REPORT OF THE Committee on the New York State Hospital for the Care of Crippled and Deformed Children. REPORT. To the State Board of Charities: Your committee on the New York State Hospital for the Care of Crippled and Deformed Children reports as follows: The Hospital for Crippled and Deformed Children is located at Tarrytown, Westchester county, and was established by authority of chapter 369 of the Laws of 1900, which appropriated for the institution the sum of $15,000. As was stated in the last annual report, the board of trustees leased for a term of five years at an annual rental of $1,000, a private residence located on a plot of high ground fronting the Hudson river at Tarrytown. The ground has a frontage of 300 feet on the river, going back 600 feet, and is bounded on one side by the main road leading north and south from Tarrytown. Some improvements were made in the residence to fit it for the accommodation of patients, and it now has room for 25 children, beside the necessary attendants. The hospital was informally opened for the reception of patients on the 7th of December, 1900, when five were received. It was formally opened with appropriate ceremonies on the 17th of May, 1901. During the year ending September 30, 1901, 14 boys and 10 girls were admitted and 2 boys and 3 girls discharged, leaving a population October 1, 1901, of 12 boys and 7 girls. Since that time the institution has been filled to its maximum capacity. Beside the appropriation of $15,000 made by chapter 369 of the Laws of 1900, $5,000 was contributed by private individuals. This was expended in preparing the buildings for service. The Legislature of 1901, by chapter 701, made an appropriation of $4,250 for extraordinary expenses. This amount was to be ex pended as follows: For equipment of operating-room, $2,000; for splints, braces and other orthopedic apparatus, $500; for work bench, tools and accessories for repairing apparatus, $250; for isolation pavilion of wood construction for contagious diseases, $1,500. In addition to this the Legislature appropriated $10,000 for maintenance. All of the improvements thus provided for, with the exception of the isolation pavilion, have been made. Up to the present time plans for this pavilion are incomplete. Two sets of plans have been made, but of such character that it was impossible to secure the construction of a pavilion for the amount appropriated therefor. This pavilion is greatly needed and should be erected as speedily as possible. The law establishing the hospital provides that it "shall be for the care and treatment of any indigent children who may have resided in the State of New York for a period of not less than one year, who are crippled or deformed or are suffering from disease from which they are likely to become crippled or deformed. No patient suffering from an incurable disease shall be admitted to such hospital. No patient shall be received, except upon satisfactory proof, made to the surgeon-in-chief by the next of kin, guardian, or a State, town or county officer, under rules to be established by the Board of Managers, showing that the patient is unable to pay for private treatment. Such proof shall be by affidavit. If there was an attending officer before the patient entered the hospital, it shall be accompanied by the certificate of such physician, giving the previous history and condition of the patient." When this hospital was established the State Board of Charities furnished the board of managers with a list of more than 70 inmates of children's institutions who were reported as crip pled and deformed. Unfortunately some of them have passed the age limit when they are eligible for treatment in this hospital, but the names of all such crippled children were furnished to the authorities of the institution in the hope that the new institution would be able to do something for the permanent benefit of some of these cripples. The hospital is intended to minister to the needs of the children of the poor who may now be suffering from physical deformity in their own homes, as well as those who may be inmates of children's institutions. Up to the present time a total of 32 persons have been under treatment. Several of these have been returned to their homes as permanently cured; others were taken out before the cure was effected, but the larger number still remain under treatment. Owing to the character of the diseases for which this hospital is established it will be necessary for patients to remain a long time, hence the number of patients under care at any one time will not be great. If the institution is to be continued, it will ultimately require enlargement, and this enlargement must be in a new location where more land will be available. Owing to the experimental nature of this institution nothing has been done in the way of providing occupation for the children. By the beneficence of private individuals a school is maintained three hours each day. If this hospital is to be a permanent institution it will be necessary to provide facilities for the regular instruction of the children under treatment. Respectfully submitted, STEPHEN SMITH, M. D., Committee. |