USA > Massachusetts > Norfolk County > Quincy > Inaugural address of the mayor, with the annual report of the officers of the city of Quincy for the year 1950 > Part 2
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Liberalization by Congress of the Federal Aid Security Act was significant from both a social and financial point of view. The new legislation provided for increased payments to persons already receiving old age and survivors' insurance, and permit, others to qualify for benefits. These changes in the federal law permitted the Old Age assistance division to reduce monthly grants to some recipients by the amount of their federal increases. Commissioner Anthony J. Venna expressed the opinion that there should be fewer new applicants for Old Age assistance because of the broadening of the federal program.
General Summary
On January 1, 1950, the Quincy Welfare department had 1,841 active cases in all categories receiving public assistance, and on December 31, 1950, there were 1,920 active cases. Total expenditures for all forms of relief for the year were $1,617,- 750.24; total receipts were $1,182,955.48, leaving a net cost to the city of $434, 794.76. From this figure must be deducted $21.968.67 which Quincy received as its share of meal taxes, leaving an actual net drain on current revenue of $412,826.09 for the year. The net cost in 1949 was $437,505.05. It should also be noted that, percentage-wise, the cost to the city in 1950 was 26 percent of all money spent while the cost to the city in 1949 was 30 percent.
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Quincy Health Department
The year 1950 marked the end of an era for the Quincy health department. Late in the year Quincy's magnificent new health cen- ter was completed, and as December drew toward its close the various divisions of the health department were preparing to move from their old quarters into the half a million dollar home.
The health center, first of its kind in this section of the country, was jointly financed by the City of Quincy and the federal govern- ment, with Uncle Sam paying one-third of the total cost. M. A. Dyer company, Boston, was the architect, and James S. Kelliher of Quincy was the contractor.
The new health center, which will enable the health depart- ment to house practically all of its ramified divisions and functions under one roof, will provide facilities that will allow the City of Quincy to make vitally significant progress in the important field of public health.
The people of Quincy take pride in this functional temple dedicated to preventive medicine.
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QUINCY'S NEW HEALTH CENTER
31
Resident Births and Deaths With rates per 1,000 population
Year
Births
Rates
Death
Rates Birth-Death Ratio
1941
1,398
18.3
748
9.8
186.9
1942
1,694
21.9
834
10.9
203.1
1943
1,815
23.6
857
11.2
211.8
1944
1,588
20.4
766
9.0
207.3
1945
1,572
20.1
844
10.8
186.2
1946
2,010
23.9
737
8.7
272.9
1947
2,040
23.8
815
9.6
205.3
1948
1,923
22.1
846
9.7
227.3
1949
1,805
20.8
826
9.5
218.5
1950
1,833
22.0
840
10.1
218.2
Live Births for 1950
In 1950 there were 1,661 births in Quincy. Of these births, 438 were to non-resident parents. Meanwhile, 610 births were recorded to Quincy parents outside the city limits. The total resident births were 1,833, or 22.0 per 1,000 population.
Deaths by Months (Stillbirths excluded) Population 83,190, Federal Census 1950
Month
Total
Non-Resident
Resident Outside Quincy
Deaths
1,000 Pop.
