14
Merging the Public School and the Hospital
Minneapolis Plan Serves as a Check on Tuberculosis
"P
LEASE, doctor, can't you find something wrong
with me?' questioned a boy in tears
The test had been negative. He had been pro-
nonnced free of tuberculosa
Please, doctor, I want to stay," pleaded the boy.
The unusual request came from a pupil in Lyman
hurst. a unique institution just opened In Minneapolis,
which partakes of the function! of both school and
hospital.
I)r. F. E. Harrington, commissioner of health in
Minneapolis, explained that 1 ymanhurst is not a school,
nor is it a hospital. It represents a n Mai in the
treatment of children with tubercular tendencies, end
there isn't a word that will fit it. And ,. in Minn
eapolis, the institution goes by the name of Lymanhurst
not Lymanhurst
school, nor I. y man-
hurst hospital, but Ly
manhurst. Now, when boy
cries to stay in a hos
pital or a SCROt I -you
may conclude that it
is something out of
the ordinary. Indeed,
the Minneapolis insti
tution represents a de
parture in a good many
ways.
Numerous cities
have installed open-air
schools, though even
this improvement has
not reached hundreds
of cities and towns
throughout the land.
Preq u en 1 1 y tin m
school houe all
nic children taken
from the regular
schools. Some of these
pupils may have tuber
cular tendencies, but
others may have been
retarded by other
causes.
Nor has there been
in the usual open-air
school adequate means
of treating children af-
Aided with tuberculo
sa T i Dr Harrington
and his associates in
Minneapolis, a school
didn't seem to till the
bill. Neither would an
ordinary hospital do.
When a child is placed
in a hospital, he gets
good physical treatment, perhaps, but no schooling
His body in improved, but the development of his mind
more than likely is allowed to stop just at the period
when it should be receiving the most encouragement.
Then, t I)r. Harrington lias found that there are
a large number of children who are not actually ill. yet
are infected with tuberculosis to the extent that they are
dangerous to other pupils. To the profession, they are
known as ambulatory, open lesion cases. Excluded from
the schools, most of these boys and girls did not enter
the state or county lanatoria. In fact, parents of many
of the pupils saw no necessity for it. The children
apparently were well.
"Last spring 1 excluded 118 pupils from the schools
because they were infected sufficiently to be dangerous
to others." said 1 r Harrington.
' Now, what did these children do? Why, in most
SStai - -. th remained at home.
nd potting the boy in the usual hospital, where
ther are no classes, wouldn't be any better so far as
his mental developsnent is concerned. We were con
vince! that we must protect the child in every way. We
take him out of the regular schools, and it o rtainly
wouldn't be right to shut him up in a hospital without
a ch u re to get an education. If it is our duty to safe
guard the health of the child, likewise we must pre
vent him from becoming a vagrant "
Hence, there came to be established in Minneapolis
a hospital where boyi and girls afflicted with tubercu
losis may go to school, or a school where boys and
girls may receive the best hospital treatment. It has
X-ray roof, therapeutic lamps, and all the tinest equip
ment developed by medical science for the testing and
treatment of tuberculosis. And it has also sleeping
rooms, a kitchen, play rooms, a victrola. and all th
adjuncts of the most up-to-date schooL
No wonder these boys and k'irls hate to leave Lyman
hurst Consider a school where you are required to
sleep for two hours a day, for instance. Or a school
where you get ice cream for lunch, and where y
are required to play. There are motor buses which
call for children who live too far from the school to
w a I k .
The public health organization in Minneapolis is
novel in one respect. Dr. Harrington is at once com
missioncr of health and director of hygiene in the
schools. As supervisor of Lymanhurst. he thus
working for two bosses, the welfare board and the
school board. The two boards co-operate in running
the institution. The department of education furnishes
the teachers and provides for instruction costs, whilr
the welfare board furnishes the nurses and doctors.
"We are going to examine every one of the 60.000
children in the Minneapolis schools," Dr. Harrington
Bv JOHN M. WRIGHT
explained "Few persons realize that tuberculosis in
fection is s,. prevalent When you consider that 85
per cent of all children are infected with tuberculosis
to some extent, the importance ol dealing with the
matte i becomes striking! ipparent
"Really, thai is the function ol Lymanhurst We
propose to fill the gap between the open an school and
the regular hospital. The open-air school possibly is all
right for those only predisposed to tuberculosis, or
from families with tuberculosis. The regular hospital
is necessary for the serious cases. Our institution is
av vaaHBaaaE aaaa aaav
Wm ly M, Seal aP9
lm am I W "
fix mr-
Above Boys may !"k hralthy enough
to the casual obercr, and still be tu
bercular For instance, consider the
lad in the picture. Perhaps you
wouldn't fuest it, but alt have been
uoder treatment fr tuherculotit. I'm
der the new plan in Minneapolis, Dr.
Harrington plant to test every child in
the public achool fur tuherculoais.
Right The l.yminhurtt building,
erected t cre both ae achool and
hoapital tor Mioneapolia children
afflicted Miih tuberculoaia.
both hospital and school. It is a new link in the chain
44 As we make this survey, we are going to take out
those with infection enough to be dangerous to other
pupils. I am sure there will he J(HI The number may
even reach 5(H). These children will go to Lymanhurst
for six months or a year, returning to their regular
ich& 'is as tht ai . impr i d.
