CHAPTER XVII
Hospital Construction and Maintenance
Emphasis in the Medical Department construction program inthe United States in the latter part of the war was on expanding and improvingexisting hospital plants rather than on the construction or acquisition of newones. It will be recalled that ASF headquarters considered the hospitalconstruction program substantially complete by the middle of 1943. At that timeforty general hospitals were in operation and eighteen others were underconstruction. Afterwards, only eight additional general hospitals wereauthorized, and they were located in buildings which the Army already had.Moreover, the closure of station hospitals as troops moved overseas made itunnecessary, except in a few instances, either to build or to acquire newstation hospital plants.1 Despitethis apparent completion of the hospital building program, there was feverishconstruction activity at many Medical Department installations. Mounting bedrequirements in the first half of 1945 made it necessary to provide housing ingeneral and convalescent hospitals for additional beds equal in number to 80percent of those accumulated in general hospitals during the previous fouryears. Changes in concepts of patient treatment, patient welfare, and hospitaladministration created needs for facilities not available in hospital plantsalready built. Finally, The Surgeon General took advantage of the passing of theinitial phase of the Army's construction program and of the increasingavailability of scarce materials to press for improvements and refinements inexisting plants in order to bring them up to the standards of peacetime civilianhospitals.
In expanding and improving hospital plants, The SurgeonGeneral continued to have only partial responsibility and authority. He wasdependent upon ASF headquarters for approval of all major projects and upon theEngineers for all construction work. They, in turn, continued to be subject todecisions and policies made by the General Staff. The Surgeon General'sHospital Construction Branch developed general programs and standard criteriafor hospital expansions and improvements, and insisted, as before, upon anopportunity to approve or disapprove construction which changed either thecapacities of hospital plants or the primary professional functions of any oftheir buildings. In general, that Branch tended to rely more than before onservice command surgeons and ASF hospital commanders
1(1) Memo, Chief Cons Br SGO for HD SGO, 1 Nov 46, sub: Record of Expansion and Contraction, Hosps, ZI, and Hosp Ships. HD: 632. (2) See Table 14.
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for assistance in planning and initiating programs for expansions, additions,and improvements. There were several reasons for this development. The expansionof existing hospital plants required individual attention and planning in orderto make maximum use of available housing and to fit additional facilities intoplants already constructed. Furthermore, many hospital commanders showed thatthey could secure additional facilities as gifts from civilian groups withoutassistance from the War Department. Finally, under prevailing War Departmentconstruction policies, requests for all but major construction projects had tobe initiated in the field and not in the offices of the chiefs of technicalservices in Washington.2 Over AirForces hospital construction the Surgeon General's Office exercised lesssupervision than it had during the early part of the war. Complying with arequest of the Air Surgeon and reflecting perhaps the growing independence ofthe Air Forces, The Surgeon General on 22 January 1944 delegated to the AirSurgeon authority to act as his representative in that field.3
Providing Housing for Additional Beds in General andConvalescent Hospitals in the United States
The primary method of obtaining housing for additional beds was to useexisting buildings, whether for newly established hospitals or the expansion ofthose already in operation. This method was adopted because of restrictions onnew construction imposed by ASF headquarters under policies of the GeneralStaff.4 When ASF approved theestablishment of convalescent annexes for general hospitals in June 1943, itannounced that new construction, except for gymnasiums, was not authorized.Existing Army housing or leased civilian buildings were to be used instead.5
During 1943, 1944, and 1945, on The Surgeon General's recommendation theService Forces acquired through lease or transfer eighteen pieces of realestate, including schools, hotels, and National Youth Administration buildings,with enough space to house beds for 9,322 convalescent patients at a number ofgeneral hospitals. Other general hospitals established annexes in vacant Armybuildings located near by.6 Afterapproving the establishment of convalescent centers for 25,000 patients early in1944, ASF headquarters turned over to the Medical Department vacant barracks onArmy posts. Meanwhile, the Air Forces followed the same procedure in setting upconvalescent hospitals.7 In most instancesexisting buildings were used during 1944 without
2WD Cir 58, 19 Dec 43.
3(1) Memo, Dep Air Surg for Chief Hosp Admin Div SGO, 14 Oct 43, sub: Processing of Recomds for AAF Hosp Cons, Maintenance, and Repair. SG: 632.-1. (2) Ltr, CG AAF (Air Surg) to SG, 10 Jan 44, sub: Delegation of Auth to CG AAF, the Air Surg, for Operational Control at AAF Hosp, with 1st ind, SG to CG AAF thru CG ASF, 22 Jan 44. SG: 323.7-5.
4ASF Cirs 78, 18 Mar 44; 178, 13 Jun 44; and 168, 11 May 45.
51st ind SPRMC 322 (18 Jun 43), CG ASF to SG, 22 Jun 43, sub: Conv Ctrs, on unknown basic ltr. SG: 632.-1.
6(1) Ltr, SG to COs of Gen Hosps, 3 Aug 43, sub: Estab of Conv Retraining Unit. SG: 632.-1. (2) Memo, SG for Reqmts Div ASF, 3 Sep 43, sub: Conv Fac. Off file, Gen Bliss' Off SGO, "Med Clarification of Disposition Policy." (3) Diary, Hosp Cons Br SGO, 13 Mar, 4 Apr, and 18 Aug 44. HD: 024.7-3. (4) Memo, Chief Cons Br SGO for HD SGO, 1 Nov 46, sub: Record of Expansion and Contraction, Hosps, ZI, and Hosp Ships. HD: 632.
7(1) Memo SPMOC 532 (3 Jun 44), CG ASF for SG, 29 Jun 44, sub: Housing Fac for Convs. Off file, Gen Bliss' Off SGO, "Med Clarification of Disposition Policy." (2) AAF Memo 20-12, 18 Sep 43, sub: Orgn AAF Conv Ctrs. HD.