January
72
14
16
74
10.4
February
69
7
22
84
13.1
March
68
9
15
74
10.4
April
62
10
13
65
9.5
May
85
8
15
77
10.8
June
70
14
5
54
7.8
July
56
4
17
69
9.7
August
59
8
12
63
8.9
September
71
6
4
69
10.0
October
59
5
17
71
10.0
November
55
5
16
66
9.6
December
57
6
23
74
10.4
Total
761
96
175
840
10.1
Total
Resident Resident Deaths Per
In Area Deaths
33
RESIDENT DEATHS 1950 (Stillbirths excluded
Total Percentage of total
Tuberculosis of respiratory system
23
2.7
Typhoid fever
4
0.5
Whooping cough
1
0.1
Others classified as infective, parasitic
1
0.1
Malignant neoplasms, including neoplasms of lmy- phatic and haematopoietic tissues
152
18.1
Benign and unspecified neoplasms
11
1.3
Diabetes mellitus
14
1.7
Anaemias
3
0.4
Vascular lesions affecting central nervous system
101
12.0
Rheumatic fever
1
0.1
Chronic rheumatic heart disease
8
1.0
Arteriosclerotic and degenerative heart disease
260
30.9
Other diseases of the heart
1
0.1
Hypertension with heart disease
66
7.9
Hypertension without mention of the heart
4
0.5
Pneumonia
8
1.0
Bronchitis
12
1.4
Ulcer of stomach and duodenum
2
0.2
Intestinal obstruction and hernia
7
0.8
Gastritis, duodenitis, enteritis, colitis
4
0.5
Cirrhosis of the liver
14
1.7
Nephritis and nephrosis
14
1.7
Hyperplasia of prostate
1
0.1
Complications of pregnancy
1
0.1
Congential malformations
9
1.1
Birth injuries, postnatal asphyxia, atelectasis
6
0.7
Infections of the newborn
3
0.4
Other diseases peculiar to early infancy, etc.
15
1.8
Senility without mention of psychosis, ill-defined and unknown causes
14
1.7
All other diseases
43
5.1
Motor vehicle accidents
7
0.8
All other accidents
18
2.1
Suicide and self-inflicted injury
12
1.4
Totals
840
100.0
PRINCIPAL CAUSES OF DEATH (Stillbirths excluded)
Cause
* Total
Resident
Pct. of Total
Resident
Deaths Per
Deaths
100.000
Heart diseases
336
403.9
40.00
Cancer
152
182.7
18.1
34
Cerebral Hemorrhage
101
121.4
12.0
Early Infancy diseases
33
39.7
3.9
Tuberculosis
23
27.6
2.7
Pneumonia, bronchitis
20
24.0
2.4
Accidents
19
22.8
2.2
Diabetes
14
16.8
1.7
Nephritis, nephrosis
14
16.8
1.7
Cirrhosis of the liver
14
16.8
1.7
All others
114
XX
13.6
Totals
840
10.1 per 1,000
100.0
* These figures do not include the 96 non-residents deaths occurring in Quincy during 1950. Of the total of 840 resident deaths, 175 oc- curred outside the city, and they are included in the above table.
REPORTABLE DISEASES
Disease
1950
Median 1943-49
1949
1948
Animal bite
284
196
204
199
Chicken pox
315
666
666
697
German Measles
188
28
51
24
Measles
229
530
93
2374
Meningitis
4
9
3
5
Mumps
50
193
193
902
Paratyphoid
2
0
0
0
Poliomyelitis
17
5
56
1
Scarlet Fever
263
130
130
68
Septic sore throat
1
1
1
0
Tetanus
1
0
1
0
Tuberculosis, pul.
43
44
41
52
Tuberculosis, other
1
3
1
2
Whooping cough
96
59
20
10
INFANT AND MATERNAL DEATHS, STILLBIRTHS AND RATES
Year
Infant
Deaths*
Maternal Deaths **
Stillbirths ***
Number
Rate
Number
Rate
Number
Rate
1941
47
33.6
2
1.4
23
16.4
1942
48
28.3
7
4.1
28
16.5
1943
64
35.3
0
0.0
19
10.5
1944
44
27.7
1
0.6
31
19.5
1945
44
28.0
3
1.8
31
19.7
1946
43
21.4
4
1.9
36
17.8
1947
54
26.4
0
0.0
28
13.2
1948
46
23.9
0 0.0
30
15.4
1949
37
20.5
2
1.1
31
16.9
1950
33
18.0
1
0.5
27
14.5
* Infant death rate per 1,000 live births.
** Maternal death rate per 1,000 total births.
*** Stillbirth rate per 1,000 total births.
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Tuberculosis Clinic
The number of active tuberculosis cases, about the same as last year, ran to a case load of 218. Dr. C. J. Lynch, dispensary phys- ician, noted : one, there was practically no waiting list; two, many more cases were X-rayed; three, the completion of the new county hospital addition, expected shortly, would provide 50 more beds and expedite earlier hospitalization of active cases.
