Medical facilities in some displaced persons centers, particularly those in Frankfurt and Munich, are inadequate to care for both the displaced Jews and the newly-arriving “infiltrees,” Dr. William Schmidt of New York, a Joint Distribution Committee medical officer, said here today.
Dr. Schmidt, who is concluding a tour of Jewish DP centers and Jewish communities in the American zone, where he was studying health needs, stressed that although medical facilities in general are adequate for the displaced Jews and those living in communities in German cities, the constant influx of refugees from Eastern Europe is threatening to swamp the hospitals and dispensaries.
The J.D.C. will expand its medical services in order to supplement the services now being administered by UNRRA, which provides the largest share of medical services, Dr. Schmidt revealed.
This correspondent, in the company of Dr. Schmidt, inspected the Berlin Jewish community’s hospital. Of the 270 patients there, 60 of them were suffering from heart ailments. Heart diseases affect the greatest number of patients at this hospital with tuberculosis running a close second. At present the Victims of Fascism Committee is conducting a medical survey among the Jewish residents of this city in order to discover the state of health of the Jews and to provide treatment wherever necessary.
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.
