• Abstract and Figures
• Public Full-text

Public Document ANNUAL REPORT TRUSTEES Boston Psychopathic Hospital Year exdixg XovEMr.ER 30, 1930 Depaktment of Mental Diseases MafTachufetrs Tercentenary Publication of this Document approved bv the Commission on Administration and Finance 600—5-'31. Order 1969. OCCUPATIONAL PRINTING PLANT DEPARTMENT OF MENTAL DISEASES GARDNER STATE COLONY GARDNER. MASS. BOARD OF TRUSTEES William Healy, M.D., Chairmany Boston. Mrs. Esther M. Andrews, Secretary, Brookline. Carrie I. Felch, M.D., Bostorij ftptaTS Channing Frothingham, M.D.,' Boston. Allan W. Rowe, Ph.D., Boston. William J. Sullivan, Boston. Charles F. Rowli:y, Boston. CONSULTING PHYSICIANS E. B. GooDALL, M.D., Ophthalmologist. G. Philip Grabfield, M.D., Internist. Leon E. White, M.D., Oio-Laryngologist. Abraham Myerson, M.D., Neurologist. E. B. Sheehan, M.D., Gynecologist. The staffs of adjoining hospitals. OFFICERS OF THE HOSPITAL C. Macfie Campbell, M.D., Medical Director. Arthur N. Ball, M.D., Chief Executive Officer. Karl M. Bowman, M.D., Chief Medical Officer. Frank J. Curran, M.D., Senior Physician. G. Philip Grabfield, M.D., Senior Physician. John P. Powers, M.D., Senior Physician. Oscar J. Raeder, M.D., Senior Physician. 'Harry C. Solomon, M.D., Senior Physician. Irma a. Bache, M.D., Assistant Physician. Janet S. Barnes, M.D., Assistant Physician. Geokge M. Lott, M.D, Assistant Physician. Randall McLean, M.D., Assistant Physician. Mary Palmer M.D., Assistant Physician. Charles B. Sullivan, M.D., Assistant Physician. Robert E. Britt, M.D., Medical Interne Jacob Conn, M.D., Medical Interne. Geqrge S- Goldman, M.D., Medical Interne, , Chief of Neuropathological Laboratory. Marjorii: Fulstow, M.D., Acting Chief of Neuropathological Laboratory.^ Whitman K. Coffin, M.D., Roentgenologist. Peter J. Dalton, D.M.D., Dentist. F. L. "^ELLs, Ph.D., Head Psychologist. Mary Fitzgerald, Principal of School of Nursing. Esther C. Cook, Head Social Worker. Ethelw yn F: Humphrey, Head Occupational Therapist. Mrs. Et.veretta Blake, Librarian. Elizabeth Libber, Treasurer. iBy arrangement with the Department of Mental Diseases CONTENTS Report; of TruptPPP 3 Report of Medical Director 3 Rt^port of Out-Patient Department 18 Report of Chiff Medical Officer 23 Report of BiocLemical Laboratory 25 Report of Psychological Laboratory 26 Report of Neuropathological Laboratory 28 Report of Department of Therapeutic Research 28 Report of Chief Executive Officer 30 Report of Social Service Department 32 Report of Superintendent of Nurses 36 Report of Department of Occupational Therapy 38 Ir.D. 137 ' 3 REPORT OF THE TRUSTEES OF THE BOSTON PSYCHOPATHIC HOSPITAL To His Excellency the Governor and the Honorable Council: The Trustees would call attention to this report of 1930 as representative of the work of another busy year at the Boston Psychopathic Hospital. The clinical study of 1,900 patients by the methods that take into account the many possible and often very complicated factors that enter into the production of mental symp- toms and personality disorders involves an immense task. From observations and routine visits there, and from the reports received at the regular monthly meetings, the Trustees believe that the work continues to be of very high calibre. Consider- ing the complicated nature of the problems presented, the great numbers of patients that are seen, the changes in the professional staff that occur from time to time, and the limitation of funds, it is obvious to us that the level of the work has been splendidly maintained. We have every reason to confirm the high regard in which the hospital is held nationally and even internationally. That the work with so many difficult patients continues year after year with such a minimum of difficulty arising is due particularly to the skilful management of the medical director, the chief executive officer, and the chief of medical service, as they are all encouraged by the attitude of the Commissioner of the Department of Mental Diseases. In turn, they appear to imbue the whole personnel with a spirit of co-operative service. Once more we assert that the Commonwealth of Massachusetts is deeply indebted to these officers for the fine spirit which they display. We would add our fervent hope to that expressed by our medical director for extension of research into the great and baffling scientific and human problem of mental disease. We are grateful for the special funds which have been attracted through the professional standing and capacity of the staff, funds which have led to the special studies that have been carried on, but it is evident that greater re- sources are necessary if the hospital is to develop, as it should, into one of the most notable centers for the scientific investigation of mental ailments — one of the greatest scorges of mankind. There are several outstanding activities of the hospital which could be pointed out as distinctive continuing achievements. These should appear obvious to the