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15
We were kept very fully occupied, hearing about the work done and visiting
places of public health interest in the city and surrounding country—waterworks,
sewage disposal plant, hospitals, schools, etc. The local health authority is a body
known as a "Board of Health," appointed by the Mayor. It consists of three
members who receive each 700 dollars per annum and meet generally once a week.
The chief executive or "Health Officer" or "Agent" is also appointed by the Mayor.
The present holder of the office is not a medical man. He was at one time a member
of the Council and Board of Health, and has done and is doing excellent work.
The staff of the department is adequate and capable and very good results are being
obtained. Every kindness was shown to us in New Bedford, and as had been the
case in other places visited, the fullest possible use was made of our presence for
propaganda purposes and to bring public health and the work of the Board of
Health and the health department prominently before the public. I had several
interesting experiences in New Bedford, amongst other things delivering an
Armistice Day address from the pulpit of one of the churches, and meeting two
people who had pleasant recollections of the Borough, one as a student at the
Polytechnic and the other as a patient in the Hospital of St. John and St. Elizabeth.
BOSTON (MASSACHUSETTS).
Having completed our tour of investigation in New Bedford we returned to
Boston for attachment to the City Health Department and a study of the activities
there. Boston, with its population of 800,000, is surrounded on all sides by about
20 or 30 other cities, which are continuous with it. The population in the area
occupied by these cities is about 1,200,000 or nearly one-third of the total population
—4,000,000—of the State. The health officer of Boston is known as the Commissioner
of Health, and is appointed by the Mayor. The present Commissioner
is a Dr. Mahoney, and remarkable on account of his size. We saw him only
twice during our stay, on the first day when he presented us to the Mayor of
Boston, who received us most kindly and arranged that we should accompany him
to a ceremony at the City Hospital; and on the day of our departure. Of health
work and organization we heard nothing from him, such information as we obtained
coming from the Deputy Health Commissioners in charge of the various branches
of the work, who enjoy more fixity of tenure of office than the Commissioner.
The programme arranged for us in Boston was originally intended to last about
a fortnight, but on account of a change of plans in connection with our visit to
New York it had to be altered. Partly for this reason, partly because of a certain
lack of precision in the directions as to meeting-places and times, and because
further, or so I thought, we were interfering with the work of very busy people,
I could not feel that I was getting at the heart of the organization and obtaining a
really proper insight into the health activities of the city. Many interesting things
I did see, and learn, in connection, for example, with the methods adopted in
regard to the prevention of diphtheria, which here as in Baltimore is a source of
trouble. Diphtheria cases, like cases of other infectious diseases, are in the main
isolated at home, houses and rooms occupied by the patients being placarded and
quarantined. That this procedure is likely to be very effective I doubt. The
officers, however, appear to believe in it, a number of part-time doctors, as well
as nurses, being employed to see it applied and to visit from time to time. In
diphtheria an attempt is being made to render the school children, or as many as
possible, immune to the disease by means of special injections and by giving
protective doses of antitoxin to family contacts with cases. The antitoxin for this
and treatment purposes is provided free.
I had an opportunity of seeing a large number of children in one of the
schools tested for diphtheria immunity, and the first injection given to those shown
by the test to require it. The number of children already dealt with in Boston
is 48,000, so that very soon a reduction in the amount of diphtheria should be
noticeable.*