During the year 342 cases were removed from the active file and placed in the closed file by the State. There were 42 new pul- monary cases and two new extra pulmonary cases. Of the new cases, 31 were admitted to the Norfolk County hospital; two died, with various other dispositions of individual cases.
Child Welfare Division
Attendance at all child welfare clinics dropped from 3,040 in 1949 to 2,921 in 1950. Dr. Edmund B. FitzGerald, physician in charge, ascribed the decrease to the growth in physician popula- tion in Quincy and to the added fact that many of the younger doctors were asking mothers to bring their children in for exam- ination at regular intervals.
The total clinic registration during the year was 1,584; total active registration on Dec. 31, 1,060; total new registration, 688; total clinics, 334; well baby clinics, 312; pre-school clinics, 10; Orthopedic clinics, 12; number of deaths, 1.
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Child Guidance Clinic
During the year 292 cases received service at the Child Guid- ance clinic, with an average attendance of 30 children each day, the clinic operating two days a week. Although the number of cases receiving service appeared to be slightly under that of the pre- vious year, more new cases were accepted for treatment. Visits to the clinic number 2,947, an increase of 300 over 1949; and more intensive treatment was rendered, as is shown by the fact that the total interviews of 7,180 was an increase of 729 over the preceding year.
Interviews were broken down as follows: by psychiatrists, 1,315; by psychologists, 198; by psychiatric social workers, 3,452; by speech correctionists, 1,225; by remedial tutor, 322; by occupa- tional therapist, 688.
Of the new cases, 37 percent were referred by schools; 21 percent by physicians ; 21 percent by friends or relatives who had had previous experience with the clinic; and 14 percent by various agencies.
Ages of children admitted ranged from infancy to 14 years ; 25 percent were of pre-school age, and 62 percent were of elemen- tary school age. Seventy percent of the referrals were boys.
The clinic is a state sponsored organization with assistance as a Red Feather Agency of the Quincy Community Chest and Coun- cil. Preparations are completed for its removal early next year from the old address at 25 Spear street to the new Quincy medical center.
Parochial School Nurses
Nurses of the Quincy Health department made 219 visits to Parochial schools during the year. The scope of the work of this important phase of public health procedure is shown by the fol- lowing statistics :
Parochial School Nursing Service
Number of vision tests
1,182
Number of vision retests
79
Pupils seen in school office by nurses
402
Pupils referred to private M. D.
43
Pupils referred to child guidance clinic
2.
Pupils weighed and measured
685
Number of health inspections
1,974
Number of home visits
174
Puretone hearing tests
1,268
Puretone hearing retests
150
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Miscellaneous Reports
SCHOOL DENTAL CLINIC
The school dental clinic examined 4,256 children in 1950; held 189 clinics, not including prophylaxis clinics; treated 324 cases ; filled 1,003 permanent and 451 temporary teeth; extracted 181 permanent and 365 temporary teeth and gave 882 oral prophy- laxis.
PRE-SCHOOL DENTAL CLINIC
The pre-school dental clinic held 93 clinics; treated 218 chil- dren; filled 579 teeth; extracted 14 teeth; treated 58 teeth; gave 78 oral prophylaxis treatments.
MILK AND DAIRY FARM INSPECTION
Figures of the inspector of milk and dairy farms show that during 1950 sales in Quincy included : 13,589,139 quarts of pas- teurized milk; 761,739 quarts of pasteurized cream; 61,865 quarts of pasteurized Buttermilk; 628,727 quarts of ice cream; and that 616,780 quarts of ice cream were manufactured in the city.
During the year 2.176 samples were analyzed, of which 2,139 were milk samples. There were 3,046 inspections of processing plants, vehicles, dairy and dairy barns, stores and restaurant cabinets.
REPORT OF VETERINARIAN
There were 263 reported dog bites. All dogs were quaran- tined as suspicious of rabies, but none developed the disease.
