CHAPTER III
CLASSIFICATION OF HOSPITALS CONSTRUCTED
The following group of tables divides the new construction of war hospitals into six main classes: Additions to post hospitals which were enlarged but which never became general hospitals; hospital buildings constructed at the National Army cantonments; hospital buildings constructed at the National Guard camps; hospital buildings of the cantonment type constructed at places other than at National Army and National Guard camps; buildings constructed at the general hospitals for the treatment of tuberculosis; and semipermanent hospital buildings.
40-41
TABLE 1.-Schedule showing new construction (temporary) erected at post hospitals
42-43
44-45
46-49
50-51
52
The available bed capacity and the number of beds occupied in the larger hospitals-general, base, port and department base hospitals-controlled by the Surgeon General`s Office directly, or used by it for the treatment of overseas sick, were charted from weekly or daily reports. This information was of incalculable value to the Surgeon General`s Office in showing at all times the incalculable value to the Surgeon General`s Office in showing at all times the status of these hospitals. These data have been consolidated by months on the following chart covering the period January, 1918, to September, 1919.
53
54
In Figure 11 the activity of the general hospitals is shown in a manner similar to the chart in Figure 10. However, but one type of hospital has been charted and space, both available and occupied, has been shown in Figure 11.
The activity of the base hospitals-National Army and National Guard camps-is shown in Figure 12, which was prepared in a manner identical to that for the general hospitals.
The rapid rise in number of both patients and beds in October, 1918, was incident to the epidemic of influenza. The approximate maximum constructed capacity of these hospitals was fifty-five thousand beds, and this capacity was first available in July, 1918.1 All the bed capacity shown as being higher than this figure was extemporized in corridors or on porches, or in the barrack buildings of the camps proper.
FUNDS APPROPRIATED FOR HOSPITAL CONSTRUCTION
Funds were made available by Congress from time to time for the procurement of hospitals and were provided in the appropriation for construction and repair of hospitals. From May, 1917, to July, 1919, the following sums were appropriated:2
|
May 12, 1917 |
$750,000.00 |
|
June 15, 1917 |
2,115,267.00 |
|
October 6, 1917 |
35,000,000.00 |
|
March 28, 1918 |
19,654,300.00 |
|
July 8, 1918 |
13,936,015.00 |
|
July 9, 1918 |
80,000,000.00 |
|
November 4, 1918 |
86,469,930.00 |
|
July 11, 1919 |
a5,000,000.00 |
|
|
242,865,512.00 |
The above amounts represent appropriations and not expenditures. However, it may be stated that during the active part of the war period the expenditures were practically the same as the appropriations, with the exception of the fiscal year ending June 30, 1919, during which not over half the sum appropriated for that period was expended for hospital construction.3
aIn this amount, $350,000 appropriated to purchase land at Walter Reed General Hospital is not included.
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56
CLASSIFICATION OF CONSTRUCTION PROJECTS
The major hospital construction projects may be briefly divided into three classes representing buildings erected, and beds provided in both entirely new construction and in altered buildings, as follows:
|
|
Hospitals |
Buildings |
Beds |
|
Entirely new construction |
62 |
3,597 |
88,460 |
|
Converted Army posts and leased buildings |
39 |
659 |
29,383 |
|
Post hospital enlargements |
48 |
365 |
6,056 |
|
|
149 |
4,621 |
123,899 |
REFERENCES
(1) Report of the Chief of Construction Division, W. D., 1919, 192.
(2) Ibid., 61.
(3) Taken from Treasury ledger accounts. On file, Funding Division, Office of Chief of Finance, War Department.
