Hospital Prices
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Daily W•• ,II.r Todav's weather will be mostly fair wfth no chance of rain. The .•igh will be about 78 F (25 C) with the low about 50 F (10 C). ver reen Washington State University Daily Evergreen Vol. 85, No.5, Thursday, Sept. 28, 1978 Campus firefighting personnel were called to the scene of a grass fire adjacent to the east entrance to the Chinook apartment complex yesterday afternoon. A spokesman said a cigarette He's coming tossed from a vehicle is believed to have caused the blaze, to work soon Women's Transit System threatened -----perhaps University President Glenn Ter- Service may end if volunteers cannot be found rell said yesterday it is probable the school's newly selected Vice Presi- The Women's Transit System is in jeopardy. the first month), interest increased and by the end of the dent of Academics will begin work The service, which provided more than 1,000 rider's with safe semester 1,098 students had been served, Srhek e l said. The transit svstern IS financiallv supported by the Associa- at WSU in July of next year. transportation to various spots on campus last spring, is faced However, Terre ll said, the date is tion for Women St udents CAWS), coordinated by the Women's with a lack of volunteers. not "defmite." Center and is also backed by the campus police, who allow Last year's coordinator. of the transit system did not return to The university has not released school, Marcia Sche kel , director of the Women's Center said, di spa tchers to work from the police sta tion. • Why devote time to the transit system') Because, Schekel the name of the new VIce president and the Center has not been contacted by last year's dr ive rs. but Terrell did mention in a tele- As a result The Women's Transit System is immobile. said, 'it is not only a good service, it is "a good way to meet people." phone conversation that the man IS About 20 volunteers are needed to drive or dispatch drivers, from Washington D.C. To be a volunteer', a person must have a driver's license and Schekel said. Volunteers al-e asked to devote two to four hours "I'm getting itchy myself," Ter- per week to the service, either as drivers or dispatchers. go through an all-day training course, where they will be quizzed on driving, how to use a CB radio and how to handle a rell said, explaining he would ha ve Students who volunteer nrne to the transit system will have liked to release the name of the new that service entered on a resume at the Volunteer Agency, crisis. Volunteers do not have to worry about their own cars, since vice president days ago but has not Schekel said, adding that employers are beginning to look at been able to because the new man such resumes more closely. the system uses university cars, Schekel said. She emphasized the transit system is not a taxi service, but a has not authorized a release as yet. The transit system was started in February because the. safety service, designed to keep women from walking alone on When asked if the delay might be Women's Center had a number of women coming to them and due to negotiations the man could campus after dark. expressing concern about walking alone on campus after dark, If the transit system gets enough volunteers to begin opera- be having with other schools or Schekel said. establishments, terrell replied "I tion, it will run from 8 p.m. to midnight, and can be reached at don't think he would do anything The transit system was devised to safely transport women to 335-6830. like that. He's not that kind of a and from university housing to any spot on campus. Persons interested in volunteering should drop by the person." Although the system got off to a slow start (o!1ly 102 riders in Women's Center in room B-27 of the CUB. A state survey finds Pullman Memorial Hospital prices: boasts lowest rates for hospitals in its class by louise minnlck pared with the six other hospitals in dis- First-hour operating room costs are al- average of $101.14. trict 13, which consists of Whitman, Walla so very inexpensive at Memorial. At $85, Memorial does not have what is defined Pullman's Memorial Hospital boasts the Walla, Asotin, Garfield and Columbia up 30.8 percent, it is the lowest-priced in lowest average patient bill of any as "intensive care" because it does not counties. district 13 and the second-lowest In peer Washington hospital in its class, accord- have a separate staff and facilities exciu-' The prices are based on data compiled group three. Only one other hospital in sively for such care, but it can offer the ing to a state hospital commission report. during the 50 months following the ter- group three costs less than $100. Memoria I has an a verage rate per same services as do hospitals with inten- mination of wage and price freezes set by District 13 averages $130.29 for the first sive care. patient-day of $202.70 and an average the Nixon Administration "dul ing 1971- hour, up 70.5 percent from 1974 and the The equivalent care at Memorial would length of stay of 3.2 days. The average 1974. Percentage increases use the prices sta te averages $135.33, up 62 percent. patient bill, or "rate of admission," is cost $2 per hour in addition to in-patient $648.76, the report said. costs, or $2SO.70 for 24 hours. (Multiplying costs per day times the Hospital Cost Averages The average for district 13 is $217 and a verage length of stay is the best way to the average for the state is $229.65. determine hospital cost, according to Ger- Puliman Memorial District 13 Washington State Actual "intensive care" patients are ald Baker, hospital administrator.) operating room / sent to Spokane. Other hospitals in Memorial's grouping first-hour $85 $130.29 Washington semi-private room rates in- range from $661.14 to $1,476.73, with most $135.33 creased 63.9 percent over the SO-month of them topping $1,000. Length of stay period as compared to a national average ranges from 2.9 to 6.83 days. semi-private of 70.7 percent. The report divides all hospitals in the room/day $95 $94.92 $101.14 Operating room prices increased 62 per- state into five "peer groups" according to cent in the state and 79.3 percent in the services offered, number of beds per 1,000 intensive carel nation. population, median income of the county 24 hours $250.70 Washington has slowed inflation of and other factors. Peer group five has the $217 $229.65· hospital costs to less than 10 percent a broadest range of services and group one year, while most states have rates of 15 the smallest. of April 30, 1974 as a base. A semi-private at Memorial costs $95 a percent or more, Baker said. Memoria·1 falls into group three, along Current prices are those effective as of day, a 75.9 percent increase, as compared Pullman's rate of inflation is onlv 4 to 5 with 23 other hospitals. It is also com- June 30. to a district average of $94.92 and a state percent, he said. Susan B. Anthony STRATTONS DAIRY Pasteurized, Inspected, Fresh Milk Suffragette to adorn new dollor coin WASHINGTON CAP) - Amer- of coins at the outset so they surface of the moon. The coin, Homogenized, 2%, and Skim icans could have the new Susan don't become scarce collectors' which has a raised II-sided bord- B. Anthony dollar coin jingling items. er inside the round circumfer- among their pocket change The Treasury Department had ence, includes the traditional sometime next summer, Trea- asked for a figure similar to the words" In God We Trust" on the Stretch Your Dollar ! sury officials say. Statue of Liberty on the dollar, front and "E Pluribus Unum" on The coin pic-turing the which is sligh tly larger than a the back. women's rights advocate won quarter. But Congress decided There were a few complaints House approval 368-38 Tuesday - on the Anthony dollar instead about a coin honoring the Whipping Cream Sour Cream to the applause of feminists. The and some Treasury officials say women's suffrage leader, but Senate passed the authorization the sometimes-heated contro- most objections concerned early bill earlier, and President Carter versy over the face on the coin versions of the image of Miss One mile past Ram Pub and is certain to sign it. generated attention that will Anthony. Professional Mall on Johnson Road U.S. Mint officials said they make it likely more people wiIl will begin minting 500 million of use it. The Treasury estimates it can Food Stamps Accepted the copper-nickel coins in about The "tails" side shows an ea- sa ve $17 million a year with the PEN 9:00-6:30 WEEKDAYS - CLOSED SUN. January and issue them about gle landing on an irregular ob- dollar coin because one coin will June, releasing a large number ject supposed to represent the outwear many dollar bills. AP digest NOW'S THE TIME Faculty vote to end strike SEATTLE CAP) - Striking teachers have disregarded a leadership recommendation, voting decisively to obey a court order to return to work in Washington's largest school district.