TJioinpson: The Cardiac Case 



11 



before they were forced to "lay off'' and seek a doctor for the first 

 time. Worse yet, some of these patients returned to the hospital 

 two or three times. This was certainly due to one of two or 

 three facts. First, the patient may have been discharged before 

 he was really strong enough to leave. This does not often hap- 

 pen. Second, some have gone aAvay from the hospital without a 

 thoro understanding of how they should care for themselves. 

 Third, the patient may have left the hospital facing a long period 

 of convalescence. He had no convalescent home to which to go, 

 so returned to unsympathetic or ignorant friends and relatives 

 or to some necessary employment. 



CASE M.S. A very good example of the second is the history 

 of a young woman who has been in the hospital three times. She 

 is well-meaning and ambitious. She lives with her brother and 

 sister-in-law, who seem very good to her. She, however, does not 

 wish to depend on them, so leaves home to work. A few days 

 before the last break she was told by the doctor to go to bed and 

 rest. She would not do this, so was brought to the hospital in a 

 very weakened condition two weeks later. She seems perfectly 

 willing to rest in the hospital at the expense of the community, 

 but will not rest at the expense of her own family. 



CASE I.e. Another patient has had hospital treatment the 

 third time, because his family expects too much work of him. He 

 left the hospital after the second long stay, feeling comparatively 

 well. He went home with instructions to rest and regain his 

 strength. There was a great amount of work to be done and 

 the family seemed to think he should do his share. He tried and 

 was brought back to the hospital in a more critical condition 

 than ever. He said on entering the hospital last that he would 

 just stay there now until he died. A table of the complete time 

 spent in hospitals by these 61 patients may show more clearly the 

 time cost to the community for their care. 



COST TO COMMUNITY FOR HOSPITAL TREATMENT GIVEN 61 



PATIENTS 



Number of Average Total Average Cost Total 

 Hospital Patients Days Days Per Day Cost 



City 15 58.8 882 $1.30 $1,140.00 



Robert W. Long 46 63.6 2,925.6 2.20 6.436.32 



Total 



$7,o82.JX) 



