HOW'S THIS FOR R TRAVEL PROGRAM?
What happens when someone sitting in Jun
eau attempts to create a plan for improving
conditions in Seldovia, Kenai or Homer, was
plainly illustrated last week, when the De
partment of Public Health advanced a plan
for providing Kenai, Kasilof, Ninilchik and
Tyonek with nursing service.
The planning agent, who obviously has ne**
ver attempted to travel from Seldovia to the
communities on Upper Cook Inlet, has devised
a scheme that doesnft look bad on paper. Un
der the plan, the public health nurse now
headquartered at Seldovia and serving Homer
and Port Graham, would go to Upper Cook In
let for half a year to providj similar ser
vice for the communities above-named.
What the planner forgot to do was to get
down to earth long enough to figure out just
how much time any public health nurse is go
ing to have to do any nursing when she must
reach communities as widely separated as
those named in Upper and Lower Cook Inlet.
Financial reasons were given for adding
to the burden of Seldoviafs nurse. Just how
such a plan would save any money is a little
hard to understand. Flying would be costly
and time-consuming when the uncertain wea
ther of Cook Inlet areas is considered. Tra
vel by boat is possible only five months of
the. year, and in those five months about 99%
of the time would be taken up in getting to
one community from the last.
The communication from the Department of
Public Health stated that the work could not
be undertaken from Anchorage because of the
cost of air transportation between Anchorage
and Kenai. If anyone had taken time to in
quire about the cost of fares from the Homer
ticket agent, he would have learned that it
costs just as much to get from Homer to Ken
ai as it does to get from Anchorage to Ken
ai. Add to that the cost of the fare from
Seldovia to Homer, and the expense would be
greater from this end.
The plan, • if put into effect, which it
may not be if enough local organizations ob
ject with vigor, will simply mean less nurs
ing service for Lower
Cook Inlet and not
enough to meet the
need In Upper Cook
Inlet. The nurse
will be spread so
thin she will have
time for no more than
a superficial job in
any of the seven com
munities •
And all of this
takes no account of
what such a program
would mean to a nurse ..
personally — living
quarters in two corn*
munities to keep up,
constant travel in
good weather and bad,
and the lowered mo
rale which would in
evitably result from
the attempt to handle
a job beyond the ab
ility of one person.
Seldovia probably
will be least hurt,
for the hospital can
take care of the
city's needs. Homer
and Port Graham will
suffer, and Kenai,
Kasilof, Ninilchik
and Tyonek stand to
gain nothing in the
way of a health pro
gram.
It's ' one plan
which the application
of a little elemen
tary geography ought
to scotch. Let's
hope there's a geog
raphy text available
in Department of
Health offices at
Juneau.