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              TEXT OF PRESIDENT'S REPORT ON 1964
It is indeed a pleasure at this annual meeting of the Fresno Community Hospital to
report to you as members and the community at large the hospital's activities of
the past year and the plans that are formulated by the board of trustees for its future.
Through the continued dedicated and harmonious efforts of every segment of the hospital, the board of trustees, the medical
staff, the Women's Service Alliance, the
hospital associates and the hospital staff
and personnel, 1964, the 19th year since
the Burnett Sanitarium became the Fresno
Community Hospital, a non-profit corporation, has been a year of success and of
greater service.
Our area continues to grow, thus the demand for our hospital's service continues to
grow. Every department has had its share
of increase. The number of patient days
this year has increased to 79,524. The number of patients served in 1964 was 13,081
compared to 11,333 in 1960. Our surgical
operations have increased to just under
7,000. The psychiatric department continues
its rapid growth and this year we have rendered care for almost 600 patients, an in-
crase of 15.6% over last year. For the last
several months this department has been
full to capacity with a waiting list and at
times we have been compelled to put a
patient in the hall. To quote from the annual report from the psychiatric department
issued on December 1 by Dr. Paul Levy,
head of the department, "It is apparent
that in the not too distant future the 26
psychiatric beds now available will not be
sufficient to handle the demand." Plans for
enlargement of the psychiatric unit cannot
be postponed too long.
Your board of trustees has this under
consideration, and in line with our overall
long range program, a second floor may be
added, based on the continued need and
availability of funds. The only department
that has shown a decrease is our maternity
department and here, although the national
birth rate has dropped 10% since 1960,
our decrease of births over last year was
only 5% whereas in each previous year since
1960 we have had an increase in this department.
The number of persons served daily and
annually in our emergency room continues
to increase. The staffing and the operation
of this department has been a problem and
we are not entirely satisfied with the type
of service we are now able to render in
this area. The board of trustees, the hospital administration and the executive committee of the medical staff have given this
much thought and consideration. Presently
the problem of emergency room service to
the people of Fresno by all hospitals is under
study by the Fresno County Medical Society.
We are looking forward to their recommendations for the fulfillment of responsibilities to provide adequate emergency room
service.
In my report last year I stated that we
had received a grant of $282,265.00 from
the Federal program of "Aid to Depressed
Areas" to remodel the interior of the old
building to be used for ancillary purposes.
I am pleased to report that this project has
been completed and has added over 30,000
square feet of total usable area to the hospital. The overall cost of this project was
over $650,000 which included a standby
well and emergency water system with elec
tric and diesel power which completes all
that can be done towards making the hospital a self sufficient unit. In the remodeled
building, which the board of trustees unanimously chose to name the Burnett Annex,
we now have the personnel department,
medical records storage, business office record storage, X-ray film storage, surgical
equipment storage, offices for the hospital
development program director, executive
housekeeper, patient service representative,
and in addition to these are student nurses
classrooms for Fresno State College and
Fresno City College, the medical library,
locker rooms and lockers for all hospital
employees, and the in-service eeducation
department. You can readily see that the
building has been put to full use and has
added immensely to the hospital's efficiency.
The hospital's educational program as a
community wide service in providing training in the clinical laboratory and X-ray
department and the hospital in general continues. With the addition of the classrooms
in the Burnett Annex the program has grown
and is able to serve a wider area.
Because of the rapid advancement of
medicine and changes in hospital procedures,
systems and techniques, it is incumbent on
the hospital to provide educational facilities
so that our employees may be kept abreast
of the very latest developments and so they
may be knowledgeable with the skills and
the use of new equipment so that through
them the very latest and the best are made
available to the patients in the Fresno area.
More and more the In Service Education
Department is called upon to provide in-
service education not only to our own employees but to members of the medical staff
and other hospitals in the area. We as a
community hospital are pleased to be of this
service.
You will be interested in knowing of some
of the activities in this field and avenue of
service:
The hospital participated in a University
of California Continuing Education Series
by radio regularly held at noon on Tuesday and Thursday and as many as 60 to 70
doctors have attended in the large classroom
of the Burnett Annex and listened to the
lectures on various phases of medicine and
surgery. In November the University of
California held a two day psychiatric seminar at this hospital, the first held in the
Fresno area. This was well attended and
accepted. Our facilities were praised and
future similar seminars are planned.
Under the auspices of the Women's Service Alliance the hospital sponsored a seminar on estate planning for women. A series
of five lectures and studies were presented
by local qualified personnel from the various channels of estate planning. This was
so well attended and enthusiastically accepted that similar seminars are planned for
the future for both men and women.
Numerous other seminars and studies were
sponsored and facilities made available for
the benefit of the community such as the
second annual seminar held for the clergy
and doctors of the central California area.
This was conducted by Dr. Edward J. Stain-
brook, Chairman of the Department of Psychiatry of the University of Southern California Medical School. This was so successful and the need so great that the third
annual seminar is scheduled for January 28,
1965.   The two  main participants will be
Dr. Herman Feifel, author of "The Meaning
of Death" and Dr. Robert E. Litman, head
of the Suicide Prevention Clinic of the Los
Angeles County.
The growth of our radioactive isotope department is a dramatic example of the rapid
development and changing concept of medicine. For the entire year of 1961, only 134
patients were examined in this department,
whereas during the current year the average
was over 100 per month or over 1200 patient
examinations for the year.
After five years of continued increased
use of our cobalt therapy department it was
necessary to replace the cobalt since the
energy source has a half life of five years.
As a matter of interest a cubic inch of cobalt
which is the size and the energy source for
our unit costs $10,000.00.
In my previous reports I have reported
that in 1959 we borrowed $1,000,000.00
from the Aetna Life Insurance Company to
finance and build our new building. We
have made our monthly payments of $7,-
287.00 and as of September 30, 1964, the
balance due on the principal was $755,-
291.04. These payments will continue and
the obligation retired on February 1, 1977.
Just a year ago I reported our long range
planning program to meet the needs of our
growing community it would be the responsibility of this hospital to provide another
300 bed facilities within the next 10 to 12
years, at a cost of approximately $10,000,-
000.00. For the purpose of providing these
funds on a planned long range basis the
Fresno Community Hospital Associates were
organized. On November 19 of this year the
first annual meeting of the associates was
held here at the hospital. It is with great
pleasure that I can report to you that within
one year our development fund total assets
are over $107,000.00. This included pledges
and gifts from corporations, cash gifts, donations of stock, life insurance policies payable
to the hospital, etc. In addition to this we
are confident that through the efforts of
our associates and others that funds of unknown amounts are designated for the hospital in the form of bequests, endowments,
wills, and many other means.
In order to fulfill our future needs as well
as the almost daily requirement to maintain
our high standard of patient care with new,
modern equipment and other facilities we
must each, as members of the hospital and
the community at large, enthusiastically
support the hospital development fund. No
gift is too small, we each must do our share
now and continue to do so to fulfill our
responsibility. You will note on the table to
my right and on the board many pieces of
literature which have been developed during
the year. These have been an effective
means of carrying forth the message of the
growing need and responsibility for the
Fresno Community Hospital. I urge you to
look them over and take them to vour
friends.
Many of us cannot comprehend the
growth of the hospital in the last few years,
and yet it is on this growth that we must
base our future needs. As we forecast our
potential growth it becomes more realistic
if we look back and review our growth since
1950. Let us use dollar values as a medium
of measurement. The gross assets of the
hospital in 1950 were $735,000.00. By 1954
they had grown to $1,148,000.00, in 1958
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j/if/y Handling  the  Word  of Truth.     II  Timothy 2:15