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Page 2-A xk * _SAN ANTONIO EXPRESS—Wednesday, March 15, 1972 on. Even if the draft continues, an all-volunteer force of physicians in the armed forces still will be desirable, according to the assistant secretary of Defense for Health and Environ ment, who addressed members of the Bexar County Medical Society Tuesday night. Dr. Richard Wilbur told the physicians and a large group of military physicians who were guests at the meeting, that the suggested mili tary medical school proposed in legislation currently before the Senate Armed Services Committee could become a viable source of physicians for the armed services. “It would provide a scholarship program through which we could put students through medical school and pay them while they are in school,’’ he said, adding, ‘‘we would be paid back in time spent in the service as physicians after the students graduate,’’ Dr. Wilbur stat ed. By BILL GRAHAM Of the Express Staff By JOY COOK Of the Express Staff An extra-dry February this year was not accompanied by the usual upsurge in water usage, forcing the City Water Board to dip $78,502 deep into its reserves for the month, CWB officials reported Tuesday. The cash deficit is expected to be made up by mid-year with the summer watering days, however, Art Schlegel, director of internal au dit, reported. CWB won praise from its auditing firm. Noting that the services lose an average of 34 per cent of their physicians each year, Dr. Wilbur outlined a wide range of recommenda tions to improve the retention of physicians in the military. He said a pay bill with bonuses aimed to wards the younger doctors already has been introduced and a 40-year program for renew ing medical facilities will be requested to be accomplished in five years by the secretary of defense. Dr. Wilbur said the services will be direct ed to increase training and utilization of para medical personnel and special allowances will be made for physicians to continue their medi cal education. In addition he said he has rec ommended increasing regionalization and in ter-service use of military medical facilities. Dr. Wilbur said the Defense Department is seeking the highest possible quality medical care to all — active duty, dependents and re tired, but noted, ‘‘the quantity of such care will depend on the success of the retention pro grams.” He said the Defense Department has con Carneiro, Chumney and Co., for its ‘‘strong”’ financial position and for the careful handling of deposits which earned the utility more than $1 million in interest, enough to balance out the cost of paying off interest on its entire $31 million bond program. The 1971 financial report, presented by Rob ert Matthews of the auditing firm, showed the CWB wound up the year with $4.3 million in current assets and slightly more than $2 mil lion in outstanding liabilities. Revenues for the year ending Dec. 31, 1971, came to $11.9 mil lion, with operating expenses pegged at $7.2 million. Bond requirements, payments to be cluded a study directed by Congress on the feasibility of diverting part of the workload to civilian facilities. ‘In most areas it would be impossible,” said Dr. Wilbur, who added, ‘“‘It is our opinion that it is not feasible or too ex pensive.” Dr. Wilbur estimated that the number of lo calities where such care might be undertaken will ‘‘not be of statistical importance.” He not ed that in many areas civilian authorities have requested that the Defense Department allow military physicians to ‘moonlight’ to help handle the civilian patient loads near large military facilities. He noted that before World War II, military medicine was an elite corps with a waiting list and said the way for military medicine to re gain that status is to provide physicians with more professional satisfaction in their jobs. Admitting that drafted physicians have done superb jobs, Dr. Wilbur said the physi cian who desires a military career is still pre ferable because the draft is a form of coercion and ‘‘doctors just don’t like to be coerced,” improvement fund, and additions to reserve funds accounted for the remainder of the mon ey. February’s report showed only four-tenths of one inch of rain fell for the month, 76 per cent below normal and only half the amount recorded for February 1971, in the midst of the “big drought.” But the average water usage per customer per day dropped 15 per cent, due to addition of more customers in the minimum charge category, Schlegel reported. Metered water sales totaled $605,616 for February, down $74,588 from the same month in 1971. The central cooling and heating plant brought in $35,187 and other services account ed for $88,642 for the month. Operating expenses totaled $434,633, while depreciation totaled $177,354 and debt require ments came to $195,851. CWB chairman Jack Kaufmann repeated the utility’s plea for a rate increase, explain ing that in order to expand its bonding capaci ty to cover expansion demands the income lev el must be increased. CWB earlier this month asked City Council to consider a 45 per cent rate hike for October, with another 35 per cent boost again in 1968. No decision has been reached by council, however.
Newspaper Details
San Antonio Express
San Antonio, Texas, US
Wed, Mar 15, 1972
Page 49
Full Page
Clipped by
Curtis W.
USA 01 Jun 2026
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