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extensive alterations and with little additionalconstruction.8
The major hospital expansion program of the later war yearscame during the first six months of 1945, after G-4 approved additional beds tomeet the estimated peak load of patients. For this expansion the War Departmentfollowed the same method-the use of existing buildings-but permitted moreimprovements and alterations than before. Both general and convalescenthospitals were expanded. Medical detachment barracks at general hospitals, whichThe Surgeon General early in the war had successfully insisted should be partsof hospital plants and of the same types and quality of construction, wereconverted into wards. Some convalescent annexes were made into wards and somenonhospital barracks were converted into housing for ambulatory patients. Fourstation hospital plants supplemented by near-by barracks were converted intogeneral hospitals. Several staging area hospitals were modified to serve asdebarkation hospitals. And additional barracks on posts where convalescenthospitals were located were turned over to them. These changes involved chieflyimprovements, already authorized late in 1944 for general and convalescenthospital plants, such as sealing inside walls, painting and reflooring,installing sprinkler systems and fire escapes in converted wards, and inclosingthe covered walkways connecting those wards with the rest of the hospital plant.In general, the erection of new buildings was avoided but in some places no posthousing was available for medical enlisted men and Wacs. In these instancestheater-of-operations-type barracks, along with buildings for detachment andcompany administration, recreation, supply, and messing, were constructed tohouse the men displaced from hospital barracks and the Wacs sent to hospitals tohelp with increased patient loads.9
Initiation and completion of this program represented co-ordinatedefforts of the Surgeon General's Hospital Construction Branch, the Chief ofEngineers' Office, ASF headquarters, and their field officers. Even before G-4authorized the additional beds, the Surgeon General's Construction Branchcollaborated with service command surgeons in making preliminary plans forhospital expansions, determining the number of additional beds that could beprovided, and establishing general criteria for conversion work.10Meanwhile, the Chief of Engineers' Office called upon division engineers, bytelephone, for preliminary layout plans and cost estimates. As a result, withinforty-eight hours after that Office received a directive to proceed with theprogram, it authorized division engineers to begin work.11To achieve speed in the expansion, ASF headquarters per-
8(1) Tynes, Construction Branch. (2) Interv, MD Historian with Col Achilles L. Tynes, formerly Chief Hosp Cons Br SGO, 24 Apr 50. HD: 000.71.
9(1) Ltr, SG to CofEngrs, 13 Jan 45, sub: Emergency Expansion of Gen Hosps. SG: 322 "Hosp." (2) Memo SPMOC 632, CG ASF for CofEngrs, 22 Jan 45, sub: Prov of Add Hosp Fac for Gen Hosp Syst. CE: 683 Pt I. (3) Ltr, CofEngrs to Div Engrs, 2 Feb 45, same sub. SG: 632. (4) Engr Cons Directives, of various dates. Same file. (5) An Rpts, 1945, Birmingham, Battey, and Cp Butner Gen Hosps, and Cp Carson Hosp Ctr. HD.
10(1) Memo, Dir Hosp Div for Chief Hosp Cons Br, 19 Dec 44. SG: 632. (2) Memo, same for same, 6 Jan 45, sub: Ests of Cons Needs. Same file. (3) Off Memo, by Chief Hosp Cons Br, 12 Jan 45, sub: 6th SvC. Same file. (4) Ltr, SG to CofEngrs, sub: Emergency Expansion of Gen Hosps. SG: 322 "Hosp."
111st ind CE SPEMT 683, CofEngrs to CG ASF thru SG, 22 Feb 45, on Memo SPMOC 600.1, CG ASF for CofEngrs and SG in turn, 7 Feb 45, sub: Conversion, New Cons, and Preferred Maintenance at Gen and Conv Hosps. CE: 683 Pt I.
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mitted The Surgeon General and the Chief of Engineers to makeminor changes in the approved program, particularly in the number of beds forwhich housing was to be provided at each hospital.12In turn, they delegated similar authority to local engineer and medicalofficers, and the Chief of Engineers directed division engineers to settlelayout plans locally and to secure The Surgeon General's approval bytelephone.13 Finally, both the Chiefof Engineers and ASF headquarters instructed representatives in the field tocooperate fully with each other in pushing the program to completion.14
None of these measures would have been sufficient to assurethe expansion of hospital housing capacity in time for the peak load if a solidfoundation for it had not already been established. The existence at hospitalplants of barracks similar in type to ward buildings made their conversion towards relatively simple. Furthermore, establishment of convalescent hospitalsduring 1944, without G-4 approval and in the face of attempts of the Staff toreduce the number of general and convalescent beds, meant that a considerableportion of the housing needed for the additional beds authorized in November1944 and January 1945 had already been provided.15
Construction of Additional Facilities at ExistingHospital Plants
In the latter half of the war the Medical Department also had torequest additional facilities that had not been planned when hospitals werebuilt because the need for them had not been anticipated. The extension ofspecialization in general hospitals during 1944 and 1945 required additionalclinical facilities. For example, vascular centers needed constant-temperaturerooms; orthopedic centers needed brace shops, plaster and dressing rooms, andextra X-ray facilities; and centers for the deaf, acoustic clinics.16Since the construction of such buildings could not normally be classifiedas "major" projects, local hospital commanders had to submit formalrequests for each. As a rule, the professional consultants of the SurgeonGeneral's Office worked closely with the Hospital Construction Branch and withhospital commanders, informing both of what was needed. For example, anorthopedic consultant recommended the construction of an orthopedic clinic atFort George G. Meade (Maryland) Regional Hospital in June 1944, and a few monthslater an ophthalmology consultant recommended an acrylic eye laboratory and aneye clinic for Dibble General Hospital.17 Generally,the Medical Department encountered little if any opposition in securing theapproval of the Engineers and ASF headquarters for the construction of specialclinical buildings. Perhaps this circumstance was due to the fact that their
12Memo SPMOC 632, CG ASF for CofEngrs, 22 Jan 45, sub: Prov of Add Hosp Fac for the Gen Hosp Syst. CE: 683 Pt I.
13Ltr, CofEngrs to Div Engrs, 2 Feb 45, sub: Prov of Add Hosp Fac for Gen Hosp Syst. SG: 632.
14(1) Ltr cited above. (2) Ltr SPMOC 632, CG ASF to CGs SvCs, 3 Feb 45, sub: Prov of Add Hosp Fac for Gen Hosp Syst. AG: 323.3 (4 Sep 44)(1).
15(1) See above, p. 202. (2) An Rpt, FY 1945, Hosp Cons Br SGO. HD.
16(1) Memo, Capt A. W. Clark for Col A[lbert] H. Schwichtenberg, 1 Feb 45, sub: Constant-Temperature Rooms. SG: 632. (2) Memo, Col Leonard T. Peterson, Chief Orthopedic Br SGO for Dir Hosp Div SGO, 26 Mar 45, sub: Orthopedic Clinic. Same file. (3) Diary, Hosp Cons Br SGO, 29 Feb and 6 Mar 44. HD: 024.7-3.
17(1) Ltr, Col Leonard T. Peterson to SG, 24 Jun 44, sub: Rpt of Visit to Ft George G. Meade Regional Hosp. HD: 333.-3. (2) Memo, Maj Middleton E. Randolph for SG, 27 Nov 44, sub: Rpt of Trip to Dibble Gen Hosp. HD: 333.-2.
