HomeMy WebLinkAbout1957-HNSC-rpt.pdf REPORT OF HOSPITAL NEEDS STUDY COMMITTEE
The Hospital Needs Study Committee, authorized by vote of
the Town Meeting on March 25, 1956, has met 7 times . At
these various meetings it has interviewed and consulted with
Dr , A. Daniel Rubenstein, Director of the Massachusetts De-
partment of Public Health, the administrators and trustees
of neighboring hospitals and other interested people . It
had one meeting to which it invited the 23 physicians who
are practicing medicine in the town.
On the basis of information obtained from these meetings,
your committee calls attention to the folloWing fabtst
1. Currently{ the hospital needs of Lexington resi-
dents are being met by the facilities bf neighbor-
ing hospitals. In the period from September 1956
to September 1957, 2100 inhabitants of Lexington
were hospitalized Over 51 percent of these went
to Emerson Hospital in Concord, Mt . Auburn in Cam-
bridge , Symmes Hospital in Arlington, or to the
Waltham Hospital in Waltham. A large percent bf
the remainder went to Boston hospitals, and the
others were scattered all over the state .
2. There is a Federal Act known as the Hill-Burton %
Bill which was established to study the hospital
needs in each state This act provides funds to
aid in the expansion of existing hospitals or in the
construction of new hospitals Under the Department
of Health which administers the Hill4Burton Act,
there is no recommendation for a hospital in Lexing-
ton as it considers it a luxury item for the town
3 . The cost of constructing an adequate 100 bed hospital
is estimated at between $1,500,000 00 and $2,000,000.0f,
end sinoe there is no industry in the town to help
raise funds for building such a hospital, or for help-
ing to support it, (roughly estimated at $25.00 per
bed per day) , there seems to be little chance of ob-
taining assistance under the Hill-B urton Bill. The
maximum available under this Bill for any hospital is
$250,000.00.
4. The acute shortage of nurses and trained hospital
personnel must be seriously considered
5. The hospitals in four neighboring towns are expanding
or have just expanded their plants A large part of
this expansion has been caused by the use of their
facilities by the people of Lexington
6. According to the State plan of hospitals, Symmes is
the hospital for Lexington. Emerson, Mt . Auburn and
Waltham have building programs under way, or have
' just completed them and will be better able to serve
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our town.
7. The doctors felt that a hospital in Lexington today
would primarily be a convenience to them, but they
did suggest that a hospital be listed in its order
of importance with the other items under considera-
tion such as schools, water mains, sewers, etc . They
also suggested the town set aside a plot of land of
at least 25 acres for a possible hospital site should
the town want to build a hospital in the future .
8 This Committee was not charged with determining how
a hospital would be financed, but it calls attention
to the fact that a $2,000,000 00 hospital - bonded
over ten years - would add about 45.00 to the tax
rate for that period In addition there would prob-
ably be an annual deficit to be paid by the Town
These figures apply only if the hospital were town
financed.
On the basis of the above facts this committee unanimously
feels thatsxfti,rton dues not now need a hospital It does
suggest, howev r, that a committee be appointed to work with
the Plannin€ Board in recommending a site for a hospital to
be used when tit population of the town is of sufficient size
to warrant having t s own hospital.
Respectfully submitted
Levi Burnell
Dr . William Cosgrove
Dr. Harold J. Crumb
George Morey
Ralph H. Tucker
Dr. Daniel Mill
Herbert L. Crowley, Jr , Sect .