ANNUAL REPORT OF THE GOVERNORS OF THE SOCIETY OF THE NEW YORK HOSPITAL FOR THE YEAR 1919

In conformity with the provisions of its charter, granted by royal authority June 13, 1771, in the reign of King George III, the Governors of the Society of the New York Hospital present their annual report and a statement showing the receipts and expenditures for the year 1919 of the several institutions under their control and management, as follows:

The Hospital at Fifteenth street, the House of Relief at Hudson street, the Department for the Treatment of Mental Diseases, known as Bloomingdale Hospital, and the Convalescent Cottages at White Plains, Westchester county.

During the year the readjustment of our various institutions after the war activities has been steadily progressing. This has naturally been accompanied by many administrative and economic problems, but these have been solved as they arose. This process of readjustment has increased the labors of the staffs of the different departments, and the additional burden laid upon the Superintendent of the Hospital and the Medical Superintendent of Bloomingdale Hospital has been especially severe. Their skillful handling of the affairs of their respective departments has already received appreciative recognition by the Governors.

One of the most significant events of the year has been the sale to the government of the United States, for $225,000, of our property at Hudson and Jay streets, which has been operated since 1894 as an emergency hospital under the title of the House of Relief. This was built to replace the institution which the Society maintained from 1875 to 1894 at No. 160 Chambers street, and which was widely known as the Chambers Street Hospital. For many years this was the only hospital in that part of the city. But by the establishment of the Volunteer Hospital, at the corner of Beekman and Water streets, and still more recently of the

Broad Street Hospital, at the corner of Broad and South streets, the hospital facilities below Chambers street have increased. In March, 1918, the House of Relief was, at the request of the Navy Department, closed as a civilian hospital and maintained by the Society solely for the care of sick and wounded sailors in active service. This work was satisfactorily completed in May, 1919. The government then expressed a wish to buy the property for use as a permanent institution in the public health service. After careful consideration, and in view not only of the government's need and of the existing provision in other institutions for civilian needs, but also of the growing difficulty of maintaining in that part of the city and under such conditions the quality of professional care and hospital service which the standards of the Society require, the Governors concluded to accept the Government's offer. This marked the conclusion of more than forty years of active emergency hospital work in the lower part of the city.

The result of the operations of the Society for the year has been a slight surplus of receipts over current expenses. For this result the Society is to be heartily congratulated. It has been made. possible by the generous response to the appeal which the Society issued last spring. The budget adopted for the year 1920 involves an estimated deficit of more than $50,000, but it is hoped that gifts to a substantial amount may again be received.

Shortly before his death on April 25, 1919, Mr. Augustus D. Juilliard generously offered to give $10,000 for the construction of an extension of the school-room and play-room of the Campbell Convalescent Cottages at White Plains. This work has now been satisfactorily completed. Its construction has permitted the inclusion of two well equipped suites of small and airy rooms for the isolation and treatment of children having infectious diseases. The extension is a substantial aid to the admirable work done by these Convalescent Cottages.

Among the other gifts of the year was one of $5,000 from Webb's Academy and Home for Shipbuilders, to endow a bed at the New York Hospital in perpetuity. This graceful tribute to the Society was keenly appreciated by the Governors. Ever since the foundation of the Academy in 1889 there has been an interesting link between the two institutions, in that the President of the

Society is, by virtue of the charter of the Academy, a member of its board of trustees.

During the year the Society has received $198,900 more from the executors of the will of the late James B. Brady, making a total from that source to date of $293,000. Owing to the necessary delay in the liquidation of the estate it is not possible yet to say what the residuary estate, which goes to the Society, will actually produce, but it is hoped that the total available for the Urological Department, designed by Mr. Brady, will not be less than $450,000.

New legacies that have become effective since the last report include the following:

Mr. Juilliard, by his will, which was proved in September, 1919, gave the Society $100,000.