INSPECTOR OF PLUMBING
The inspector of plumbing received 1,529 applications for plumbing permits and collected $6,464.00 in fees. He issued 360 permits for new buildings; 1,169 permits for old buildings. Dur- ing the year 326 buildings were connected with the sewers; 15 with septic tanks and 19 with cesspools.
REPORT OF FOOD INSPECTOR
The food inspector made 2,450 routine inspections ; inspected 261 vehicles and investigated 59 complaints.
He reported as condemned for human consumption 1,483 pounds of meat, 1,534 pounds of fish, 98 bushels of fruit and vegetables and 422 units of bakery and miscellaneous foods.
V. D. CLINIC
Only five patients were treated by the V. D. clinic during the year, receiving 44 treatments for venereal diseases.
REPORT OF BACTERIOLOGIST
During the year the work in the laboratory included 3,817 tests. They were as follows: solids weighed, 40; Babcock tests for butter fats, 710; sour serum examinations, 11; phosphatase tests, 720; Coliform counts, 768; plate counts, bacteria, 784; di- rect microscopic examinations, 784.
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Quincy City Hospital
The Quincy city hospital, approved by the American College or' Surgeons and the American Medical Association, experienced a particularly busy year in 1950.
Admissions jumped from 10,131 in 1949 to 10,444 in 1950; daily averages jumped from 203.2 to 211.6; patient days from 74,180 to 77,250 ; and per cent occupancy from 73.9 to 77.0. The in- crease in activity during the past year is indicative of the increase during the past decade, during which admissions showed a gain of 3,000 and patient days a gain of 8.134.
"The cost of hospital operation has increased greatly in the last several years," Dr. Ensio K. F. Ronka, MD, the director, pointed out in his annual report to the board of managers. "Wages and commodity prices continue to affect this upward trend. This high cost is also reflected in the relationship which hospital rates have to cost. As actual cost has increased, the hospital rates have not reflected this rising cost. A clear analysis between cost, rates and services, and the results spelled out that all people could understand, would present the community with a picture of the true value of the services which the hospital is offering them."
Although the excess of expenditures over receipts, again more than $600,000, continued to be a considerable drain on current taxes, some hope was seen in the fact that this excess was $38,501 less than the 1949 figure.
The following table gives a graphic over-all financial picture of the past three years at the hospital :
COMPARATIVE EXPENSES AND RECEIPTS
1948
1949
1950
Salaries and Wages $ 807,375.84
$1,054,326.54
$1,119,938.35
Expenses
447,232.68
451,314,48
458,581.95
Pensions
3,742.35
4,930.58
5,025.39
New Equipment
19,458.76
25,373.34
14,208.21
Out of state travel
88.72
000.00
000.00
Miscellaneous, deficit bills 5,300.61
000.00
000.00
Improvements
000.00
5,765.00
000.00
Total expenditures
$1,283,198.96
$1,541,709.94
$1,597,753.90
Cash Receipts
865,749.73
894,291.67
988,836.30
Excess of expenditures
over receipts
$ 417,449.23 $ 647,418.27 $ 608,917.60
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"The shortage of beds continues as a major problem," Chair- man Augustus E. Settimelli, chairman, pointed out in the annual report of the board of managers. "Plans for a 110-bed nursing wing have been completed for several years. Building costs con- tinue to rise. Undoubtedly, any new building program would now cost a great deal more than the original estimate. Nevertheless, the problem demands a solution. We must have more beds."
The chairman pointed out also that the hospital faces the problem of rebuilding or replacing its heating plant within the near future.
Two major undertakings during the year were the Ernst and Ernst survey of, and report on, the administration and operating policies and procedures and the Farish medical audit and report, Mr. Settimelli pointed out in his annual report of the board. Recommendations of the Ernst and Ernst report aimed at increas- ing economies and efficiency were being effected at the end of the year. As a result of the medical audit by an outside consurcing professional expert of national prominence, the staff was reor- ganized and the staff rules were revised.
