Testimony from Physicians, Florida State Hospital, Chattahoochee, Gadsden Co., FL

File contributed for use in USGenWeb Archives by Betty Mae James Smith, 
BettyMaeS@aol.com

USGENWEB NOTICE:  In keeping with our policy of providing free 
information on the Internet, data may be used by non-commercial 
entities, as long as this message remains on all copied material. These 
electronic pages cannot be reproduced in any format for profit or other 
presentation.  This file may not be removed from this server or altered
in any way for placement on another server without the consent of the 
State and USGenWeb Project coordinators and the contributor.

***********************************************************************

                         TESTIMONY FROM PHYSICIANS

                                    AT

                          FLORIDA STATE HOSPITAL

WILFRED J. CHAR A physician at Florida State Hospital

Dr. Char made the following statement to John J. Parker, Committee Aide, on
February 13, 1961:

Doctors go on rounds through the wards as often as possible, but there are
not enough doctors to adequately look after the needs of the patients. In
the Cleveland Hospital where I previously worked the ratio were 25 patients
per doctor. The Ohio ratio was one doctor to eighty patients,

I think that criminal patients should be moved from Florida State Hospital.
Some of the minor charge patients could improve rapidly in some place where
they could get individual treatment,

The patients have not been out of doors since I have been here (3 month.).
One of the biggest problems in the white Male Department is that of
providing for patients who have been cured but who have no one to accept
responsibility for them on the outside.

It is also a problem to get many of the patients to take their' medication.
When I find that a patient does not take his pills, I place him on liquid
mediation. The doctors could be relieved of much of their routine work, if
nurses were made available to this department. There are many trained
nurses and trainees at Florida State Hospital, but they are never sent to
the White Male Department.

Solitary cells have not worked and the white male patients have all been
moved to larger wards in an effort to reduce the number of suicides.

JOHN GUMANIS - physician at Florida State Hospital

Dr. Gumanis made the following statement to John J, Parker, Committee Aide,
on February 27th, 1961.

In some wards they do not have fans or anything in the summer time. The
wards are terrible up there. There are some attendants who should not be at
Florida State Hospital,

Charge patients should be moved from Florida State Hospital as possible. If
this could be done, we would have a real hospital here. At present time,
there are two doctors in the White Male Department. For year, I had it by
myself. More nurses are needed.

Food get monotonous here, It is not necessary for an attendant to choke a
patient out. I have never seen this done. I have put patients on the
"squad" strictly for closer supervision, More doctors are needed. With the
addition of another doctor in the White Male Department, patients are being
treated and staffed at a much faster rate.