By the will of Charles G. Thompson, who died December 8, 1919, the Society will, on the death of his sister, Miss Mary G. Thompson, receive a one-sixth share of his residuary estate. This share is estimated to be of a value at the present time of several hundred thousand dollars.

By the will of Jean Baptiste Bourdis, who died December 23, 1917, a legacy of $5,000, of which $3,750 has already been paid. A legacy of $1,000 under the will of John R. Peters, who died April 24, 1858, has also been paid.

By the will of Frederick Lawrence Upjohn, who died December 1, 1917, the Society will receive a legacy of $10,000 on the termination of two lives mentioned in the will.

Under the will of Charles E. Rhinelander the Society expects to receive, by designation of the residuary legatees, one-twentieth of that estate. This share is estimated at about $20,000.

The executors of the will of Mrs. Brockholst Cutting, in exercise of a similar discretionary power, are about to deliver to the Society property valued at $30,000.

The work of the Medical Board of the New York Hospital has proceeded with customary faithfulness and ability. Among their especial services may be mentioned the re-establishment, after the war, of the term of the interne staff at two years instead of one year, and the enlargement of the staff, and material increase in the efficiency, of the Pathological Department. It was with deep

regret that the Governors felt obliged to accept on account of illhealth the resignation of Dr. Hughes Dayton, who had served so ably and devotedly for several years as Attending Physician to the House of Relief, and as an Associate Attending Physician in the Second Division of the New York Hospital. Later in the year the resignation of Dr. Eugene F. DuBois, who had been an Associate Attending Physician in the First Division since 1917, was also accepted with regret. As against these losses we are fortunate in welcoming back to the Board as an Associate Attending Physician in the First Division, Dr. Nellis B. Foster, who left that position in 1915, to become a professor of medicine in the University of Michigan.

The report of the Medical Superintendent of Bloomingdale Hospital presents again for consideration the steady expansion in importance and usefulness of the work of that institution. The discharge in October of the last officers of the Army who had been treated at Bloomingdale for mental disorders, marked the termination of an interesting page in the Society's history. This was a war service undertaken at the request of the Surgeon-General of the Army. In all ninety-one officers were treated between May 5, 1918, and October 14, 1919, and of these 62 per cent, an unusually high percentage, left the Hospital either entirely recovered or greatly improved. The construction of a new dining hall for male attendants at an estimated cost of $40,000 has begun, and contracts for the installation of new boilers in the lighting, heating and power plant of the establishment at a cost of about $35,000, are soon to be let. The special need for the immediate future of a nurses' home at an estimated cost of about $300,000, of a new gymnasium at an estimated cost of about $150,000, and of four separate cottages for occupation by members of the medical staff and their respective families, at an estimated cost of about $25,000 each, has been presented to the board before, but each year of delay emphasizes the value of these additions to our equipment.

Early in the year Mr. Frank K. Sturgis, the chairman for many years of the Bloomingdale Committee, gave further practical proof of his great interest in that branch of our work by the munificent gift of $50,000 for the construction of a woman's occupation building on the Bloomingdale property. This will meet a need that

has been keenly felt for a long while, and will constitute a noble memorial of the generous donor's untiring and valuable services.

The Society has lost during the year two of its oldest Governors, Mr. Edmund D. Randolph and Mr. Augustus D. Juilliard. Appropriate memorial minutes have been adopted by the Governors in recognition of the great loss which the institution has suffered by the removal of those two valued friends and advisers.

After four years of service as President of the Society, which had been preceded by eight years as its Vice-President, Mr. Howard Townsend, in December last, declined a re-election. The Vice-President, Mr. Sheldon, was chosen in his place, and Mr. Payne Whitney became Vice-President. The Governors adopted a special minute in recognition of Mr. Townsend's devoted service to the institution during all these years.

The accompanying reports show the varied scope of our activities during the year.

EDWARD W. SHELDON,

HENRY W. CRANE,

Secretary.

New York, February 3, 1920.

President.