The Rockefeller Institute for Medical Research : history, organization, and equipment.

  • Rockefeller Institute for Medical Research.
Date:
1914
Catalogue details

Licence: In copyright

Credit: The Rockefeller Institute for Medical Research : history, organization, and equipment. Source: Wellcome Collection.

Provider: This material has been provided by The Royal College of Surgeons of England. The original may be consulted at The Royal College of Surgeons of England.

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    ISOLATION PAVILION The basement of the Isolation Pavilion contains a special laundry and sterilizing apparatus for the clothing and bedding of infedled patients, the infedted material being dropped through a trapdoor in the receiving room above, into a chamber whence the only commu- nication with the laundry is secured by passage through the steril- izers. Also in the basement are found a clinical laboratory, an order- lies’ room, and service rooms. The main floor of the Pavilion is divided by a corridor running east and west. On the southern side are seven single rooms, sepa- rated from each other by partitions of plate glass. On the north side are the reception room, toilet and work rooms, kitchen, and at the eastern end two more patients’ rooms, separated by plate glass. The Pavilion is administered as a single ward rather than as a series of private rooms, the glass partitions being intended to facilitate the supervision of patients. The plan of this ward rests upon the well grounded assumption that the communicable diseases largely depend, for transmission from one person to another, upon the carrying of infedtious matter by diredl contacts. The risk inherent in mere prox- imity is regarded as so slight, if any, as to be negligible. On the other hand, a rigid aseptic technique is imposed on physicians, nurses, and others, who have occasion to be in the ward or to go from one patient to another. The rooms or compartments of the Isolation Pavilion are depend- ent on windows and doors for the intake of fresh air. Ventilation is aided, however, by flues running from each room to the roof, in which a rising current of air is created by steam-pipes. These flues can be thoroughly cleaned by a jet of live steam, turned on for as long as may be necessary. The second floor of the Pavilion is entirely occupied by nurses’ rooms, including a dining room. The floor is divisible into two parts, the one restridled to the use of nurses in attendance on infeftious patients, the other accessible from the main building by means of a bridge, and available for other nurses. The roof is partially sheltered, and is available for beds, or as a place for the recreation of nurses or patients. MEDICAL AND NURSING STAFF The medical work of the Hospital is in charge of the Director, who also has the title of Physician to the Hospital. In the care of patients he is assisted by a staff consisting of the Resident Physician [ ]