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Books and Documents

A Decade of Progress

The United States Army Medical Department

1959-1969


A DECADE OF PROGRESS

The United States Army
Medical Department
1959-1969

Prepared and published under the direction of

Lieutenant General HALB. JENNINGS, JR.
The Surgeon General, United States Army

Editor in Chief
Colonel WILLIAM S. MULLINS, MSC, USA

Editor for A Decade of Progress
ROSE C. ENGELMAN, Ph. D.
 

OFFICE OF THE SURGEON GENERAL

DEPARTMENT OF THE ARMY

WASHINGTON, D.C., 1971


 

The Historical Unit, United States Army Medical Department

Colonel WILLIAM S.MULLINS, MSC, Director
CHARLES J.SIMPSON, Executive Officer
HAZEL G. HINE, Chief, Administrative Branch
ERNEST ELLIOTT,JR., Chief, Editorial Branch
RODERICK M.ENGERT, Chief, General Reference and Research Branch
ROSE C. ENGELMAN, Ph.D., Chief, Historians Branch
GERALDINE B.SITES, Acting Chief, Information Activities Branch
Major RALPHLADESTRO,MSC, Chief, Special Projects Branch

Library of Congress Catalog Card Number: 70-610424


For sale by the Superintendent of Documents, U.S. Government Printing Office
Washington, D.C. 20402-Price $2.25
Stock Number 0823-0044


Contents

FOREWORD

STATEMENTBY THE SECRETARY OF THEARMY

PREFACE

Chapter

    I.   The Beginning of an Era
               Change of Command
               Magnitude of the Task
               The Role of The Surgeon General
               Concept of Operations: The Five Pillars of Military Medicine
               The Office of The Surgeon General
               History and Tradition
                   Medical Historical Program
                   A Proud Name Restored

    II.   Professional Care and Related Activities
              Standards of Patient Care
              Army Health Experiences and Trends
                   Admissions
                  Noneffective Rates
                  Hospitalization Rates
                  Medical Workloads
                  Dental Workloads
              Hospital Clinic Care
                  Changing Concepts
                  Solving the Outpatient Problem
              General Medicine
                  Teaching Hospitals
                  Visits to Medical Facilities
              Surgery
                  Open-Heart Surgery
                  Visits and Missions
              Preventive Medicine
                  Communicable Diseases
                      Common respiratory diseases and influenza
                      Malaria
                      Enteric diseases
                      Meningococcal meningitis
                      Melioidosis
                      Immunization activities
                  Army Health Nursing
                   Environmental Medicine and Engineering
                  Occupational Health
                  Entomology
              Nursing Service
              Dental Service
                  Preventive Dentistry
                  Dental Resources
              Radiology
              Psychiatry and Neurology
              Support Activities
                  Pathology and Laboratory Activities
                  Pharmacy
              Physical Standards
                  One Directive for Medical Fitness
                  Medical and Physical Evaluation Boards
                  Armed Forces Examining Stations
                  The Medically Remedial Enlistment Program
              The Military Blood Program Agency
                   Donor Motivation
                  Conferences and Meetings
                  Whole-Blood Support in Emergencies and Crises
                          Dominican Republic
                          Southeast Asia
                  Dependents` Medical Care Program
                  From Medicare to CHAMPUS
                  Administration and Financing

    III.   Modernization of Facilities and Equipment
              A New Generation of Hospitals
                  Early Plans
                  Cutting the Red tape
                  Army Health Facility Concept
                  Status of Army Hospitals in Mid-1959
                  Hospital Construction
                      Fiscal year 1960
                      Fiscal year 1961
                      Fiscal year 1962
                      Fiscal year 1963
                      Fiscal year 1964
                      Fiscal year 1965
                      Fiscal year 1966
                      Fiscal year 1967
                      Fiscal year 1968
                      Fiscal year 1969
                  Equipment Planning
                  Hospital Equipment Program
                  Accreditation of Army Hospitals
              Membership in the American Hospital Association
              Research and Development Command
                   Minor Construction
                      Funding problems
                      Master Planning Board
                  Major Construction
                      Walter Reed Army Institute of Research
                      Consolidation and centralization plans
                  Other Major Construction or Projects
                      Brooke General Hospital
                      Walter Reed Army Medical Center
                      William Beaumont General Hospital
                      Fitzsimons General Hospital
                   Minor Facilities
                  Expansion of Continental U.S. Army Hospitals

    IV.    Personnel
               The Surgeon General`s Personnel Policy
               Military Personnel
                  Authorization and Strength
                  Measures To Overcome Critical Shortages
                      Walter Reed Army Institute of Nursing
                      Recruitment program of the Army Medical Specialist Corps
                  Career Planning
                      Medical Corps
                      Dental Corps
                      Army Nurse Corps
                      Medical Service Corps
                      Veterinary Corps
                      Army Medical Specialist Corps
                   Measures To Retain Career Military Personnel
               Civilian Personnel
                  Recruitment Policies
                  Career Management Programs
                  Support of Federal Employment Policies and Programs

