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T average patient in B.C. pays
_ More for hospital care than
Patients anywhere else in Canada

or the United States, except: for
California.

_ This was recently revealed by
the B.C. Hospital Insurance Ser-
Nice. In fact, Premier W. A. C.
Bennett based his plan for financ-
ing -hospital care through an in-

A ftease in the sales tax on this in-

crease in hospital costs. He point-
ed out that the cost of the hos-
Pital plan would be going up by
$5 million or 20 percent in the
Coming year.

: Bennett Save as the causes of
Mcreased hospital costs rising
Wages and shorter working hours,
longer average stays by patients,
8nd the fact that “more and bet-
Services are provided and
Costlier facilities, equipment and
“Tugs are required.”

But, as one of the premier’s

— OWn :

ae backbenchers pointed out,
ee basic reasons for high costs
4V lie elsewhere, Alex Mat-
ate (SC, Vancouver Centre) sug-
Sted that the rates may be high

_ Cause of waste and inefficiency

Sur hospi
befor Pitals, and urged that

of »,.ScraPpping the old system
* hospital finance, a ‘survey of

hospital costs should’ be under-
taken,

f

Mier Bennett ignored this
Similar requests. He com-
Y scrapped the old method
a Substituted a new one, which
He the surface may appear to
ie efit the low and middle-
run ve, family, but in the long
2 will actually result in high-
Costs to all citizens.

Pre
and

( i : f
n> stead of taking his rash,
~onceived step, Bennett had
ee Mattthew’s advice, he cer-
fro Y Would have found, judging
€ situation at Vancouver
ee: Hospital, that the in-
might § costs of hospital care
é be eliminated by a policy
of €ncouraging the development
a community hospitals
Ughout Metropolitan Vancou-
‘ and the province as a whole,
Over it more careful supervision
Cieg | SPital administration poli-

Ver

Th
day
er {
th

© cost per bed per patient
at Vancouver General is high-
é €n in any other hospital of

Same or comparable size in

bate. The following table,
hai On information for 1952,
WS this clearly:

——— Hospitar

ry,
oa) ~*RCouver General

Biivsc: ey
pe cnly of Alberta Hospital ..
~'nipeg General

ae 8 Civigwn cae

et

costs are high

Not only does Vancouver Gen-
eral cost more to operate per
patient, but the cost of adding
new beds to the hospital is higher
than if the comparable number
of beds were constructed in sep-
arate hospitals. ' “ab

example, a few years )
Be oie given to construct a
500-bed addition to Vancouver
General at an estimated cost of
$9 million ,or $18,000 a bed. The
same number of beds in a new
hospital at another site could
easily be built, it is estimated by

hospital and construction experts, °

st. of $7,500 to $10,000 a

Sa ‘Thus, twice as many beds

could be constructed for the same
amount of public money. :

€ ic reason that costs are

eee Vancouver General,

- poth in terms of operating costs

and costs of adding new beds, is
that the hospital is too large.

It is generally agreed upon by
specialists and authorities in the
field of hospital administration
and medical care that the opti-
mum, economic size for an acute
general hospital is between 500-

ds.
Be figure has been reached
, by a number of widely separated
groups of authorities, entirely in-
dependently, including the Cana-
dian Hospital Council, U.S. Com-
mission on Hospital Care and the
olm Commission.
paar hospitals find it diffi-
cult to provide the variety of
services needed for a high qual-
ity of care at a reasonable cost.
On the other hand, larger hos-
pitals meet with rapidly mount-
ing construction and operating
ts. j
proponents of further expan-
sion of Vancouver General argue
that it must provide special ser-
vices and also serve aS a teach-

' Cost per bed

Beds per patient day
pcm a 1,075 . $13.75
eer : 525 11.72
ES ee 786 10.19
pee 820 11.37
1,439 12.70

i

ing and training centre for doc-
tors.. But the fact is that Van-
couver General is already of ade-
quate size to provide these ser-
vices. ;

What is needed is a policy of
hospital decentralization through-
out the metropolitan area and the
province as a whole. Instead of
expanding Vancouver General
further, small community hos-
pitals for both acute and chronic

care should be constructed in’

each area of the city.

This was the policy advocated
by the groups which fought the
500-bed addition to Vancouver
General a few years ago. These
groups included the Vancouver

WT EE LE eet

and practitioners,

Medical Association and the
Health Division of Vancouver
Board of Trade.

)

Provision of small community
hospitals would result in in-
numerable benefits to the medi-
cal profession, ‘to acute and
chronic patients, and ultimately,
to taxpayers.

Location of small hospitals in
various areas throughout the’ city,
say in Hastings East, the Marpole-
Fraser district and . University-
Point Grey area, would be a con-
venience for doctors and for
patients.  Distanees ‘travelled’ by
ambulances would be decreased
and the travelling time of faniily
visitors considerably diminished.

From the standpoint of the in-

_ dividual doctors, most’ of whose’

offices are located in ‘the various
city districts; they would be clos-
er to their patients if hospitals
were located in their immediate
vicinity. i
Construction of small commun-
ity hospitals would tend to re-
vitalize the role of the general
practitioner in medicine. The

general practitioner is now geén-.

erally excluded from Vancouver
General’ with its emphasis on
medical specialties. As a result,
he is unable to follow his
patient’s progress through his
stay at hospital, and he does not
have the opportunity to benefit
from ward rounds, ease reports,
and other benefits which accrue
to those associated with a hos-
pital. :

A system of smaller, commun-

‘ity hospitals could, with the co-

operation of medical educators
become a
means for raising the whole level
of medical practise in this prov-
ince. Certainly there would be
less opportunity for favoritism
and discrimination in hospital ap-
pointments and in allocation of
hospital beds.