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use was so obviously a part of the professional care ofpatients. In the case of other special buildings less evidently needed forprofessional care but appropriate to almost all general hospitals, the SurgeonGeneral's Office had to request ASF headquarters to establish a general policypermitting their construction. This occurred in the case of occupational therapyclinics, which were needed after The Surgeon General began to emphasizeoccupational therapy in all general hospitals, and in the case ofneuropsychiatric social therapy clinics, which were needed afterneuropsychiatric centers were established in many general hospitals. In October1943 ASF headquarters approved the construction of occupational therapy clinics;about a year later, of neuropsychiatric social therapy clinics.18The provision of special clinical facilities continued even after theMedical Department began to contract the general-convalescent hospital system.As late as September 1945, for example, when specialized centers were beingrelocated because some hospitals were being closed, the Surgeon General'sOffice requested the construction of special buildings for centers for rheumaticfever, deaf, paraplegic, neuropsychiatric, and plastic surgery patients inhospitals that were expected to remain open for long periods of time.19
Development of the convalescent reconditioning program calledfor additions to hospital plants which were generally authorized less readilythan special clinical buildings. Among them were recreational facilities, suchas theaters, gymnasiums, swimming pools, ball fields, and bowling alleys;instructional facilities, such as classrooms and prevocational training shops;and others that could be used for both recreational and educational purposes, such as libraries and radio systems.
In the second half of 1943, with the inauguration of thereconditioning program and the growing belief that patients recuperated morerapidly if kept occupied physically and mentally to the maximum extentconsistent with their degree of recovery, hospital commanders began to requestappropriate facilities.20 At that time The Surgeon General wasreluctant to support requests for "elaborate and costly" additions,such as swimming pools; but he urged the construction at general hospitals ofbuildings normally erected on Army posts, such as gymnasiums, libraries, andtheaters.21 ASF headquarters approved the construction of gymnasiumsand theaters in June and December 1943, respectively.22
As materials became more plentiful and the prospective loadof battle casual-
18(1) Ltr, SG to CG ASF, 22 Oct 43, sub: OccupationalTherapy Instls, with 1st ind SPRMC 632 (22 Oct 43), CG ASF to CofEngrs thru SG,26 Oct 43. SG: 632.1 (2) Memo, Dir Hosp Div SGO for Chief Hosp Cons Br SGO, 28Nov 44, sub: Rooms for Visiting with Relatives at NP Ctrs, with 1st ind, ChiefHosp Cons Br SGO to Dir Hosp Div SGO, 30 Nov 44. SG: 632. (3) Ltr, SG toCofEngrs, 13 Dec 44, sub: NP Social and Occupational Therapy Bldg, with 4 inds. Samefile.
19Memo, Dep SG for CofEngrs, 11 Sep 45, sub: Engr Serv, Army-Project No 200 (Cons) Revised Estimates, FY1946. SG: 632.
20For example: (1) Diary, Hosp Cons Br SGO, 17 Feb and28 Mar 44. HD: 024.7-3. (2) An Rpts, 1943, Baxter, Billings, Bushnell, Hoff,and Kennedy Gen Hosps. HD. (3) Memo, Chief Hosp Cons Br SGO for Chief Prof ServSGO, 21 Apr 44. SG: 631.
21(1) Memo, Brig Gen C[harles] C. Hillman, Chief Prof Serv SGO for Chief Hosp Admin Div SGO, 16 Dec 43, sub: Cons of Hosp Fac. SG: 631. (2) Memo, SG for Reqmts Div ASF, 5 May 43, sub: Recreational Fac in Army Hosps. Same file.
22(1) 1st ind SPRMC 322 (18 Jun 43), CG ASF to SG, 22 Jun43, sub: Conv Ctrs, on unknown basic ltr. SG: 632.-1. (2) 1st ind, CG ASF to SG,8 Dec 43, on Memo, SG for CG ASF, 22 Nov 43, sub: Theaters for Gen Hosps. SG: 631.
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ties more imminent during 1944, The Surgeon General broadenedhis program.23 In that year the construction at general hospitals oflibraries, swimming pools, and athletic fields was approved by ASF headquarters.24 Early in 1945, after the Reconditioning Consultant's Divisionpublished an elaborate convalescent-reconditioning program and the Presidentgave it his blessing, The Surgeon General pressed for buildings and equipment ofall types for use in that program. In February 1945 ASF headquarters approvedthe installation of four-channel, program-distribution (or radio) systems ingeneral hospitals.25 Two months later the General Staff approved aconstruction program for convalescent hospitals which included shops for machinework, welding, automobile repairs, woodwork, photography, electrical work, andthe like; classrooms for general academic courses, business administration, andmusic appreciation; athletic facilities such as bowling alleys, stables, tenniscourts, baseball and softball diamonds, archery ranges, golf courses, skeetranges, and football fields; and theaters, libraries, clubhouses, and otherrecreational buildings.26
In securing eventual approval for such facilities, TheSurgeon General encountered difficulties and delays. ASF headquarters wouldauthorize only those which appeared necessary for the treatment and recovery ofpatients, and The Surgeon General therefore had to justify each request byexplaining the therapeutic benefits additional facilities would afford.27 Furthermore,ASF tended to limit programs which it approved to general hospitals that wereexpected to remain in operation during the postwar years.28 TheSurgeon General agreed that extra facilities should be provided first for general hospitals in which overseas patients were treated; but he wanted them later for regional and station hospitals also. He resisted attempts to limit reconditioning facilities to hospitals that would be used for the postwar period, arguing that they were needed for all patients of World War II, whether in hospitals that would be closed or in others that would be kept open after the war.29 ASF headquarters sometimes encountered difficulties in getting money appropriated for the extra construction which The Surgeon General wanted. For example, the opposition of the Bureau of the Budget to the appro-
23For example, see: (1) Ltr, SG to CG ASF, 8 May 44, sub: Cons of Swimming Pools. SG: 631. (2) Memo, SPMC 631.-1, SG for Dir Spec Serv Div ASF, 10 May 44, sub: Bowling Alleys. Same file. (3) Diary, Hosp Cons Br SGO, 26 Feb 44. HD: 024.7-3. (4) Memo, SG for CofEngrs, 16 Mar 44, sub: Budget Def for Nurses Call Systs and Libraries for Army Hosps. SG: 632.-l.