reader of this report, but we would this year like to make special mention of the success of the co-operative training of nurses, which, in turn, means better service to the community through more nurses being acquainted with the needs of the mentally ill. This is merely one of the fields in which the hospital is functioning co-operatively. The fact is that mental ailments have many complications in- volving the family, economic, educational, and social life of the individual as well as his physical and psychological conditions. Interdependence and inter-relation ship of all these have to be considered both in studying the causation of the disorder as well as in making plans for treatment. Besides the work done in the hospital itself, co-operation with families, courts, social agencies, employers, and schools is necessary. The medical director's reports, and especially his short sketches of cases show how well this is kept in mind. Respectfully submitted, William Healy, Chairman. Allan Winter Rowe Esther M. Andrews, Secretary. William J. Sullivan, Carrie Innes Felch, Channing Frothingham, Charles F. Rowley. MEDICAL DIRECTOR'S REPORT December 11, 1930. To the Board of Trustees of the Boston Psychopathic Hospital: In accordance with the provision of the statutes I submit for your consideration the report for the statistical year ending September 30, 1930, and for the fiscal year ending November 30, 1930. 4 P.D. 137 On the General Work of the Hospital In previous annual reports some attention has been paid to the general organiza- tion of the work in the hospital; an outline has been given of the various functions of the hospital, of its various departments and of the coordination of the various activities in the hospital. The three main functions of the hospital are (1) the care and treatment of the patients confided to it; (2) investigation into the causes of mental disorders and into the best way of dealing with them; (3) the teaching of various groups of special students. The combination of these three functions has many advantages but at times the demands made upon one function may somewhat interfere with the fulfillment of another. The demand made upon the medical staff by the very large number of patients admitted is so absorbing that there is less time for investigative work than one could desire. In addition, the very limited budget which is available for investigative work makes it impossible to take advantage of the unusual oppor- tunities for research and to follow up promising lines of inquiry. For the hospital to fulfill its function of research in any adequate way, structural additions and a larger budget for research are necessary. Even under the present limitation of facilities at the hospital, investigative work has been steadily carried on during the past year, and references will be made to this work later in the report. The number of patients admitted to the hospital during the past year, the types of disorder dealt with, the variety of clinical problems presented, the special ques- tions of treatment which have arisen have not differed essentially from the material of the preceding year. It is not generally realized even by the medical profession how much time is taken up in the examination, the diagnosis, the treatment of even the simplest case of mental disorder. In certain medical specialties attention may be, without danger, focussed upon a special organ or system, and treatment directed almost immediately to that system. In the field of mental disorders the problem is more complex. The symptoms for which the patient is brought to the hospital can only rarely be looked upon as due to the disorder of a single system, and in general have to be considered from a wider point of view as a problem in human adjustment. The psychiatrist has to make a thorough review of his patient, not only of the basal functions such as circulation, digestion, excretion, but also of the instinctive and the emotional life and of the general problem of the adaptation of the patient with his special personality to the actual life situation which he has to meet. In view of the large admission rate and of the unusually heavy demands made upon the time of each house physician for the examination of a single patient, only a limited number of the patients admitted can be studied intensively over any considerable period. Yet it is chiefly from such intensive study of cases that pro- gress in our knowledge of the intimate mechanisms of mental disorders is to be expected. It is one of the practical problems of the hospital to choose judiciously from the large number of patients admitted those cases where intensive study and treatment are likely to be most productive. It has been the custom in previous annual reports to give brief sketches of indi- vidual cases in order to illustrate the actual problems dealt with at the hospital, and to give some human content to the abstract diagnostic terms of the statistical tables.

Load more

  56

Copy Link