The relation of politics to the state care of crippled and deformed / H. Winnett Orr.

  • Orr, H. Winnett (Hiram Winnett), 1877-1956.
Date:
1913
Catalogue details

Licence: In copyright

Credit: The relation of politics to the state care of crippled and deformed / H. Winnett Orr. 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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    seemed for a long time that the combination into one institution of the hospital and school for crippled chil- dren is of special importance. We have found in the Nebraska Orthopedic Hospital that considerable prog- ress educationally may be made by these patients while actually under treatment. Moreover, a continuation of their educational training and the selection of occupa- tions for them is probably more successfully done under the supervision of those who have administered their hospital care and who have a full appreciation of the physical and mental needs and qualifications of these patients. The question has frequently been raised in Nebraska and elsewhere as to the propriety of having the affairs of an institution of this character administered by politicians. After eight years of experience in a state institution, during which time our appropriations have been obtained directly from the state legislature, our affairs ordered by legislative committees, and adminis- tered by state officers, it may be well to give some pub- lic expression of the manner of origin and develop- ment of this important work. In the Nebraska legislature of 1904 a few persons (not more than six or eight), including Mr. J. H. Case- beer, who was a member of the legislature at that time, prepared and had introduced a measure providing for an appropriation of $25,000 to establish and maintain for two years an institution for the hospi- tal care and education of the crippled and deformed. This original bill was modeled after the Minne- sota law, except that the institution was placed in the custody of the board of lands and buildings instead of under the regents of the university. The Nebraska bill contemplated, however, that as in Min- nesota, the matter of the appointment of officers should be in the hands of a board rather than that it should be left to the governor alone. The Orthopedic Hospital was the first institution in Nebraska for which this pro- vision was made. Practically every member of the leg- islature of 1904 was duly presented with arguments in favor of inaugurating this work, and eventually the bill passed both branches of the legislature practically with- out opposition except that the amount of the appropria- tion was reduced from $25,000 to $10,000. On the presentation of the bill to the governor for his signature, however, the question was raised as to the actual neces-