Small, community — hospitals
should not only be constructed to
accommodate acute patients, but
some hospitals should also be
provided to handle the chronical-
ly ill as well.

One of the major obstacles, to-
day, to the rapid. turnover of
patients in Vancouver General so
that acute cases may be immedi-
ately admitted and treated, is that
many of the needed beds are
taken up by patients. suffering
from chronie illness or who re-
quire long periods of convales-
cent care.

Small hospitals for -ehronic
patients can be constructed for
about $3,000 a bed, and are much
easier to operate. They would re-
lieve the congestion now experi-
enced at our overcrowded acute ©
hospitals, and at the same time
fulfill the pressing need for beds
for the chronically ill. '

Related to the whole problem
of decentrizing hospital facilities
is the need for ‘a University Hos-
pital in connection with the Uni-
versity of British Columbia. .

It is claimed’ by some that ex-
pansion of Vancouver General is
necesssary in order to maintain
and strengthen it’ as a centre for
teaching and research in medi-
cine. The fact is, however, that
the most efficient way of raising .
the level of research and teaching -
in medicine would be to build a
300-400 ‘bed University Hospital. -
Cooperation between other hos- .
pitals and Vancouver General and
University Hospital ‘and UBC
Medical School would have many
advantages. 5 ty ;

In order for ‘a program of de- .
centralizing hospitals to be realiz-

ed effectively, establishment of a

Metropolitan Hospital Planning
Board is needed. Such a board
could ‘assess thé needs of each
area and select appropriate sites.

This type of agency was recom-
mended by the Vancouver Medi-
cal Association and Board of
Trade, but the recommendation
was ignored. Citizens have a right
to know why. ;

B.C. has a system of. province-
wide hospital insurance, but our
hospitals are directed and con-
trolled by private individuals.
Vancouver General was construct-
ed with public funds: three city
council members sit on its board
of directors, but it is basically —
controlied by private individuals.

Until there is public control
over our hospitals — preferably
by our municipalities — then and
then only can we hope for a de-
crease in hospital costs, and, in
general, a hospital program de-
signed to meet the needs and in-
terests of the people of this proy-
ince. ne

As the first step toward realiza-
tion of these objectives the people
should demand of the provincial
government that a survey of hos-.
pital costs, as advocated by Alex
Matthew, MLA, and several news-
gil be undertaken immediate-

In the Peoples’ Democracies

(Re of the wonders of postwar
Europe is the reconstruction
of those parts of Poland, once
German-occupied, which the West
German militarists are now plot-
ting to reconquer.

In these territories 1,500,000
houses were destroyed, nearly
7,000 factories ruined, farm live-
stock annihilated, communications
blown up, and ports blocked with
sunken shipping . ee

And today? The area is a great

workshop and granary supporting ~

7,000,000 people, nearly one-third
of Poland’s population.

Along the 310-mile sea coast
which Poland regained, a ship-
building industry vital to its trade
and economy has arisen.

Ten million acres of land have
been given to half a million
peasant families. Socialist, big-
scale farming has taken firm root.

Nearly 40 percent of the na-
tion’s wheat and 35 percent of its
potatoes are Jes there.

While snow lay on the ground
oranges were being harvested in
Hungary this winter.

Where? On the Keszthely ex-
perimental plantation beside Lake
Balaton. :

Just three years ago the first
cuttings were flown to Hungary
from Georgia.

The shrubs are grown at the
bottom of long, parallel trenches,

which can be covered over in the
winter with cane-slat covers.
These covers are dusted over with
wheat chaff as an additional pre-
caution again frost. Light is ad-
mitted to the plants through tiny
glass windows in the covers.

To help maintain the humidity
in which the orange tree likes to
grow, various plants are grown in
the spaces between the trenches.
Those being used experimentally

at present are strawberries, sorrel
and violets. ;

When the covers are opened

for the winter harvest, buds and

open flowers may also be seen on
the trees, but these produce no
fruit. The fruit comes from the
May flowers, which need 210 days
to mature. That is why Hungary’s
orange harvest falls in mid win-
ter :

When the experimenters are
satisfied, orange growing will he
developed commercially, just as
lemon growing is at present.

“ x

The health of the Hungarian
people is better than it has ever
been.

Infant mortality is half what it ©

was in 1938. and deaths from
tuberculosis, once known as “the
Hungarian disease,” are now only
one third what they were pre-war.

And indicating the more hope-
ful view of life that is held by

people, the birth rate last year
was double what it was in 1938,
*

Newest train running on the
Berlin-Prague line today is one
of the latest Hungarian diesels,
manufactured for the Czechoslo-
vak People’s government by the
Ganz plant. Passengers travel in
comfort at an average of 78 m.p.h.
in upholstered arm chairs fitted
with radio and linked by tele-
phone, with a dining car and a
reading car to meet their needs.

One or the largest bakeries in
the world and the largest in Cen-

- tral Europe is under construction

in Bratislava. It will have three
giant ovens, each. of which will
be capable of turning out 1760 -
Tbs. of bread an hour. The entire
production process will be highly
mechanized, and the bréad-inth-°
making will travel on three auto- :
matic belts from silo to oven. —
A system of control by. electric
lights, the invention of the chief
of the construction project, will
be introduced experimentally. Ac-
cording to this, it will be possible
to see at a glance the exact situa-
tion on each production line, the
temperature of the dough, which
lots of bread are already baked.
The plant will previde dark
bread for the entire city of Bratis-

‘lava, so that other smaller baker-

ies will bake white bread only.

PACIFIC TRIBUNE — APRIL 16, 1954 — PAGE 9