Conference of Officers in Charge of Government Hospitals Serving Veterans of the World War
History
Conference of Officers in Charge of Government Hospitals Serving Veterans of the World War
Medicine, Military; Military hospitals; World War, 1914-1918 -- Veterans -- Medical care -- United States
It goes without saying that any definite order or instruction which
effects the policies and functions of the U. S. Veterans’ Bureau and
which may be issued to the field is sure of a series of return
re-actions from various parts of the country, both as to the manner in
which such an order is applied and as to the consequences of its
application. These reactions are naturally good, bad, and indifferent;
exact and truthful statements or colored as to the manner in which they
affect the various individuals in its application, but coming from all
parts of the United States they afford many valuable and effective
criticisms of the order in question and are illuminating as to the
original intent of the order and the amount of deviation or variation
from its original purpose brought about by the manner in which it is put
into effect.
The criticisms of General Order No. 26 had to do very largely with the
“Four Days’ Notice” clause, and because of the fact that large numbers
of beneficiaries in hospitals were being discharged without provisions
having been made for out-patient care, dental care, physiotherapy, or
other treatment where such was indicated and necessary; that patients
were being discharged without having proper arrangements made for
vocational training where the patient in question was feasible for some
kind of training and was anxious to get it; that many such patients had
to leave a hospital when they were receiving no compensation or where
adjustments or readjustments of matters related to compensation needed
to be carried out here.
These were the dominant and outstanding criticisms which followed the
issuance of General Order No. 26, and as a result of these criticisms,
it was considered advisable to issue a supplemental order correcting the
defects complained of. Accordingly General Order No. 26–A came out under
date of November 17, 1921.
The re-actions to General Order No. 26 were as I have just stated and
came largely from the Bureau beneficiaries, from friends, relatives, and
allied agencies working in the field. The criticisms of General Order
No. 26–A, however, came largely from the hospitals and the District
offices, the hospitals particularly. There was an apparent contradiction
between the two orders. No. 26–A seemed to largely or entirely
contradict the provisions of the original Order No. 26. General Order
No. 26 stated that patients not requiring further hospital treatment
should be given four days to complete personal arrangements and then be
discharged.
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