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New Health Department Quarters To Be Established at Fallon FALLON, Jan. 11.—Indigert pa tients are soon to be moved by the Churchill county health depart ment from the Handley hospital into quarters being fitted up in the building on the corner of Maine and A streets recently vacated by Dr. H. K. Wilson, retiring county health officer. Action by the county commis sioners follows refusal on the part of the Handley hospital to admit the newly appointed county phy sician and public health officer, Dr. Hobart Wray, to visit county patients, Allan EX. Dalbey, new member of the county board of commissioners recently named a committee of one to supervise the county health de partment, was notified this week by Mr. and Mrs. A. E. Handley, owners and operators of the hos pital, that Dr. Wray's presence in the hospital would be denied. Standards of the institution in fol lowing regulations of the American Hospital association, could not be maintained by admitting a doctor of osteopathy to practice, it was said. Dr. Wray, it is contended, is not a doctor of medicine. Accordingly, Dalbey said last week, Dr. Ferris Summerbel, one of two M. D.’s practicing here, has been employed to attend county patients until they can occupy quarters accessible to the county health officer proper. Another factor leading to in dependent hospitalization of coun ty patients is the fact that the commissioners had received no bids for their care when the time came last week to make an annual con tract. The Handiey hospital has been taking care of these cases for sev eral years. The expiring contract called for $2.50 a day for each pa tient. No matron's salary or re tainer fee is included, and the amount is inadequate to meet the costs under present conditions, ac cording to Handley, who adds that he was told by Commissioner Fred Kien, recently named chairman of the board, some two months ago that it would be useless for the Handley hospital to bid. With no other hospital in town adequate to handle the patients, Handley was called by the com missioners to offer a price cover ing temporary care. This, it was said, would be the same as for private patients, $5 a day, unless a contract at a lower figure were agreed upon early next month when bids, if any, again will be opened. Handley said that the fig ure agreed upon would be retro active for the month of January. Negotiations now are off, it is indicated, since it is declared that the county will set up its own in stitution to admit a health officer of its own selection. The Handley hospital was caring for nine indigent patients last Monday when the county board met to reorganize and open bids. All but one of these, according to Handley, were bed patients requir ing regular nursing care. Since then one has been moved by the county to a hotel, a convalescent fracture case. The commissioners had three bids for the post of county physic ian and public health officer which pays a combined salary of $1800 a year. Other bidders than Dr. Wray were Dr. Summerbell and Dr. F. H. Shampaugh. Another bid was from R. J. Loft house for court house janitorship. Lofthouse, present janitor, had no competition. Salaries of deputy officers ap proved were for Lester L. Moody, deputy sheriff and county game warden; Albert Hicks, county sheriff; Katherine Hauret, deputy auditor and recorder; Fred Franke, former deputy county clerk and new deputy assessor under the new assessor, Homer Bowers; Phil York, until recently employed in the Nevada internal revenue of fice at Reno, deputy county clerk and treasurer under John Hanni fan, who had just been sworn in as new county clerk, and Miss Elena Getto, another deputy coun ty clerk who has been serving un der George W. Likes, retiring clerk. Under the new arrangement which places Dalbey as a commit tee head for the public health de partment, Commissioner Kirin will take over the read department and Commissioner S. Ray Downs will handle the municipal telephone system. Eldon Best was re-elected man ager of the telephone system and
Newspaper Details
Reno Evening Gazette
Reno, Nevada, US
Mon, Jan 11, 1943
Page 12
Full Page
Clipped by
Bob K.
NV, USA 07 Jul 2026
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