Cleveland's Dispensaries
Cleveland has 86 school dispensaries, or what are usually termed "physicians' offices." These are rooms about 20 feet long by 15 feet wide, located in the basement or on the first floor of the school building, well lighted, and painted in white or light colors. Usually they contain one or two small white enamel tables, several chairs, a wash basin with running water, a white enamel pail for waste materials, wooden tongue depressors, eye charts, a medical cabinet filled with instruments and supplies, filing boxes, and printed forms. In 37 of the elementary schools, shower baths are provided as part of the equipment of the building.
Cleveland's dispensaries are well equipped.
Cleveland's dispensaries are of exceptionally high grade. In every case lighting, ventilation, and equipment are good. Many of the rooms are large enough for conferences and hygiene talks, and in at least one school—East Madison—the dispensary is used with desirable psychological effect for the regular meetings of the Mothers' Club. The excellence of Cleveland's school dispensaries has contributed in no small measure to the efficiency of the medical service, and money spent in this way has been a wise investment. It is probably true that Cleveland's dispensaries are of better grade than those of any other large city in the United States.
Columns are proportionate in height to the number of children given physical examinations each year for five school years. Portion in black indicates number having physical defects. The figures above the columns show how many thousands of children were examined and how many found defective in each year.