge number of raw*, this
period of waiting mean, the lots of
their chance to regain thrir health-
in other word., death
Aid in the Cause of Health
County sanatoria not only aorve
those needing treatment by providing
it nt small cost or no cost at all but
also materially aid the enure of health
generally by segregating "open" cares
ami preventing the spread of tho dis¬
co». Inasmuch a< a large (rerrentagr
of thore having tnberculo.i»
o’, di
charge upon the i
■»y
breaking of this viriou. chain of infec¬
tion is a wire step econoit
а»
an act of the higlic.t
ifm. Anything that prevents dire.se
and the heavy economic lore it involves
is good economies, from whatever angle
wajiderfd.
Patients thus eliminated ns health
menace to oilier., by admission to coun¬
ty sanatoria are vet dme enough to
their friends and families to permit
frequent visits, which lend to innintnin
morale and aid recovery.
Whenever pos.ihle, a county should
build and maintain a modern county
with a full-time tuberec-
speeiali.t in charge a. superin-
and similar in every respect,
in sire, to thore maiataioed by
Mecklenburg. Guilford and
Forsyth now
та
lions. Whenever
а
provide such faeilitirs but is deterred
by the expense, it may join forces with
a neighboring county and provide a
joint sanatorium for the residents of
the two counties. If neither of these
plan, is feasible, the county should
vote funds for tbe construction and
maintenance of a smaller sanatorium,
to be operated in connection with the
county home, if
песемагу,
and provid¬
ing beds for both white and colered
patients. Such a sanatorium should
have the service, on at lea.t a part-
time basis of a capable phrsieian skilled
in the treatment of this disease. Sane
toria operated in «mirertion with eoun-
ty homes may be maintained at smaller
expense than otberwire, since many of
the required faeilitie., including ad
ministration, the preparation and ate-v-
(Continued on page rirteen)
ssi