Dr. Ira I. Kaplan, director of the cancer division of the New York Department of hospitals, who returned recently from a visit to Palestine, said yesterday that the medical accomplishments in the Holy Land are astounding in spite of the continuous influx of immigrants, the prevailing superstitions regarding scientific treatment, and the lack of sanitation in the old sections of the cities. Dr. Kaplan addressed the national board of Hadassah, the Women’s Zionist Organization of America, at a tea at the home of Mrs. Herman Shul-man, 315 Central Park West.
He referred to the low maternal death rate in the Hadassah hospital in Palestine, declaring that the rate of 3.8 per 1,000 cases indicates remarkable pre-natal control and careful work on the part of midwives and doctors who due to lack of hospital space, must often work in the homes.
Describing the Hadassah-Roth-schild Hospital building in Jerusalem as “ancient,” Dr. Kaplan said the work it is accomplishing is amazing.
“NEW DEAL” IN ZION
“The hospital is long outmoded,” he said. “It is far too small, it lacks most of the modern equipment which in this country is accepted as a matter of course. It lacks the newest methods of sterilization which are available in our hospitals here; it has no ambulance. Unquestionably Jerusalem needs a new, large modern equipped hospital without delay, and the construction of the Hadassah-University Hospital ought to be begun immediately.”
Dr. Kaplan said that the two most striking facts in Palestine today are the building activity everywhere and the atmosphere of contentment among the people. He noted that the children are happy and independent. He summed up present conditions of the country as a “new deal,” with capacity employment, industrial and agricultural activity and a populace busy and satisfied.
Other guests at the tea were Mrs. Kaplan, Mrs. B. David Kaplan, Mrs. Rive K. Weinstein, Dr. and Mrs. Israel S. Wechsler, Miss Amelia Greenwald, Dr. M. Rachmilewitz, head of the medical clinic of the Hadassah-Rothschild Hospital in Jerusalem, and Mrs Rachmilewitz.
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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.