During the year an alcoholic clinic, one of the three financed by the state, was established; the hospital snackery was placed on a concession basis, and a microfilm machine was installed to microfilm all medical records of the hospital.
Report of the Surgeon-in-Chief
Dr. J. Edward Knowlton, Surgeon-in-chief, reported 4,937 operative procedures during the year; including 1,496 major pri- vate operations, 190 major service operations, approximately 424 gynecological procedures; 1,217 ear, nose and throat operations. 163 eye operations, 123 orthopedic procedures and 356 traumatic procedures. The department averaged more than 14 surgical pro- cedures each of the 365 days in the year.
Dr. Knowlton pointed out that operating room facilities are "entirely inadequate to properly carry on this volume of surgery."
"When we come to the surgical beds available to the citizens of Quincy," he reported, "the picture is sad indeed. If an accident occurred involving serious surgical injury to as few as five in- dividuals, the Quincy City hospital would not be capable of prop- erly taking care of the extra load. Those interested and concerned with the problem of Civil Defense should understand that the Quincy City hospital is currently running at a bed capacity of 110 to 120 per cent where, at no time, should it be over 80 to 90 per cent."
40
Report of Physician-in-Chief
Dr. Daniel M. Swan, Physician-in-chief, reported that dur- ing the year for the first time a full-time residency program was instituted.
"Residents are invaluable in instructing and supervising the house officers, organizing teaching programs and performing many other useful functions in the department," he pointed out.
The division of Cardiology, he reported, for the first time became a unit independent of the laboratory in that it now has its own electrocardiogramician whose primary task is to see that electrocardiograms are taken as soon as requested.
Another advance instituted during the year, he explained, was the division of Ward M and S I into separate medical and surgical units.
Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology
During the year there were 1,706 deliveries, of which 1,590 were private and 116 were service, Dr. George D. Dalton, de- partment chief announced.
He reported a decrease in the number of stillborns and a de- cided decrease in the number of neonatal deaths within 48 hours.
Through the generosity of Mr. Howard Johnson, the Quincy City Hospital will soon have its own supply of radium, the depart- ment chief announced. The radium will also be available for use in the Milton hospital.
Miscellaneous Reports -
Twenty-three graduates of the School of Nursing were cap- ped on March 7; and 15 were graduated on September 14. Thirty- one students were admitted to the school in the September term. Twenty-three graduates of the 1949 class successfully passed the state board examinations and became registered nurses in Feb- ruary, 1950.
Miss Mary E. O'Gara, director of nurses, reported :
"The Nursing department has been taxed greatly because of continued increasing demands on nurses, and because of the continued over-crowded conditions on the wards. The turn-over of nursing personnel continues to be a problem beyond our con- trol-the world situation, marriage, family responsibilities of mar- ried women, desire for change in the fields of nursing, and illness are among the chief causes. The current economic situation is an additional cause for the turn-over-we cannot compete with in- dustry."
41
Since the opening of the Out-Patient department in 1949 there has been a slow but steady increase in the number of patients treated. In 1950 there were 3,219 patient visits, an increase of 13 per cent over 1949. The average amount collected was forty-four cents per patient visit, while a rough estimate of the cost is above $4.50, indicating a cost of $14,000 to $15,000 to operate the de- partment.
The report of the laboratories and blood bank showed 84,924 tests in clinical pathology ; 6,609 tests in anatomical pathology and 14,220 in experimental pathology for a grand total of 105,753. Comparative figures for the volume of routine laboratory work for four years show the following number of laboratory tests: 1947, 51,837; 1948, 73,293; 1949, 83,336; and 1950, 91,533.
The School for Medical Technologists, approved first in Febru- ary, 1949, was reapproved in 1950; and the first student was gradu- ated in October, 1950.
The department showed a profit in 1950 of $56,721.36 as against $42,818.66 in the preceding year.
During 1950 the dietary department served 407,771 meals to staff, employees and patients at a cost of $155,000. This brings the raw food cost to 381/4 cents a meal.
A grand total of 6,903 anesthesias were given during the year. They are as follows: operating room, 4,153; delivery room, 1,686, accident room, 506; out-patient department, 381; dental, 177. Oxygen equipment was used 545 times.
