Annual report of the Peter Bent Brigham Hospital : 1939.

  • Peter Bent Brigham Hospital.
Date:
1940
Catalogue details

Licence: Public Domain Mark

Credit: Annual report of the Peter Bent Brigham Hospital : 1939. Source: Wellcome Collection.

    25/120 (page 19)
    After deliberate consideration, a departure from tradi¬ tion was made by permitting the Superintendent of Nurses to reside off the Hospital property. The addi¬ tional cost was balanced by rearranging Miss Beal’s apartment to accommodate three graduate nurses who previously had been paid for living out. This new ar¬ rangement has worked out satisfactorily. A second break in tradition was the substitution of quiet private interviews for patients’ relatives in the doc¬ tors’ offices instead of the former public interviews held in the lobby. Confronted with the problem of replacing a ten-year- old ambulance, a survey was made which revealed it to be more economical to use a commercial service. Ac¬ cordingly, an arrangement was made whereby the Hos¬ pital has the services of a new ambulance. This service was operated for the first time without a loss and no patient was refused transportation because of inability to pay. During the last few years, the increasing size of de¬ livery trucks has prevented their passing under the arch between Ward A and the Administration Building, re¬ sulting in the unloading of freight in that area instead of at the receiving platform. The noise was disturbing to the patients in our private pavilion and the presence of these large trucks a constant source of irritation to staff members whose cars were parked in that space. A study showed freight could be handled through the Shattuck Street gate, and this plan was adopted. A gift from Mr. Theodore Lyman permitted improv¬ ing the clinical stenographic work. New dictating and transcribing machines have been installed and stenog¬ raphers centralized in one room. Each worker is now required to transcribe both medical and surgical cylin¬ ders which assures a steady flow of work. Administra- [19]