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Behind Asylum Bars-Followup: "THE WORLD Their Savior" - Unsigned - New York World
". . . The city paid "$1.498,800 last year for maintenance of paupers and the insane. IF the abuses among the insane were to be remedied, President Simmons said, the appropriation for the coming year must be $2,121,152. The Mayor and other members of the Board appeared to believe that the outrages, so graphically described in THE WORLD, were the result of a scanty supply of funds. Almost the entire amount asked for was allowed provisionally. Within a few days the Board will visit the institutions, and, after having ascertained their real needs, will finally pass upon the appropriation for their maintenance. . . ."
"Hospitals: Army pledges fixes at Walter Reed" – John Irvine - The Health Care Blog
"Less than 24 hours after this weekend’s two part series in the Washington Post on substandard conditions at an outpatient facility at Walter Reed Medical Center, Army officials and VA spokespeople were at the facility apologizing and pledging repairs. An undercover investigation by Post reporters Dana Priest and Anne Hull found serious problems at Mologne House, ranging from run down conditions in patient rooms to shocking levels of bureaucratic incompetence. From the Post’s report: The common perception of Walter Reed is of a surgical hospital that shines as the crown jewel of military medicine. But 5 1/2 years of sustained combat have transformed the venerable 113-acre institution into something else entirely — a holding ground for physically and psychologically damaged outpatients. The story was quickly picked up by the national press. White House spokesman Tony Snow found himself dodging questions from the press corps about the way the Bush Administration has handled care for veterans returning from the war. Democrats called on the Department of Defense to launch an investigation into conditions at nearby Bethesda Naval Medical Center, where critics allege similar problems have been ignored in the past."
The Health Care Blog 2007-02-21
Reaction: Von Solbrig Task Force: "Von Solbrig Hospital Placed on Probation" - Pamela Zekman and William Gaines - Chicago Tribune
"Dr. Eric Oldberg, president of the Chicago Board of Health, Tuesday placed von Solbrig Memorial Hospital on one-month probation, during which the board will examine hospital records, interview employees, and conduct frequent inspections of the hospital's facilities. . ."
The Chicago Tribune 1975-09-10
VII-Von Solbrig Task Force: "Hospital Proves a Costly Haven for Alcoholics" - Task Force Report - Chicago Tribune
"For the alcoholic deperate for a cure, the hospital is a sham, the treatment a cruel joke. For the welfare loafer eager for a free ride, it is a $78-a-day hotel where a person can float for days on powerful tranquilizers. And for the taxpayer, Northeast Community Hospital is an expensive charade that squanders valuable Medicaid dollars. . ."
The Chicago Tribune 1975-09-10
VI-Von Solbrig Task Force: "'A nice place to go,' doctor tells drunks" - William Crawford - Chicago Tribune
"One of Northeast Community Hospital's most frequent patients is Michael Wadley, a resident of the Northmere Hotel, 4943 N. Kenmore Av., who was admitted to the hospital six times between October and May, according to state public aid records. . ."
The Chicago Tribune 1975-09-09
Reaction: -Von Solbrig Task Force: "Probe started at von Solbrig" - William Gaines and Jay Branegan - Chicago Tribune
"Investigation into von Solbrig Memorial Hospital and two of the doctors who practice there were ordered Monday by city and state agencies in the wake of Tribune disclosures of alleged unsafe and unethical medical practices at the hospital. . ."
The Chicago Tribune 1975-09-09
IV-Von Solbrig Task Force: "Surgery done on assembly line" - von Solbrig Physician - Chicago Tribune
"The odds are astronomical, medical experts say, that several children in the same family would need their tonsils removed at once. But for $120 an operation, Dr. Edward J Mirmelli defies the odds, The Tribune Task Force found. Reporters discovered he regularly operates on three, four, and give children from the same welfare families in von Solbrig, 6500 Pulaski Rd., helping boost his welfare income to $60,000 last year, and $124,000 in 1973, according to federal government figures. . ."
The Chicago Tribune 1975-09-08
V-Von Solbrig Task Force: "Hospital hunts patients" - Task Force Report - Chicago Tribune
"From all over the city, private ambulance companies take public aid recipients, easily able to use other transportation on expensive rides to Northeast, a violation of public aid regulations. In some cases, ambulances carrying "emergency" cases bypass other hospitals to go to Northeast, another public aid violation. . ."
The Chicago Tribune 1975-09-09
III-Von Solbrig Task Force: "4 doctors on list dead" - Pamela Zekman - Chicago Tribune
"Altho fifty doctors are listed on the staff directory at the von Solbrig Memorial Hospital, only 18 of 47 located by The Tribune said they practice here. At least four doctors on the list are dead. One has been dead for four years. . ."
The Chicago Tribune 1975-09-07
II-Von Solbrig Task Force: "'Janitor' Helps With Patients" - William Gaines - Chicago Tribune
". . .I was a Task Force reporter, hired as a janitor at the von Solbrig Memorial Hospital, 6500 S. Polaski Rd. I had been employed to scrub and mop and throw out garbage, not to assist nurses and doctors in the sterile surgical area. . ."
The Chicago Tribune 1975-09-07
I-Von Solbrig Task Force: "Filth and neglect bared at von Solbrig Hospital" - Unsigned - Chicago Tribune
"It is a critical period for a 6-year-old girl lying in an anesthetized sleep on the operating table in von Solbrig Memorial Hospital. Only minutes ago she had undergone two operations, a tonsillectomy and surgical repair of a hernia. But the only other person in the operating room is a $2-an-hour janitor, in his unsanitary working clothes, who has just put down his mop in the corridor outside and rushed in to watch over the young patient at the request of a nurse. . ."
The Chicago Tribune 1975-09-07
"Abortion Peril Greater Before Legalization" - Pamela Zekman and Pamela Warrick - Chicago Sun Times
Although the 1973 U.S. Supreme Court decision had not stopped women from dying from abortions, legalization has been credited with reducing the number of abortion related deaths by 40 per cent.
Chicago Sun Times 1978-11-12