A total of 7,830 physical therapy treatments were given.
Hospital ambulances made more than 2,500 house calls with- out being involved in any reportable accidents.
The hospital library registered a circulation of 16,138, a gain of 602 over the preceding year.
42
Quincy Public Schools
Quincy public schools operated in 1950 for the first time under the Plan E charter, effecting the council-manager form of municipal government.
The school committee, now elected by the proportional rep- resentation method of voting, included Mayor Thomas S. Burgin, Vice Chairman A. Wendell Clark, William A. Anderson, Dominic J. Chiminello, Mrs. Annie B. Forsyth, Dennis F. Ryan and Miss Ethel B. Wiley.
Alexander Smith had been reelected to the committee, but he resigned at the beginning of the year to accept the position of city auditor ; and Miss Wiley was elected on the recount of his votes.
The year was significant because it marked the beginning of a comprehensive school construction program which, it was esti- mated, will cost around four million dollars. With legislative ap- proval to borrow two million dollars outside the debt limit, the the city actually started the program by beginning three major projects.
Five new class rooms were added to the Wollaston school cut- ting up the old auditorium on the second floor, and construction was started on a new combination auditorium and gymnasium.
Sites were chosen and architects selected for two new elemen- tary schools, one of 10 class rooms on Fenno street and one of 18 class rooms on Palmer street. The first will relieve the pressure on the Massachusetts Fields school and will also serve the recently developed Beechwood Knoll section. The second will relieve crowd- ed conditions at the Nathaniel M. Hunting school and will also serve the Snug Harbor veterans' housing project into which 400 families have moved. Plans for both buildings were under way as the year ended.
Other major proposals under consideration on the long range building program included a large addition to the Quincy Trade school, a new elementary school about midway between the Wollas- ton and Cranch schools, and new additions to the Montclair and Atherton Hough schools. Meanwhile the year opened with the use of six additional class rooms, four of which were in the re- cently completed addition to the Atherton Hough school and two were made by alterations at the Squantum school.
Public education in Quincy is big business, involving the op- eration of a physical plant valued at more than $6,750,000 at a cost of approximately $2,500,000 a year, employing some 650 per- sons, including 550 teachers, and providing instruction for about 12,000 pupils. Two senior high schools, four junior high schools, a trade school and 19 elementary schools constitute the main ele- ments of the system.
During 1950 some of the major expenditures were as fol- lows: instruction, $1,766,514; maintenance, $138,969; plant op-
43
eration, $258,037; additional equipment, $37,386; coordinate and auxiliary agencies, $53,993; general control, $55,234, and Trade school, $83,289.
Quincy has the so-called 6-3-3 system : the first six grades are in the elementary school; grades seven through nine in the junior high school, and the last three grades in senior high school.
Work in the first six grades is generally basic. In the ele- mentary school the accent is on such fundamentals as the tradi- tional three R's and the general development of the pupil as a healthy, happy responsible member of society.
At the junior high school level the school offerings to the pupil begin to broaden with the introduction of shop, home eco- nomics, chorus, orchestra and club activities. Elective subjects begin to appear in the ninth grade,
When the pupil moves on into senior high school he or she finds a wide variety of elective subjects. During these last three years of public school education given boys and girls by the City of Quincy, they may shape their courses along college preparatory lines, or they may prepare themselves to step forthwith into the world of business or industry. Trade school graduates are usual- ly able to find well-paying jobs shortly after graduation.
The Quincy school system endeavors, in so far as possible, to shape the curriculum to fit the needs of the pupil, particularly ac the secondary level. The combination of a comprehensive counsei- ing program and a wide range of electives enables Quincy schools to achieve distinct success in this field.
Considerable attention is directed to the specific needs of pupils with individual problems. Special classes are provided for the physically handicapped, for those who have sub-normal vision or hearing and for those who, for various reasons, find book learning difficult. Enrollments in these classes are kept low so that the teacher may have more time to devote to each pupil.
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