72D CONGRESS 1st Session } SENATE { REPORT ADMISSION OF PAY PATIENTS TO CONTAGIOUS-DISEASE WARD OF GALLINGER MUNICIPAL HOSPITAL JANUARY 7 (calendar day, JANUARY 11), 1932.-Ordered to be printed Mr. CAPPER, from the Committee on the District of Columbia, submitted the following REPORT [To accompany S. 1769] The Committee on the District of Columbia, to whom was referred the bill (S. 1769) to authorize pay patients to be admitted to the contagious-disease ward of the Gallinger Municipal Hospital, having considered the same, reports favorably thereon and recommends that the bill do pass. Laws of the District of Columbia require that persons suffering from some types of contagious diseases be removed from their places of residence if isolation is impracticable and if the health of others is placed in jeopardy. NEED FOR LEGISLATION In previous years the commissioners have contracted with certain local hospitals for the care of contagious-disease patients. Some of these persons were indigent, while others were able to pay for part or all of their hospitalization. One of the hospitals now has declined to make further contracts, and patients formerly sent to that hospital are now being admitted to the contagious-disease department of Gallinger Municipal Hospital. The quarters of this department are inadequate, and provision for erection of a suitable contagious-disease ward has been made in the District budget for the fiscal year 1933. This legislation is necessary to permit pay patients to be admitted to the proposed new ward, in view of the increasing reluctance of Washington hospitals to care for contagious-disease cases, which present a varying degree of peril to other patients of the hospitals. The District commissioners requested introduction of the bill and urged its enactment. Their communications, with a supplementary statement by the director of public welfare, are appended hereto as part of this report. The committee knows of no objections to passage and enactment of the bill. SIR: The Commissioners of the District of Columbia have the honor to inclose herewith draft of a bill entitled "A bill to authorize pay patients to be admitted to the contagious-disease ward of the Gallinger Municipal Hospital," and to request its introduction and enactment. The Budget estimates of the District of Columbia for the fiscal year beginning July 1, 1933, just submitted to Congress, contains an appropriation estimate of $250,000 for the construction of an additional ward building for contagious disease at Gallinger Municipal Hospital, with a contract authorization of $600,000. The draft of bill inclosed has been submitted to the Director of the Budget, who advises the commissioners that the proposed legislation is in accord with the financial program of the President. Very truly yours, L. H. REICHELDERFER, President, Board of Commissioners of the District of Columbia. COMMISSIONERS OF THE DISTRICT OF COlumbia, Hon. ARTHUR Capper, EXECUTIVE OFFICE, Washington, December 31, 1931. Chairman Committee on the District of Columbia, United States Senate, Washington, D. C. SIR: The Commissioners of the District of Columbia have the honor to recommend favorable action on Senate bill No. 1769, Seventy-second Congress, first session, entitled "A bill to authorize pay patients to be admitted to the con tagious-disease ward of the Gallinger Municipal Hospital," which you referred to them for report as to the merits of the bill and the propriety of its passage. This bill was introduced by you at the request of the commissioners, and the necessity for its passage is indicated in the letter of December 10, in which the draft of the bill was forwarded to you. Very truly yours, L. H. REICHELDERFER, President Board of Commissioners of the District of Columbia. Hon. ARTHUR Capper, BOARD OF PUBLIC WELFare, United States Senate, Washington, D. C. MY DEAR SENATOR CAPPER: Relative to the pending bill to authorize the admission of pay patients to the contagious-disease ward of the Gallinger Municipal Hospital, I beg to submit the following. For many years Congress appropriated money for the care of patients suffering from minor contagious diseases under contract to be made by the commissioners with the Providence Hospital and the Garfield Memorial Hospital. Some of these contagious-disease patients were indigent and some pay patients. Providence Hospital declined to enter into a contract with the commissioners for the further care of this class of patients and a temporary plan was worked out whereby the class of patients formerly sent to the Providence Hospital were, on July 1, 1931, admitted to the Gallinger Municipal Hospital. The Gallinger Hospital has, therefore, had in operation since July 1, a department for contagious diseases. This department is now housed in one of the old wooden buildings on the reservation. This department can accommodate about 61 patients. Patients suffering from measles, diphtheria, chicken pox, smallpox, erysipelas, and meningitis are generally sent to Gallinger, while cases of scarlet fever and some others are sent to the contagious-disease department at the Garfield Hospital. It will be necessary to continue the service at Garfield Hospital until a new building, properly equipped, is erected at the Gallinger Hospital. A proposed appropriation for this purpose is now pending in the 1933 Budget. It is true, therefore, that the Gallinger Municipal Hospital now admits patients to the contagious-disease ward and if the proposed bill is enacted it would be applicable immediately. Very truly yours, 72D CONGRESS 1st Session } SENATE MEMORIAL FOR WILLIAM ROBERT SMITH REPORT JANUARY 7 (calendar day, JANUARY 11), 1932.-Ordered to be printed Mr. SHEPPARD, from the Committee on Irrigation and Reclamation, submitted the following REPORT [To accompany S. 2286] The Committee on Irrigation and Reclamation, to which was referred the bill (S. 2286) authorizing the William Robert Smith Memorial Association of El Paso, Tex., to construct a memorial in honor of William Robert Smith, former Member of Congress from the sixteenth district of Texas, begs leave to report the same with the recommendation that it pass without amendment. The following letter from the Secretary of the Interior and memorandum from the Commissioner of Reclamation in reference to this bill will explain themselves: Hon. JOHN THOMAS, DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR, Chairman Committee on Irrigation and Reclamation, United States Senate. MY DEAR MR. CHAIRMAN: In compliance with your request of December 31, for a statement of views on S. 2286, which is a bill that would authorize the William Robert Smith Memorial Association of El Paso, Tex., to construct a memorial in honor of William Robert Smith, former Member of Congress from the sixteenth district of Texas, I transmit herewith a memorandum on the subject that has been submitted by the Commissioner of Reclamation. After a review of the proposed measure, I agree with the commissioner. Sincerely yours, RAY LYMAN WILBUR, Secretary. DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR, Memorandum for the Secretary. The attached letter of December 31 from Hon. John Thomas, chairman Committee on Irrigation and Reclamation, United States Senate, requests a statement of views on proposed legislation entitled "A bill authorizing the |