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About The frontier. (O'Neill City, Holt County, Neb.) 1880-1965 | View Entire Issue (Sept. 25, 1952)
Careful Planning in Modern Hospital Skilled Personnel Essential By VERNE A. PANGBORN Director, Div. of Hospitals Nebr. Dept, of Health Until recently many hospitals were designed by planning a building with a beautiful en trance and then squeezing in the services which were later found to be necessary. It has only been fairly a recent development that the many technical and highly specialized services which mod ern hospitals provide, forced a very careful planning of the ba sic hospital functions and these are then outlined in detail after which the walls are built around them. Naturally, this in volves considerable research into planning for the technical serv ices the hospital is supposed to provide and the space required in order to make such services function most effectively. Transformation of hospital serv ice in the last 1 Vz decades from a hotel-type institution to which has been added an operating room, delivery room, and a nur sery with a laboratory and x-ray stuck off in some odd corner is amazing. We have now provided a modern hospital which might be likened to a highly technical laboratory, with all the special and ordinary services required, to which is attached merely enough beds to care for those who require bed care. More and more the public mind is becoming aware of the fact that the value of the hospital lies not in the size of the building, or the num ber of beds that may be within it, or the color of the brick or the stone which has been incorpor ated into the structure, but to the technical services which are available to meet the health re quirements of the people in the area. Naturally, highly trained pro fessional personnel must be available in order to use the equipment and there must be a harmony between the build ing, its equipment, and the peo ple who operate it. This re quires planning to the high est level. Laboratory and laboratory technicians, x-ray, special diets from a modem kitchen, such di agnostic aids as electrocardio gram, basal metabolism, etc., are the rule rather than the excep tion in the modem hospital. Sometimes today modern surgery is performed by electricity rather than by the surgeon’s knife, and, in many instances, due to early diagnosis and prompt treatment, conditions which formerly re quired surgery are now being treated by medication. All this is brought about by new devel opments. new techniques, new scientific equipment and profes sional personnel properly trained to use these new devices. One look is worth a volume of description. The modem hospi tal must be seen to be appre ciated. We could write many hundreds of words describing the beauties and the functional plan ning of St. Anthony’s hospital but you would still have to actually see it in order to appreciate that of which we wrote. For in stance, in the basement is a modern power plant provided with the latest equipment to provide heat for the winter as well as high pressure steam for sterilization requirements the year around. The modern laun drv will assure that all linens will be kept clean and whole some, the kitchen will provide rot only food but also assure that the dishes will be washed and sterilize'* for the patients protection. There are also other rooms to be used as the need re quires for storage and other housekeeping pumoses. An in cinerator is available for disposal of items which should he burned. Also, von will find throughout ♦he hosnifal that the ordinarv household se^wices have been pro vided for in a most excellent manner. A hospital is unusual in that it must be equioped with items which will withstand constant usage every day of the year. Therefore, materials must be of the highest quality and be able I l l 18111111——_f1 f ~ . t XiJ Night Supt. Effie Stevens (above) demon- ner in St. Anthony's children's ward. All fix straies for the camera night-time bedside man- tures are new. to withstand the strains of constant use. It is estimated that linens re ceive each month in the hospital an equivalent of approximately three years service in the average private home. The beds and mat tresses, other hospital furnishings, are subject to similar stress. Therefore, such equipment must be not only pleasing in appear ance but of the highest quality to meet the demands of hospital yervices. In the surgical area of a med em hospital the operating and delivery rooms have been de signed to provide maximum safety to both the staff and the patient. It appears that the gas anesthesia safest from a stand point of an anesthetic might also be most susceptible to explosion from static electricity. There fore, the floors are conductive in order to eliminate static elec tricity from the personnel and from the equipment used, providing the personnel do not wear shoes and clothing