452 ILLINOIS STATE ACADEMY OP SCIENCE 



This is due to the more liberal hospital facilities offered 

 the physician, as many of the western hospitals are with- 

 out a staff or with a distinctlj^ open staff. 



Discussing the Springfield situation, we have in the city 

 a competing general hospital with a staff organization, 

 but this has not tended to curtail hospitalization in the 

 community because of the liberal policy of St. John's. 

 We have also a private hospital for nose and throat cases 

 which has always been filled, owing to the wide profes- 

 sional reputation of the owner and manager. We have 

 also two tuberculosis hospitals, which are also privately 

 owned and are well patronized. 



Discussing the operations of the hospital from the 

 standpoint of the Minimum Standard, let me state how 

 these requirements have been met. First, assuming that 

 the organization of the attending men, as suggested, is 

 for the purpose of bettering hospital conditions, how have 

 hospital conditions been bettered without such an organi- 

 zation of physicians ? It has been done. in this way ; when- 

 ever the attending men have desired improvements or 

 changes which would tend, as they believed, toward the 

 betterment of their professional work, their requests have 

 been made direct to the Director as individuals, or 

 through the hospital personnel. Such requests have been 

 studied from the standpoint of the hospital facilities and 

 policies, inquiry has been undertaken as to the workings 

 of such improvements in other institutions, and the sug- 

 gestion, wherever feasible and consistent with the finan- 

 cial policy of the institutions, has been carried out. Thus, 

 suggestions have not come from a small group, but the 

 hospital has received suggestions from the entire medical 

 personnel of the city. It might here be stated that the 

 medical personnel of the attending men of the hospital 

 includes every registered physician in the city, who is 

 either a member of the County Medical Association, or 

 who is found from time to time in consultation with mem- 

 bers of the County Medical Association. 



With reference to the competence of the attending 

 men, the Director of the hospital has always taken the 

 stand that the competence of a physician to practice medi- 



