Chamber of Commerce Endorses Hospital
Project at Tuesday Meeting
On motion by Jacque Roth,
seconded by Sol Urie and unani
mously adopted by the Seward
Chamber of Commerce at its reg
ular meeting. Jan. 6, the sec
retary was instructed to draw up
the following resolution support
ing Proposition No. 1 in the City
Election called for Jan. 20. 1953.
WHEREAS the Seward Chamber
of Commerce is primarily in
terested in Seward, Alaska,
and
WHEREAS we are concerned
with any project that will ma
terially aid in the growth of
Seward both as a town and as
a business center, and
WHEREAS adequate Hospital fa
cilities are an essential re
quirement for the growth of
any town:
BE IT RESOLVED that we do
all in our power to secure such
facilities for Seward, Alaska,
by publicly supporting Prop
osition No. 1, calling for a
bond issue to build such a
Hospital, in the coming city
elections.
SEWARD CHAMBER OF
COMMERCE
Letters To The Editor
Dear Editor:
We would like to answer Mr.
Keating's letter which appeared
in the Seward Seaport Record
on January 9. 1953. What we
say in this letter is true fact,
and is not, nor is it meant to
be propaganda concerning your
current hospital issue.
We present our information
running parallel to the state
ments made by Mr. Keating. As
proposed by him. the recently
constructed Nurses' Home can
not be turned into a forty bed
hospital immediately or without
alteration. We have bedrooms,
bathrooms, and kitchen facili
ties installed for healthy people,
but no facilities or equipment
which are necessary for good
hospital function. Therefore, the
building could not be used im
mediately far a hospital in car
ing for the sick. The entire
second floor could not be used
for sick people unless you in
tend to exhaust the nurses with
their first assignment with tiie
stairs they would have to climb.
For hospital use, an elevator
would be absolutely necessary
to carry patients who could not
climb stairs. The installation of
an elevator to carry food carts
and the purposes mentioned
would require alterations. These
could not be immediate, and
would take up much of the pro
posed bed space.
At the time your paper went
to print, the statement in regard
to the number of occupants here
at the home was inaccurate.
We were eight instead of seven
in number, and at the time of
writing this, we are nine in num
ber. Such a group does seem
small for a large building, but
here's the answer to that state
ment. To date, furniture has ar
rived for only nine rooms, and
until more beds arrive by the
slow water transportation route,
1 c.oubt ii even the good citizens
of Si ward, would ask a person
to sleep on the floor.
In regard to the second and
third arguments, we restate the
facts we believe to be true. Your
city sales tax, which we pay
whether we re voters or not, was
originally passed to be spent
on health and education in the
community of Seward. To date,
only the educational program
has received benefits from the
sales tax. Granted, better school
facilities are needed, but the
community must keep in mind a
balanced program. You would
like your children to be born
in a safe hospital as well as to
attend a good school. Your own
citizens, the local Volunteer
Firi-men who fight your fires,
dread that day that Seward will
make national headlines because
of a hospital disaster similar to
the fires at Nome, Valdez, and
Bethel.
Besides being an unsafe place
for your loved ones when they
are ill, the present hospital
makes a very difficult work sit
uation for the employees. Be
cause of your city regulations,
the residents of this recently
constructed Nurses’ Home wiil
have no voice in the program
you outline for the community.
Anyone who would consider
turning the Nurses' Home into
a hospital should also keep in
mind, that if such was the case,
hospital rates would increase
quickly, higher salaries would
be demanded by the nurses, and
adequate housing would have to
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be made available for them.
Yours is the choice. May God
guide you to choose wisely as
you vote for Federal aid while
it is yet available. If anyone has
the interests of the community
at heart, the members of the
Chamber of Commerce certainly
do. They say, “vote yes on the
hospital Bond Issue January the
twentieth.”
Sincerely,
Residents of the New
Nurses’ Home of
Seward
To The Editor:
The year 1 .,53 has arrived,
bringing with it new problems
and changes of world impor
tance. It is time for all good
citizens to lake an active in
terest not only in government
but in community affairs. What
better start can we make this
year than to do our part in help
ing provide the medical, nurs
ing and hospital care that many
children and grownups will
need.
Let us examine the physical
facilities of our local General
Hospital. Is it a fire hazard?
Are the patients units and serv
ice facilities arranged uniformly
in each section of the hospital?
Are supplies and equipment
stored close to the place where
they will be used? How far from
any patient are the emergency
drugs, emergency oxygen, extra
intravenous poles and tracheo
tomy sets?
The hospital is definitely a
fire hazard and the answer to the
other questions is that there is
not sufficient space on the main
Floor to provide for the proper
storage of equipment, so the
nurse must take many, many
extra extra steps up and down
stairs to procure equipment
which is stored wherever there
is some space to allow for such,
Needless to say, by the nurse
having to spend extra time col
lecting equipment, she is using
time that could be devoted te
the patient's care.
Service to mankind is .the pri
mary function of nurses and is
the reason for the existence ol
the nursing profession. In re
turn for this service should wi
then deny nurses the right tc
comfortable living? Decent and
comfortable living quarters are
a "must” for every nurse. The
new nurse's home is a morale
booster for the nurse and as soon
as furnishings arrive, the rooms
will be occupied to capacity.
The Hill-Burton Act Which
will expire in 1955 provides
funds only for the construction
ol hospitals; we will not be giv
ing up a nc‘w school by voting
for a hospital. Surely all of us
realize that health and educa
tion go hand in hand—let us
have both a hospital and a
school.
YOU, the citizens of Seward
have the tool with which to
build a hospital—it is, YOUR
VOTE. On January 20th go to
the polls and vote “yes” for the
construction of a new hospital.
Signed,
LAPREAL F. BIE
President, District 2.
Alaska Nurses Assn.
January 15. 1953
Mr. Thomas Howell
Seward, Alaska.
Dear Tom:
Congratulations on your very
interesting and informative
broadcast last night, setting forth
the reasons why you desired a
new hospital building for the
Town of Seward. The reasons
set forth were good and should
interest every Citizen of Sew
ard for the same reasons. Many
thanks. I enjoyed hearing your
comments.
Sincerely,
W. C. ERWIN
Copy
Seward Seaport Record
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To The Editor:
Being a newcomer to the com
munity and having had the oc
casion to utilize the present hos
pital, it is apparent to me that
Seward is in dire need of a new
hospital.
Congratulations to lorn How
ell on his recent radio speech.
If there is anything we can do
to help we will be very glad to
do so.
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