    V.    Education and Training
              Professional Training
                  The Army Residency Program
                  The Army Internship Program
                  The Army Fellowship Training Program
                  Military Postgraduate Courses
                  Postgraduate Courses at Civilian Institutions
                  On-The-Job Training
              Service School Courses
                  Military Training
                  Training of Foreign Nationals
                  Training Aids
                   Training Guidance
              Enlisted Training

    VI.    Administration and Management
              Management Improvement Programs
                  Hospital Command Management System
                  "Find-it, Fix-it"-A New Approach to Internal Review
                  Hospital Methods Improvement Program
                  Administrative and Professional Management Improvement Program
              Management Information Systems
                  Mechanized Financial Accounting
                  Automatic Data Processing Systems

    VII.    Medical Supply
              The Medical Supply Function
              Reorganization Within The Surgeon General`s Jurisdiction
              Mobilization Reserve, Pre stockage, and Medical Assemblage and Replacement Programs
              Spectacle Fabrication
              NBC (Nuclear, Biological, Chemical) Medical Materiel Programs
              Procurement Activities
              Funding and Accounting
              The Military Assistance Program
              Medical Supply Support of Emergency Operations

    VIII.    Army Medical Research and Development
                   Objectives
                      Management of the Program
                      Highlights of Progress
                          Malaria program
                          Other infectious diseases
                          Parasitic infections
                          Burn research
                          Combat surgery
                          Blood preservation
                          Dental research
                           Medical material
                          Environmental medicine
                          Skin diseases
                      Goals in Sight

    IX.    Meeting the Challenge in War and Peace
              Combat Readiness
              Emergency Missions
                  Lebanon Operation, July 1958
                  The Cuban Crisis, October 1962
                  The Dominican Republic Crisis, April 1965
              Mercy Missions
                  Chile Disaster Relief Operations
                   Earthquake Disaster, Skopje, Yugoslavia
                  Earthquake and Flood Disasters, Alaska
              Medical Support in South Vietnam
                  Field Medicine
                  Civic Action

Tables

Number

    1.   Trends in daily average workloads in Army Medical Department facilities, worldwide, for specified fourth quarter fiscal periods, 1960, 1963, 1966,and 1968.

    2.   Authorized and actual strengths of Army Medical Department officers, worldwide, by corps, fiscal years 1959-68.

Illustrations

Figure

    1.   Lieutenant General Leonard Dudley Heaton, The Surgeon General, United States Army, 1959-1969.

    2.   President Dwight D. Eisenhower and Major General Leonard D. Heaton leave Walter Reed General Hospital after a visit to Secretary of State John Foster Dulles, then a patient, 13April 1959.

    3.   General Heaton received the Distinguished Service Medal from General Earle G. Wheeler, Chief of Staff, U.S. Army, 15 May 1964.

    4.   Dr. George P. Berry, Dean of Faculty and Dean, Harvard University Medical School, Boston, Mass., with actress Helen Hayes and Lieutenant General Leonard D. Heaton at the Thirteenth Commencement of Brandeis University, Waltham, Mass., 7 June 1964.

    5.   Walter Reed Army Medical Center, Washington, D.C.

    6.   Munson Army Hospital, Fort Leavenworth, Kans.

    7.   Kirk Army Hospital, Aberdeen Proving Ground, Md.

    8.   Letterman General Hospital, Presidio of San Francisco, Calif.

    9.   Lieutenant General Leonard D. Heaton, The Surgeon General; Major General Charles H. Gingles, Commanding General, Letterman General Hospital; and Major General George E. Armstrong, former Surgeon General, attended dedication ceremonies at Letterman General Hospital.

   10.   Medical Field Service School, Brooke Army Medical Center, Fort Sam Houston, Tex.

   11.   A 60-bed surgical hospital displayed the use of MUST (Medical Unit, Self-contained Transportable) equipment in a demonstration at Camp Bullis, Tex., in September1968.

   12.   Hypodermic jet injection gun, developed by the U.S. Army Medical Research and Development Command, being used to administer an inoculation.

    13.   A civil aid team dentist administers an anesthetic preparatory to extracting a tooth, Dominican Republic, 1965.

    14.   Part of the 15th Field Hospital, located on an abandoned airstrip near Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic, early June 1965.

    15.   The 15th Field Hospital at Puerto Montt, Chile, May 1960.

    16.   Personnel of the 15th Field Hospital assist earthquake victims in Puerto Montt, Chile, May 1960.

    17.   Members of the 8th Evacuation Hospital in Skopje, Yugoslavia, following the earthquake in 1963.

    18.   South Vietnamese and American soldiers load a casualty into an HU-1B helicopter ambulance.

    19.   Specialist Lawrence Joel, first medical aidman to be awarded the Medal of Honor for service in Vietnam.

    20.   8th Field Hospital, Nha Trang, South Vietnam,17 March 1966.

    21.   General Heaton during a visit to South Vietnam November 1967.

    22.   Aerial view of the 45th Surgical Hospital, South Vietnam.

    23.   General Heaton observed patient care at an Army hospital in South Vietnam during a visit in November 1967.