Group hospital insurance in New York City under the auspices of the United Hospital Fund was advocated last night by Dr. Louis I. Dublin, third vice-president and statistician of the Metropolitan Life Insurance Company, who spoke at the annual meeting of the Hospital for Joint Diseases, 1919 Madison avenue.
Explaining that the development of such insurance would benefit hospitals, physicians and the general public, Dr. Dublin declared, “Through the payment of small premiums wage earners and salaried workers can afford, they will be relieved of the financial embarrassments which usually follow hospitalization. The plar should at the same time make available to the hospitals large sums of money which they do not now receive.”
He emphasized the importance of bringing the hospital and its clinics closer to the preventive health agencies of the community. “It is entirely logical,” Dr. Dublin continued, “to envisage the hospital as the health center through which all of the local health agencies, both public and private, shall function.” He explained that much will depend upon the action of the city administration in this matter.
$187,000 FREE SERVICE
Louis F. Rothschild, for twenty-seven years treasurer of the hospital, in his annual report declared, “It costs 1,700 a day to run the Hospital for Joint Diseases, or $70 an hour for every hour of the 365 days of the year.” The hospital’s property and investments represent about $4,500,000, he said. In 1933 all the hospital’s activities cost $622,000. Patients and the city administration paid the hospital $435,000; the balance of $187,000 represent the amount of free service.
Frederick Brown, president of the hospital, reported that “more than 5,000 patients received 110,000 hospital days care, and 91,000 days were given in the wards to patients is poor circumstances, the equivalent of eighty-two per cent. In the out-patient department, the entire service is for poor people, and there 26,000 patients received 191,000 visits.”
The following directors were reelected at the meeting: William Blau, Frederick Brown, Joseph C. Klein, Harry C. Oppenheimer, Harris L. Rosenthal, Louis F. Rothschild, Frederick H. Schloss, William A. Schutz, Franklin Simon and Emanuel Weill.
Help ensure Jewish news remains accessible to all. Your donation to the Jewish Telegraphic Agency powers the trusted journalism that has connected Jewish communities worldwide for more than 100 years. With your help, JTA can continue to deliver vital news and insights. Donate today.
The Archive of the Jewish Telegraphic Agency includes articles published from 1923 to 2008. Archive stories reflect the journalistic standards and practices of the time they were published.