As for the operation of this hospital-school, the
daily program will be suggestive. When the child
rives m the morning, we give him a cup 0f hot
"There is a recess at 10:15. Kach child is uiv?n
half pint of milk. At 12 o'clock the children urZ
for dinner, and at 12:30 eat a full meal, including Tu
meat, vegetables, salad, and ice cream n,r desse t
Then the children go to the rest room and sleep f
an hour or two. They really sleep, too. After th
nap, they go back to classes for a bit. In the middl
of the afternoon they have a bowl of broth or cereaf
and another drink of milk before going home at 3 30
"We have had 48 boys and girls in I.vmanhurst
during the summer. The institution was completed in
June and we decided to open it to volunteer students
in advance of the survey to be made following the
opening of school in September. These 48 volunteered
and they had a picnic all summer.
"All but three of these children gained in weight
Here, too, is a significant thing all but one were pro
moted to a higher grade in their school work. Nov
these children had been excluded from the regular
schools. Yet here at Lymanhurst, while being treated
for tuberculosis, they passed their gradt s
"We taught every grade from the firt to the eighth.
In another year I expect to add the high ichool classes.
"Many of these children never missed a day. Really,
it was a marvel to see how they enjoyed it. We have
13 showers in the institution, and you couldn't keep
the youngster! out of them. We have a victrola, too.
You see, you have to amuse and entertain these boys
and girls. It is more than teaching. Many of the
youngsters tire easily at first, and so we have to do
things to stimulate their interest and enthusiasm.
"Next summer, we are going to have a garden, and
let the children work in it. That will mean more open
air and less study, but it will be worth while "
Temperature of the children is taken daily. Their
weight also is recorded every day. When the child
enters the institution.
X-ray p i c t tires are
taken, and. later, other
picture l, to show his
improvement Thee
are shown to parents,
thus enlisting them in
further efforts for the
promotion of the
health of the family.
Ten leading physi
cians of Minneapolis
volunteer their services
as a it iff, and trained
nurses have been pro
vided, so that the chil
dren at Lymanhurst
are constantly under
the !' n ittofl of spe
cialists in the treat
ment ol tuberculosis.
"The time to begin treating tuberculosis is when
it is in its earliest stages." Dr. Harrington empha
sized. "Many mothers think that their thin, anemic
hoy or girl is 'growing too fast.' or that the child
lias a had cold r pOOf digestion. I have watched
the school children, and it is my opinion that many
ol these Gates are incipient tttbtVCtllosis. The time to
tamp it out is in its earliest stages."
A Rah-Rah Community Spirit By e. j. beck
COOPER MiURG. Pennsylvania, ii populated by I
Pennsylvania Dutch citizenry, an element not or
dinarily thought of as effervescing with emotionalism.
This community has official town colors, a town hymn,
a town Blotto and a town slogan.
A local poet wrote the hymn and home talent fur
nished the motto and slogan. A contest was held to
elicit literary competition along these lines, and I
committee of judges selected tin best contributions.
The town hymn is quoted ben with
MY COOPERSBURG
My Coopersburg! Of thee
Home of my childhood's glee
01 thee I sing:
Haven of peaceful rest,
Village of all most blesed.
To every parting guest
Thy praisei cling
M y native CoopeiaVirg 1
Dear, fostering, homelike burg!
Thy name I Um
I love thy rolling farms,
Thy piiet rural charms
My h' art w th ardor warms
For thee I love
Dear God we plead with thee,
Drive all adversity
Par from our town;
Long may her glory rise,
Her prai let fill the skies.
Bless thou the town we prize,
Grant her renown.
No one can possibly mistake a University of Cali
fornia man for a Harvard man or a Cornellian for a
product of Vale. Long residents in college towns even
claim the ability to distinguish almost it ligM the
members of one fraternity from another by an in
definable something which is the product ot group ideals
and spirit.
One of the things that strikes a man driving through
the country as he passes through village after village i"
their sameness. Why cannot a village I hibit a dis
tinct individuality? Such an individuality would first
be expressed in externals by the exploitation of the
natural beauty of the location. Like the discriminating
woman, the village should dress itself in the garb that
sets off its inherent charm.
This landscape and architectural distinctive
should then be accompanied by a psychological mm
viduality. Why cannot the village have a mora.,ee
spirit, a communal fervor analogous to that ot
college' Local pride, historical traditions, the ton
recollections of childhood, the sentimental aoC,at!
rooted in the impressionable years, the typical Xnl
"boosting" propensity-all CtC emotional ingrcdicn
may be blended into a dynamic town spirit. .
Whv caim the rah-rah impulse furnish the k n
energy for civic progress? Let the village give up
fatuous dream of growing into a metropolis. UN
000 by WOT Ma, and develop its present human, c
mcrcial and esthetic resources to the limit by
cultivation. .A ,..thin2
I rt Smithville. Ohio, come to represent
n in'1"1 ii,.
.. . . . . i tmiru wno
distinctive in trie minn oi nj - . t eS
travrU through it: let its buildings, its natural beau
and its human elements combine to form an
ized social entity-a community with a P". 0f
just as a college represent othcr and a
n v covered halls, a campus unlike any otner
body of special traditions and sentiments.