24(1) 1st ind SPMOC 632 (9 Sep 44), CG ASF to CofEngrs, 23 Sep 44, on DF G-4 2623, ACofS G-4 WDGS to CG ASF, 8 Sep 44, sub: Libraries for Army Gen Hosps. (2) 1st ind SPRMC 631 (8 May 44), CG ASF to SG, 16 May 44, on Ltr SPMCH, SG to CG ASF, 8 May 44, sub: Cons of Swimming Pools. (3) Memo, SPMOC 600.1 (21 Sep 44), CG ASF for CofEngrs, n d, sub: Outdoor Recreational Fac for Conv Soldiers at Gen and Conv Hosps. All in SG: 631.
253d ind SPRLR 413.45 (3 Feb 45), CG ASF to Chief Sig Off, 16 Feb 45, on Ltr, Dep SG to CG ASF, 3 Feb 45,sub: Funds for Instl of PA Systs in Gen Hosps. SG: 413.47.
26Memo SPMOC 632 (29 Apr 45), CG ASF for CofEngrs, sub: Conv Hosps, with incl, Criteria for Providing and Maintaining Fac at AAF and ASF Conv Hosps. SG: 322 (Conv Hosp).
27(1) Diary, Hosp Cons Br SGO, 8 Mar, 22 Apr, and 4 Sep 44.HD: 024.7-3. (2) Ltr, SG to CG ASF, 8 May 44, sub: Cons of Swimming Pools. SG:631. (3) Memo SPMCH 632, SG for CG ASF, 8 Dec 44. Same file.
28For example, see: 4th ind, CG ASF to SG, n d, on Ltr, SGto CG ASF, 8 May 44, sub: Cons of Swimming Pools. SG: 631.
29Memo, SG for CG ASF, 18 Oct 44, sub: Cons of Swimming Poolsat Gen Hosps, with 2d ind, Dep SG to CG ASF, 9 Nov 44. SG: 631.
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priation of money for the building of libraries delayed thatprogram for several months during 1944.30 In instances where lack ofappropriated funds prevented ASF headquarters from approving additionalconstruction or where those funds were sufficient to provide facilities for onlya limited number of hospitals, ASF headquarters and the Surgeon General'sOffice approved, as a rule, the use of nonappropriated funds to construct them.31As a result of that policy and of generous gifts by civilians, some hospitalsgot such additions as swimming pools, bowling alleys, and radio systems beforethe use of War Department funds for such purposes was approved.32 Otherswere not so fortunate. Furthermore, because of delays in getting ASF and G-4approval, some hospitals never got to use the extra facilities authorized, forthe war ended and their construction had to be canceled.33
Concurrently with the addition to hospitals of clinical andreconditioning facilities, the increase in administrative activities and thedevelopment of new operational procedures created needs for additional orenlarged administrative buildings. During the early war years several hospitalshad begun to operate central service systems similar to those found in largecivilian hospitals.34 Such systems permitted the centralizedmaintenance, storage, preparation (including sterilization), and issuance ofsupplies and equipment which were used for certain diagnostic and therapeuticprocedures in all wards but which were not needed in wards at all times. Amongsuch items were those used for transfusion and intravenous medication, wounddressing, spinal puncture, thoracentesis, catheterization, gastric lavage andgastroduodenal suction, and oxygen administration.35 In thelast half of 1943 the Surgeon General's Office developed standard operatingprocedures for central service systems and prepared typical layouts forbuildings to house them.36 ByJanuary 1944 it decided that allhospitals with capacities of 750 or more beds should have such systems.37Their use would save both personnel and equipment, would achieve uniformity insterilization techniques, and would insure the ready availability of all itemsneeded
30(1) Memo, WD Budget Off for ACofS G-4 WDGS, 18 Jul 44, sub: Libraries for Army Gen Hosps. SG: 631. (2) 1st ind SPMOC 632 (9 Sep 44), CG ASF to CofEngrs, 23 Sep 44, on DF G-4 2623, ACofS G-4 WDGS to CG ASF, 8 Sep 44, same sub. Same file.
31For example, see: (1) Diary, Hosp Cons Br SGO, 16 and 19 Aug 44, 25 Nov 44, and 27 Jul 45. HD: 024.7-3. (2) 1st ind, CofEngrs to CG ASF, 21 Jun 44, on Memo SPRMC 631 (13 Jan 44), CG ASF for CofEngrs, 13 Jun 44, sub: Libraries at Gen Hosps. SG: 631.
32(1) Memo, SG for CG ASF, 18 Oct 44, sub: Cons ofSwimming Pools at Gen Hosps. SG: 631. (2) Comments by Col A. L. Tynes, ChiefHosp Cons Br SGO at Conf of SvC Surgs, 12 Dec 44. SG: 632. (3) Diary, Hosp Cons BrSGO, 29 Mar 45. SG: 024.7-3. (4) Ltr, Dep SG to CG ASF, 3 Feb 45, sub: Fundsfor Instl of PA Systs in Gen Hosps. SG: 413.47.
33(1) Memo, Chief Hosp Cons Br SGO for Chief Oprs Serv SGO, 22 Aug 45, sub: Reduction of Cons Reqmts and Concurrent Changes in Budget. SG: 632. (2) Ltr SPMCH 632, SG to CG ASF, 17 Sep 45, sub: Cancellation and Reinstatement of Comd Cons Projects, ZI GenHosps. CE: 632 (Hosp). (3) Memo, CofEngrs for CG ASF, 9 Oct 45. Same file.
34An Rpt, 1941, Sta Hosp, Ft Bragg; and An Rpts, 1942, Percy Jones Gen Hosp and Sta Hosp Cp Butner. HD.
35WD Memo W 40-44, 12 Apr 44, sub: Central Serv Syst in Army Hosps. SG: 300.6.
36(1) Memo, Maj Michael E. DeBakey for Brig Gen C. C. Hillman, 20 Jul 43, sub: Central Serv. SG: 632.-1. (2) Memo, Chief Hosp Cons Br SGO for Dir Surg Div SGO, 21 Oct 43, sub: Central Serv Fac. Same file.
37Memo, Maj Edwin M. Loye for Lt Col A. L. Tynes, 20 Jan 44, sub: Discussion of Central Serv . . . in Gen Hillman's Off. . . . SG: 632.-1.
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by doctors in wards.38 ASF headquarters therefore authorized theEngineers to provide buildings for such services, either by new construction orby the alteration of existing buildings, wherever they were requested andjustified by hospital commanders.39 Thereafter, during 1944 and 1945central service buildings were provided for all general and regional hospitals.40
In getting other administrative buildings, the Surgeon General's Office wasless successful. One fault with hospital plants already constructed was thatthey lacked rooms for clinical conferences.41 Moreover, theaddition to general hospitals of functions and activities not common inpeacetime increased the need for more administrative space. Special servicesofficers, reconditioning officers, personal affairs officers, VeteransAdministration representatives, and United States Employment Servicerepresentatives often had to set up offices in wards, barracks, and storerooms.Consequently, on 28 July 1944 The Surgeon General requested the enlargement ofhospital administrative buildings. Before granting approval, ASF headquartersrequired him to collaborate with the Chief of Engineers in a detailed study ofoffice-space requirements.42 By the time it was completed in February1945 the general-convalescent hospital expansion program had increased even morethe need for administrative space.43 On 3 April 1945 The SurgeonGeneral again urged that it be authorized, and finally, on 25 April 1945, ASFheadquarters instructed the Engineers and The Surgeon General to collaborate inplanning whatever construction was needed to bring existing hospital plants upto the standards set by their joint study.44 Surveys by service command surgeons of existing administrative space and of theadditional amount required delayed the beginning of work on this program untilhospitals began to close. It was then largely abandoned.45
Improvements in Existing Hospital Plants
At the same time hospital plants were being expanded and improved to meetneeds that had developed during the war, the Surgeon General's Office wasattempting to correct constructional defects and to bring the Army's hurriedlyerected hospital buildings up to the standards of finish, appearance, andequipment of civilian institutions. During 1944 the reflooring program wascontinued,46 and defects in hospital construction revealed byinspections made by the War Projects
38Ltr, SG to CofEngrs, 21 Jan 44, sub: Central Serv Bldg at Cushing Gen Hosp.SG: 632 (Cushing GH)K.
39Memo, CofEngrs for SG, 2 Feb 44, sub: Central Serv Bldgs at Gen Hosps. SG: 632.-1.
40(1) An Rpt, FY 1944 and 1945, Hosp Cons Br SGO. HD. (2) Memo, SG forCofEngrs, 10 Mar 45. SG: 632.
411st ind, SG to CofEngrs, 7 Mar 44, on Ltr, CO McGuire Gen Hosp to SG, 10 Feb44, sub: Cons of Add Clinic-Type Bldg. SG: 632.-1 (McGuire GH)K.
421st ind SPMOC 632 (31 Jul 44), CG ASF to CofEngrs, 3 Aug 44, and 2d ind, CofEngrs to SG, 7 Aug 44, on Ltr SPMCH 632, Dep SG to CG ASF, 28 Jul 44, sub: Admin Space in Gen Hosps. CE: 683 Pt I.
43Ltr SPMCH 632, SG to CG ASF thru CofEngrs, 8 Jan 45, sub: Admin Space in Gen and Regional Hosps, with 1st ind, CofEngrs to CG ASF thru SG, 24 Feb 45. CE: 683 Pt I.
442d ind SPMCH 632, SG to CG ASF, 3 Apr 45, and 3d ind SPMOC 632 (3 Apr 45), CGASF to CofEngrs thru SG, 25 Apr 45, on Ltr SPMCH 632, SG to CG ASF thru CofEngrs, 8 Jan 45, sub: Admin Space in Gen and Regional Hosps. CE: 683 Pt I.
45Diary, Hosp Cons Br SGO, 18 Sep 45. HD: 024.7-3.
46(1) See above, p. 96. (2) Diary, Hosp Cons Br SGO, 9 and 20 Jun 44. HD:024.7-3.
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Unit of the Bureau of the Budget were corrected by theEngineers.47 In the opinion of the Surgeon General's HospitalConstruction Branch a broader program of more general application was needed.Therefore, late in the summer of 1944, when ASF headquarters began to plan forthe improvement of Army installations that would be selected for postwar use,48Surgeon General Kirk secured the personal backing of General Somervell for arelaxation of the War Department's policy of "Spartan simplicity" inorder to permit higher maintenance standards for hospitals.49 Aboutthe same time, Congressional criticism of Army hospital construction andmaintenance apparently spurred ASF headquarters to more "aggressive actionin increasing the maintenance program for hospitals."50 At any rate,during September and October 1944 the ASF Command Installation Branch andoffices of The Surgeon General and the Chief of Engineers agreed upon a programfor improving ASF hospitals. It included covering floors in corridors andadministrative buildings, as well as in wards and clinics, with linoleum overplywood; sealing exposed framing in corridors and nurses' quarters; inclosingall corridors used by patients; painting both exteriors and interiors to conformto peacetime standards, including the use of pastel colors for interiors;replacement of "victory-grade" with standard hardware and fittings;and the planting and proper maintenance of lawns and grounds.51 In approvingthis program G-4 stipulated that it should be carried out only partially inhospitals that the Army would not retain after the war.52 ASFheadquarters decided therefore to limit the program to general and convalescenthospitals that would be retained in the postwar period and to delay its extension to regionaland station hospitals until a later time.53The Surgeon Generalrepeatedly protested against both the G-4 and ASF limitations, but wasunsuccessful in getting them removed during the war.54
47For example, see: (1) Ltr SPMCH 632, SG to CofEngrs, 19 Aug 44, sub: Transmittal of Comments on Sta Hosp Cons Rptd to SG by War Projects Unit, Bu of Budget. CE: 632 (Hosp) No. 1. (2) Memo, CofEngrs for SG, 12 Oct 44, sub: Comments on Gen Hosp Cons. Same file. (3) Ltr SPMCH 632, SG to CofEngrs, 25 Nov 44, sub: Transmittal of Comments on Army Hosp Cons Rptd to SG by War Projects Unit, Bu of Budget. Same file. (4) Ltr SPEMY 632, CofEngrs to SG, 18 Apr 45, sub: Comments on Army Hosp Cons. SG: 632.
481st ind SPMOC 600.1 (18 Aug 44), CG ASF to CofEngrs, 25Aug 44, on unknown basic ltr. CE: 632.
49Comments by Col A. L. Tynes, Chief Hosp Cons Br SGO at Conf of SvC Surgs, 12 Dec 44. SG: 632.
50(1) Memo, Dir Plans and Oprs ASF for Dir Mob Div ASF, 17Sep 44. HRS: Maj Gen LeRoy Lutes' files, "Hosp and Evac, Jun 43-Dec46." (2) Memo, Chief Hosp Cons Br SGO for Dep SG, 2 Sep 44, sub: Comments Relative to Rptd Defects in Hosp Cons. SG: 632. (3) Investigationsof the National War Effort, Report, Committee on Military Affairs, House ofRepresentatives, 78th Cong, 2d sess, pursuant to H. Res. 30 (Washington,1944).
51(1) Memo, SG for CG ASF, 6 Sep 44, sub: Suggested RemedialMeasures, Hosp Cons, ZI, in Tynes, Construction Branch. (2) Memo,CofEngrs for CG ASF, 18 Sep 44, sub: Preferred Maintenance for Post War UseInstls. CE: 632 (Hosp). (3) Memo, CofEngrs for CG ASF, 30 Sep 44, sub: SuggestedRemedial Measures, Hosp Cons in ZI. CE: 600.18. (4) Memo, CofEngrs for CG ASF,14 Oct 44, sub: Preferred Maintenance for Gen Hosps. Same file. (5) Diary, HospCons Br SGO, 3 Oct 44. HD: 024.7-3.
52DF WDGDS 4031, ACofS G-4 WDGS to CG ASF, 27 Oct 44, sub:Increased Maintenance at Gen and Conv Hoops. HRS: G-4 file, 600.3 (I).
53Memo SPMOC 632, CG ASF for CofEngrs, 31 Oct 44, sub:Increased Maintenance at Gen and Conv Hosps, in Tynes, Construction Branch.
54(1) Memo, Dep SG for CG ASF, 10 Nov 44, sub: Increased Maintenance at Gen and Conv Hosps, with 1st ind SPMOC 632 (10 Nov 44), CG ASF to SG, 16 Nov 44, in Tynes, Construction Branch. (2) Memo, SG for CofEngrs, 11 Jul 45, sub: Increased Standards of Maintenance at Regional Hosps, with 3d ind SPMOC 423.3 (1 Aug 45), CG ASF to CofEngrs, 10 Aug 45. SG: 323.3 (Hosp).
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Finally, in June 1946, the General Staff sanctioned the program, within thelimits of funds available, for regional and station hospitals to be kept for thepostwar Army.55 Meanwhile, in March 1945, after representatives of G-4suggested that the staging area hospitals being converted into debarkationhospitals should be "dressed-up" for the reception of returning warcasualties, ASF headquarters authorized the application of the higher standardsof maintenance to those hospitals.56
Although improvement of general and ASF convalescent hospitals was authorizedin October 1944, it did not get started until early in 1945. Causes for delayduring that period and later were numerous: the controversy over whether to limit the program to postwar hospitals; thetardiness of service commands, which under existing procedures had to initiatethe requests for improvements; the time spent by the offices of The SurgeonGeneral and the Chief of Engineers in deciding on colors of interior paint; theconfusion in the field that arose from carrying on two projects at once-theimprovements program and the hospital expansion program; the extension of theproject to cover barracks and other buildings newly converted to hospital use;the effort to interfere as little as possible with the normal operation of thehospitals; and the hindrance of winter weather to the planting of lawns and thepainting of exteriors. In view of such factors the Engineers estimated inFebruary 1945 that the maintenance program would not be entirely completed untilthe end of 1945, but that the greater portion of it would be finished by the endof July.57
Another aspect of the general movement to raise the standards of Army hospital plants wasextension of the program of installing air-conditioning or ventilating equipmentand inauguration of a program of installing nurses' call systems. The SurgeonGeneral's Office wanted the existing air-cooling program expanded. During thelast six months of 1943 and the early part of 1944 the Hospital ConstructionBranch sought approval for the installation of air-conditioning equipment in theoperating rooms of all general hospitals, whether they were located in areaswith July temperatures above 75 degrees Fahrenheit or not, and in dental clinicsin certain areas that had hot summers. It also requested that eithermechanical-ventilating or evaporative-cooling equipment be permitted in somestorerooms and in patients' recreation buildings.58A revision ofpolicy by ASF headquarters in April 1944 permitted the installation ofair-conditioning equipment in dental clinics in the South and of eithermechanical-ventilating or evaporative-cooling
55Ltr SPMCH 600.3, SG to CG ASF thru CofEngrs, 4 Jun 46, sub: Increased Maintenance at Regional and Sta Hosps, with lst ind, CofEngrs to Dir SS&P WDGS, 19 Jun 46, and 2d ind, Dir SS&P WDGS to SG thru CofEngrs, 26 Jun 46. SG: 600.3.
56(1) Memo SPMOC 632 (9 Mar 45), CG ASF for CofEngrs,9 Mar 45, sub: Improvement of Debarkation Hosps. SG: 632. (2) Memo, Col L[loyd]E. Fellenz, GSC, G-4 Div for ACofS G-4 WDGS, 14 Mar 45, sub: Improvements atDebarkation Hosps. HRS: G-4 file, "Hosp and Evac Policy."
57Memo SPMOC 600.1, CG ASF for CofEngrs and SG in turn, 7 Feb 45, sub: Conversion, New Cons, and Preferred Maintenance at Gen and Conv Hosps, with 1st ind, CofEngrs to CG ASF thru SG, 22 Feb 45. CE: 683 Pt. I.
58(1) Memo, SG to CG ASF, 28 Jul 43, sub: Ventilative Treatmentfor Hosp Storehouses. (2) Memo, SG for CG ASF, 28 Aug 43, sub: Air Conditioning,Surgeries. (3) Memo, SG for CG ASF, 12 Oct 43, sub: Proposed Changes in WD Policy Governing Air Conditioning,Ventilation, and Cooling in ZI Hosps. (4) Memo, SG for CG ASF, 12 Feb 44, sub:Air Conditioning for Dental Clinics. All in SG: 673.-4.
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equipment in patients' recreation buildings, but not instorehouses, in areas where the July temperatures exceeded 75 degreesFahrenheit.59 Soon afterward, as the closure of station hospitalsbegan to make equipment in those plants available for other uses, The SurgeonGeneral again requested an extension of the program, and on 13 July 1944 ASFheadquarters approved the installation of air-conditioning equipment inoperating rooms and of either air-conditioning or ventilating equipment in X-rayclinics and recovery wards of general and regional hospitals anywhere in theUnited States, regardless of average July temperatures. The installation of suchequipment in station hospitals was still limited to those located in southernareas of the country.60
As in the case earlier of air-cooling equipment, a shortageof critical materials delayed initiation of a nurses' call-system program.During the winter of 1943-44 some hospitals nevertheless succeeded inprocuring equipment and in having such systems installed with nonappropriatedfunds.61 When equipment became more plentiful in the spring of 1944,ASF headquarters authorized the use of appropriated funds to install nurses'call-systems in all general hospitals and to some extent in others.62Because the amount of money set aside for this purpose was limited, The SurgeonGeneral decided that, in general, only wards used for nonambulatory patientswould get the equipment and general hospitals would get it before regionalhospitals.63 By March 1945 all general hospitals and all butthirty-one regional hospitals had had nurses' call systems installed. At thattime ASF headquarters approved the Engineers' request for sufficientadditional funds to complete the installation of such systems in all regional hospitals.64
Housing for Hospitals in Theaters of Operations
In the middle of 1943 Surgeon General Kirk and his chief ofProfessional Services had the problem of housing for hospitals in theaterscalled forcibly to their attention during visits to North Africa and theSouthwest Pacific. According to plans at the beginning of the war, hospitals intheaters of operations were to be housed in tents, in existing buildingswherever they were available, or in buildings erected by the Engineers witheither native or imported building materials according to standard plans fortheater-of-operations-type construction. None of these means of housing hadproved universally satisfactory. In some areas, such as North Africa, tentagewas too hot. In others, such as the Pacific, it not only was too hot but itmildewed, rotted, and disintegrated within
59(1) Memo, CG ASF for SG, 14 Mar 44, sub: ProposedRevision of WD Memo W 100-4-43, with incl, draft of memo. SG: 300.6. (2) WD Cir 148, 14 Apr 44.
60(1) Ltr, SG to CG ASF, 19 Jun 44, sub: Air Conditioning inGen and Regional Hosps, with 2d ind, CG ASF to CofEngrs, 13 Jul 44. (2) OCE CirLtr 3457 (Repairs and Utilities No 10), 19 Dec 44, sub: Refrigeration andVentilation-Revision of Policy for Air-conditioning in Gen, Regional and Sta Hosps. Both in CE: 673.
61Ltr, SG to CofEngrs, 16 Mar 44, sub: MD Cons Reqmts for FY1945. SG: 632.-1.
62Memo, CG ASF for SG, 1 Apr 44, referred to in 1st ind SPMCH 676, SG to CofEngrs, 26 Aug 44, on Memo,CofEngrs for SG, 23 Aug 44, sub: Nurses' Signaling Fac. SG: 413.45.
631st ind SPMCH 676, SG to CofEngrs, 26 Aug 44, on Memo,CofEngrs for SG, 23 Aug 44, sub: Nurses' Signaling Fac. SG: 413.45.
64Memo, CofEngrs for CG ASF, 25 Mar 45, sub: Nurses' Call Systs, with 1st ind SPMOC 676.1 (25 Mar 45), CGASF to CofEngrs, 2 Apr 45. SG: 413.45.
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about six months. In addition, the use of tentage made more difficult the control of mosquitoes in malarious areas. In some of the places where tentage was unsuitable for housing hospitals, there were no available existing buildings. Moreover, the Medical Department often encountered difficulties in getting theater-of-operations-type housing constructed because of shortages of lumber in theaters and of competition for Engineer services with such high-priority projects as the construction of harbors, docks, piers, airstrips, and essential roads. Beginning in the latter half of 1943 the Surgeon General's Office turned its attention to these problems.65
The problem of modifying tentage so that interior temperatures were lowered was relatively simple to solve. Late in July 1943 representatives of The Surgeon General and The Quartermaster General found that the British used a fly with their tents.66 Suspended on poles above a tent, it provided shade for the tent roof and also retained an insulating layer of air, thereby reducing the temperature inside by about 20 degrees in the summer sun. After suitable tests, the Quartermaster Technical Committee in the summer of 1943 approved the use of flies with hospital tents. Plans were then made to procure 30,000, and subsequently tent flies were included in revised tables of equipment for hospital units. Thus a large existing stock of hospital ward tentage was adapted to use in tropical climates of low humidity.67
Meanwhile the Quartermaster Corps had begun a more extensive project-the development of a new type ofhospital tent. Called a sectional hospital tent, it had two distinguishingcharacteristics. A white liner made of cotton sheeting covered the entire insideof the tent, lowering temperatures and promoting cleanliness. This tent was soconstructed that a complete end section could be detached from the main body andadditional center sections added to extend its length as desired. It wasstandardized in July 1944 and, as tables of organization and equipment ofhospital units were subsequently revised, was included as a replacement for wardtents with flies. Some were issued for overseas use before the end of the war.68
The problem of providing housing in hot humid areas that hadlittle lumber and no buildings was more difficult. During the early part of thewar the Southwest
65(1) Memo, SG for CG ASF, 10 Aug 43, sub: Interim Progress Rpt. SG: 024.-1.(2) An Rpt, Chief Surg SWPA, 1942. HD. (3) Ltr, Hq USASOS SWPA to CG ASF thru CGSWPA, 16 Sep 44, sub: Rpt of Trip to SWPA. . . . SG: 333.1-1 (Aust)F. (4) Ltr,SG to CG ASF, 28 Nov 44, Hosp Fac in TofOpns. HD: 632.-1 (Hosp Fac in POA). (5)Memo SPMCP 632 (Aust)F, SG for CG ASF, 29 Dec 44, sub: Hosp Cons, SWPA. HRS: ASFHq Somervell files, "SG, 1944."
66The United States Army used flies with small tents but had made noprovision for their use with the much larger hospital ward tents. Informationsupplied by Dr. Irving G. Cheslaw, Historian, OQMG.
67(1) Memo SPOPI 424.1, Col Robert C. McDonald, MC, Chief Hosp and Evac SecPlanning Div Oprs ASF for Gen Lutes, 21 Jul 43, sub: Improvement in Tentage andLaundries for the MD. HD: Wilson files, "Day File, Jul 43." (2) Inf note, W. D. Styer to ColSmith, ca. 17 Aug 43. HRS: ASF Control Div, 319.1 "SGs Interim Rpt, G-56."(3) Memo, Col [Robert C.] McDonald for Col F. M. Smith, 17 Aug 43, sub: Shelterfor Overseas Hosps. Same file. (4) Memo, Dep Dir Oprs ASF for CofS ASF, 31 Aug43, sub: SGs Interim Progress Rpt, with 6 incls. Same file. (5) T/O&E 8-550,Gen Hosp, C 2, 16 May 44. (6) T/O&E 8-581, Evac Hosp SM (400-bed), 25 Mar44.
68(1) Erna Risch, The Quartermaster Corps: Organization, Supply, andServices (Washington, 1953), p. 171, in UNITED STATES ARMY IN WORLD WAR II.(2) T/O&E 8-560, Sta Hosp, 28 Oct 44. (3) T/O&E 8-580, Evac Hosp, 31Jan 45. (4) Information supplied informally by Dr. Risch on 30 November 1953.
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Pacific theater had developed plans for partially prefabricated buildings and had arranged with the Australians for their manufacture. Constructed of corrugated sheets of iron, floored with wood or concrete, screened, and provided with wide overhanging eaves for protection against tropical rains, buildings of this type-called "Australian cowsheds"-had been satisfactory. By the middle of 1943, the demand for them threatened to exceed the Australian supply and the theater called upon the zone of interior to furnish prefabricated buildings to house 22,000 beds in 44 hospitals.69 As a result, the offices of The Surgeon General and the Chief of Engineers worked on improvements in plans for overseas hospitals and on the provision of prefabricated buildings.70 The term "prefabricated" was used loosely by both offices and apparently meant different things to different people, for in September 1943 the Surgeon General's Construction Division was surprised when it discovered that the Engineers were planning precut but not prefabricated buildings.71 The Surgeon General protested against the adoption of precut construction, but because of the urgent need for hospital buildings in the Pacific, ASF headquarters, the Engineers reported, directed them to fill the theater's requisition.72 In conferences with representatives of the Surgeon General, the Chief of Engineers agreed that truly prefabricated steel buildings would be preferable to those of precut wood, but pointed to restrictions upon the use of steel as the major reason for not planning its use in hospital buildings. The Surgeon General's Office then prepared an urgent request to ASF headquarters for steel, and the ASF Mat?riel and Production Division decided that, as a result of the cancellation of drum plate commitments, it could be suppliedfor buildings for twenty of the forty-four hospitals requested by the Pacific.73Subsequently, the Surgeon General's Office and the Engineers engaged ina revision of plans for the types, sizes, and internal arrangements of hospitalbuildings, to correct defects that had been revealed by experience in usingtheater-of-operations-type construction in the Desert Training Center in theUnited States.74
The plans for precut hospital buildings developed by the Office of the Chiefof Engineers failed to meet the approval of theater headquarters. In the firstplace, the Southwest Pacific theater believed that they would not solve theengineering problem, for to erect them would require more construction personnelthan would
69Office of the Chief Engineer, General Headquarters Army Forces, Pacific, Engineersin Theater Operations, in ENGINEERS OF THE SOUTHWEST PACIFIC 1941-45, vol. I (1947), pp. 127-28. Reference to a requisition dated 19 July 1943, which hadnot been located, is made in Ltr, CG USASOS SWPA to CG ASF thru CG USAFFE, 28Apr 44, sub: Prefabricated Hosps. CE: 632 "Vol. 4."
70Memo, CofEngrs for SG, 19 Aug 43, sub: Proposed Plans for . . . Tropical Hosps . . . Prefabricated All Wood Bldgs, with 3 inds. SG: 632.-l (Gen).
71Memo, CofEngrs for SG, 23 Sep 43, sub: Prefabricated Tropical Hosps, with 1 ind and 3 incls. CE: 632 "Vol. 4."
72(1) Memo, CofEngrs for SG, 13 Oct 43, sub: Structures for Tropical Hosps. SG: 632.-1 (Gen). (2) Memo, Maj Edwin M. Loye, SGO for Lt Col A. L. Tynes, SGO, 15 Oct 43, sub: Mtg . . . Regarding Prefabricated Steel and Stock Precut Wood Hosp Bldgs. Same file.
73(1) Ltr, Act SG to Mat Div SOS, 18 Oct 43, sub: Steel Hosp Bldgs. SG: 632.-1. (2) 1st ind, CG ASF to CofEngrs, 23 Oct 43, sub: Steel Hosp Bldgs, on unlocated basic Ltr. SG: MOOD "Pacific."
74(1) Memo, Chief Hosp Cons Br SGO for SG, 21 Feb 44, sub: Insp of TofOpns Type Hosp Facs in the C-AMA. SG: 632.-1. (2) Ltr, SG to CofEngrs, 24 Apr 44, sub: Modifications of TofOpns Specifications for Hosp Cons. Same file. (3) Rpt of Conf, CofEngrs to SG, 19 May 44. HD: 632.-1.
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be available. In the second place, hospitals planned forprecut construction were more elaborate than the theater thought necessary. Forexample, floor space per bed in wards was greater than in Australianprefabricated buildings, services and utilities were considered excessive, andcertain buildings such as fire stations, guardhouses, and quarters for officersand enlisted men were considered unnecessary. War experience in the Pacific haddictated austerity in hospital housing which the Surgeon General's Office wasunwilling to approve. The Southwest Pacific agreed to accept the hospitalbuildings being prepared for shipment from the United States "on the scoreof expediency," but requested that they be held until called for.75Meanwhile, the Southwest Pacific continued to use "Australian cowsheds" and the Central Pacific to use Quonset huts supplied by theNavy.76 When precut hospital buildings did arrive in the Pacific,theater headquarters found them, for the reasons expected, unsatisfactory.77During the rest of 1944 and the earlypart of 1945 the Offices of The Surgeon General and the Chief of Engineerscontinued attempts to provide prefabricated hospitals that would meet the needsof the Pacific, but the war ended before they could achieve success.
75(1) Ltr, CG USASOS (SWPA) to CG ASF thru CG USAFFE, 28 Apr 44, sub: Prefabricated Hosps, with 7 inds. CE: 632 "Vol. 4." (2) Ltr, SG to CofEngrs, 29 May 44, sub: Prefabricated Hosps. SG: 632.-1. (3) Memo, Chief Theater Br SGO for Col Welsh, 29 Sep 44, sub: Housing for Hosps. SG: MOOD "Pacific."
76(1) Memo, Chief Theater Br SGO for Col [Arthur B.] WelshSGO, 13 Sep 44, sub: Housing for Hosps in SWPA. SG: MOOD "Pacific."(2) Rad CM-IN-10289, CG USAFPOA to CG PE, Ft Mason, Calif, 8 Dec 44. SG: 632"Hosp Misc 1944."
77(1) Memo, Chief Hosp Cons Br SGO for Dir Hosp Div SGO, 2 Sep 44. (2) Memo, Lt Col [Douglas B.] Kendrick, [Jr.] MC for SG, 2 Sep 44, sub: Rpt of Trip to SPA, SWPA, and CPA, 6 Jun-8 Aug 44. (3) Tel conv, Lt Col R. A. Lewis, OCE and Col Tynes, MC, SGO, 2 Sep 44, sub: Prefabricated Hosp Bldgs for Pacific Theater. All in SG: MOOD "Pacific." (4) Ltr, CG Hq Island Comd Saipan to CG POA, 17 Jan 45, sub: Deficiencies of Bks-Precut Ptbl Wood, for Hosp Usage, with 2 inds. CE: 632 (USAFPOA).