that insulate them from the floor. The surgical suites have separate ventilation and air con ditioning systems. Electric switches are either explosion proof or placed outside of the “hazardous area.” All this is pro vided in order to assure the safest area possible for the patient, and the professional staff. The nursery is protected by having its own work rooms for the infants and having its own ventilation system. Thus, new born infants are assured of free dom from any cross-infection which might be air borne. Equip ment furnished for their care is of the latest in design and of the finest quality. Many surmcal instruments and similar items used by the physicians, are available as re quired by patients' needs All such items are of the finest quality known to present medi cal practice. So much of the work of the hospital is done by the nurse that great care is given in selecting the necessary nursing items. It has been proven that the quality of such items is reflected not only in their longevity of use but also in the ease with which they may be usd. Thus, It is not only a matter of convenience to the nurse but a matter of economics +hat enters into the selection o* hospital eauipment. Stainless steel is used wherever possible since it will not chip, is easy to clean, and has a pleasing appearance. Eauipment is available in the hospital for cleaning and disin fecting the bedpans after each use as a matter of nursing con venience and the protection for the individual patient. Equip ment is also available to steri lize such eauipment in between patients so that when a new pa tient enters a hospital they mav be assured that the ultimate is available for their protection. Not only protection, but also oatients’ comfort and convenience is emphasized. Linens, blankets, room finish, mattresses—all de signed to make a comfortable and pleasing impression upon the hos pital guest. Many other items are available and they should be seen in order to be appreciated. St. An- • thony’s hospital is constructed and equipped to provide a most modern health service to O’Neill and the Holt county area. The ex cellence of the building and its equipment phis the care and man agement of the Sisters of St. Francis and his professional staff available to serve you assures the people of this section of Nebras ka the very best in health pro tection. By any test, St. Anthony’s hospital is a source of pride to the entire state of Nebraska as well as O’Neill and, we are sure, will grow in service to suffering humanity through many years to come. " ■' i — i —i ———■# The Frontier is Holt county’s oldest business establishment. Host of Activities Swell Hospital Fund A host of activities of every type—including benefit dinners, dances, parties, auctions of base balls to bedsteads — helped to swell the St. Anthony’s hospital building fund. In fact, it can almost be said there was a benefit of some description every time you turn ed around for a period of a good many weeks. All of these activities and the spirit that pervaded them were a real indication of unity. It was the kind of spirit that penetrated well beyond the stage of well-wishing and entered into the realm of cooperative action. It was really the giving of themselves, their time and talents that distinguished so many loyal boosters of the hospital as much as it was the giving of their pos sessions. In June, 1949, 60-thousand dollars had come in by solicita tion and subscription. It was agreed that at least 100-thousand dollars had to be raised by this method. Interest mounted and a “thermometer” erected in the center of the city chartered the progress. It is now a pleasant memory to many to recall the slow but inexorable rise of the “mercury”. The Catholic Daughters, for example, boosted the “tempera ture” by $900 with a box social and dance at the American Le gion auditorium. They then fol lowed with another sizeable check which was developed from a downtown promotion. It wasn’t long before more organizations got behind the drive with money-raising plans of every kind. Simonson post 93 of the Amer ican Legion promptly posted a $1,000 check. Eden Rebekah lodge and the Girl Scouts quick ly followed suit with substantial gifts for organizations of their size and the community - wide push had caught afire. By July, 1949, less than 23 thousand-dollars was needed be fore actual construction opera tions could begin. Then followed livestock auctions, glass jar col lections, bingo games, all-star baseball games, selling of auto graphed baseballs and footballs, food sales and outdoor dancing. The Legion’s fall festival that year netted $2,000, a magnificent “shot-in-the-arm”, if you please! Finally on October 6, 1949, the “mercury” hit the $100,000 mark and the push had been ' successfully completed. 1 to | St. Anthony’s Hospital | “ _ —.. . -- from - i TRI-STATE PRl I )UCE TRI-STATE HATCHERY TRI-STATE TURKEY FARM , i ■ <►#