| U.S. Public Health Service | 16,373 |
| U.S. Army Hospitals | 1,681 |
| U.S. Navy Hospitals | 1,059 |
| Soldiers Home Hospitals | 2,500 |
| Dept. of the Interior Hospitals | 827 |
| A total of | 22,440 |
This does not take into account patients in contract hospitals which now number 9,066. This enumeration demonstrates something of the scope and nature of the work for which the members of the Board of Hospitalization are responsible.
It may interest you to know that there are now under construction 7,592 new beds, which will be ready for occupancy within the next few months and that the Government is at present contemplating at least 2,500 more beds under the new Langley Bill, so ultimately the Government will have under its direct administration hospital capacity for a minimum of 32,000 patients, which is estimated to be the peak load.
Heretofore there has been no coordinate plan of operation of these various institutions. Under the Board of Hospitalization all of this has been changed and today, you, whether from the Army, Navy, Public Health Service, National Home for Disabled Volunteer Soldiers or the Department of the Interior are all members of one big professional family, each engaged in the same service, under the same regulations, for the care and treatment of the World War Veteran.
The Hospitals engaged in this service number at present 107, distributed as follows:
| 77 | Hospitals controlled and operated by the Public Health Service, |
| 6 | Hospitals controlled and operated by the War Department, |
| 14 | Hospitals controlled and operated by the Navy Department, |
| 9 | Hospitals controlled and operated by the Soldiers Homes, |
| 1 | Hospitals controlled and operated by the Interior Department. |
These institutions are located in all sections of the United States from the Atlantic to the Pacific and constitute one of the greatest hospitalization propositions within the history of any country.
The personnel engaged represents an Army of almost as many more persons. In other words, Uncle Sam, within himself, is today keeping in operation a hospitalization program incomparable with anything with which former experiences are familiar.
With this representation of the subject and its magnitude, I wish to remind you that each one of you personally and individually is a part of this great machine; and upon you rests the responsibility of the carrying out of such policies as are adopted by the Central Administration.
In order that there might be perfect coordination and cooperation in all of these hospitals and that all institutions serving the World War Veteran might be operated upon a standardized basis, the Board of Hospitalization recently adopted the following regulation as to personnel: