The Washington Branch Sanitarium
By G. T. Harding, Jr.
We believe that the readers of the REVIEW will be glad to learn that the medical work in Washington is making definite progress. The growth of the work here has been slow, but it is steadily increasing as we are becoming better known among the physicians and the people. We feel sure that if our own people were made to better realize the advantages of their medical institution in Washington, it would receive more of their patronage. While the Branch Sanitarium was established mainly to introduce our medical work to the citizens of Washington in order to create a local patronage for the Washington Sanitarium to be operated at Takoma Park, it was so equipped as to enable it to carry on first-class sanitarium work for the benefit of those who must leave their homes for treatment, until such a time as the suburban sanitarium is ready for occupancy. Although the institution is small, it can nicely accommodate more than twenty patients; and for what it lacks in elaborate equipment for the entertainment of its convalescent guests, its location in the beautiful and interesting city of Washington, with all its attractions and opportunities for sightseeing, more than compensates. The location of the Sanitarium in such a medical center as Washington makes it possible for its patrons to have the advantage of the best consultation in difficult and serious medical and surgical cases. The greatest power for good in the institution is the spirit of self-sacrifice, of consecration, and of devotion manifested on the part of the workers. It is such as can not help but please and inspire confidence in the sick, and to warrant the belief that the Lord can bless their efforts. The sanitarium family meets together for worship every morning, for vesper services at the beginning and the end of the Sabbath for the study of the “Ministry of Healing” every Sabbath afternoon, and for helpers’ meeting every Sunday at noon. The nurses are studying the life of Christ in “The Desire of Ages,” and meet twice a week for this purpose. As far as possible all attend the regular services in the Memorial Seventh-day Adventist church. The nurses’ classes are necessarily small, but we are endeavoring to give the pupil nurses a good training in the various departments of the institution, and a thorough drill in text-book work, and in practical nursing, both in the institution and among outside cases where the sick can not afford to employ graduate nurses. A nurses’ bureau is maintained, of graduate nurses who are willing to work in the institution or on outside cases. Our physicians and nurses have been taking an active part in the programs of the four health schools conducted in our churches in Washington. Every Monday evening one of the physicians gives a parlor talk on some health topic to our patients, and we can see that these efforts are doing something toward developing an interest in our work. The cost of rent and living in Washington is comparatively high, and makes the cost of caring for the sick correspondingly large; but we are anxious to be of benefit to those of our denomination and their friends who need treatment, and have so arranged it that patients can be cared for at a rate of from thirteen to forty dollars a week. In the case of persons of very limited means, and of those dependent on the generosity of others, the sanitarium reduces the charges to the actual cost of maintenance if the cheaper rooms are selected. Certain of these cases can be treated for as low a cash payment as six dollars and a half a week. The management is anxious to serve the needs of our people, and will be glad to answer any inquiry about this work that may be made. We need the hearty support and co-operation of every loyal Seventh-day Adventist for the upbuilding of the work as quickly as possible. The Washington Sanitarium should receive encouragement from, and the helpful prayers of, all who are interested in the advancement of the cause. G. T. HARDING, JR., M. D.