Medicine: Hospitals Boom

Despite the shortage of doctors, nurses and housekeeping help, U.S. hospitals last year had 22.5% more patients than ever before. Altogether, 15,374,698 people went to the hospital. The average daily attendance, not counting newborn babies, was 1,257,124. The Journal of the American Medical Association, which reported these figures in its annual hospital survey last week, also reported that:

¶ Available hospital beds went up 265,427, compared with a 59,446 increase last year. Total is now 1,649,254.

¶”Hospital births totaled 1,924,591 as compared with 1,670,599 in 1942, 708,889 in 1931.”

¶A new patient entered the hospital every two seconds. Hospitals also received a “dividend” of “one live baby every 16.3 seconds.”