(6) Policlinic Tuberculosis Dispensary, December 13th.
(7) West Side Dispensary at the College of Physicians and Surgeons, December 17th.
The South West Dispensary was opened in August, 1909.
The underlying and controlling belief of the Chicago Tuberculosis Institute has always been that no great progress can be made in the campaign against tuberculosis, or in any other reform movement, until the soil is sufficiently prepared. The soundness of this
policy may be seen in the fact that the activities of the Institute, its exhibits, more especially the success of the Edward Sanatorium, and also the work of the dispensaries, led finally to the adoption by the City of Chicago of the Glackin Municipal Sanitarium Law and made possible the Municipal Tuberculosis Sanitarium now nearing completion.
The maintenance of the seven dispensaries having become a source of considerable expense to the Institute, they were turned over to the city and became a part of the Municipal Tuberculosis Sanitarium in September, 1910.
The Institute continued its activities as "an educational institution for the collection and dissemination of exact knowledge in regard to the causes, prevention and cure of tuberculosis." It concerns itself also with keeping before the minds of the public the proper standard of care for the tuberculous in public and private institutions. Through its Committee on Factories, the Institute conducted during the last three years a vigorous campaign for the adoption of the principle of medical examination of employes. The Robert Koch Society, an organization of physicians, is the outgrowth of the Institute. In brief, the Institute for years has led the fight against tuberculosis in this city.
The dispensary system of the Municipal Sanitarium, organized as above stated, has gradually developed into ten dispensaries with a superintendent of nurses, ten head nurses and fifty field nurses. A staff of thirty-one paid physicians are a part of the organization. The ten dispensaries hold twenty-six clinics a week. In 1913, the attendance at the Municipal Tuberculosis Sanitarium clinics was 43,989 patients. Nurses made in all 39,737 visits to the homes of the tuberculous patients. The system of visiting tuberculosis nursing in Chicago is steadily moving toward greater efficiency in coping with the existing situation. The chief features of the Chicago arrangement are as follows:
(1) Nurses are classified into:
Grade II. Field Nurse