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              Text Of President's Report On 1960
By Leon S. Peters
President. Board of Trustees
Fresno Community Hospital
It is with humility and recognition of the
great responsibility of the Board of Trustees
that I give this, my first annual report as
president. It is indeed a challenge, when one
views this modern medical center and knows
he has had a hand in the governing and
policy-making, which must insure that it can
and will always provide the very best in medical care and that it will continue to meet the
ever growing needs of Fresno and the San
Joaquin Valley. And when I say the "evergrowing needs of Fresno Community Hospital" I would like to give you a few statistics
pertaining to the hospital services.
In the fiscal year just completed there was
an increase of 10.6% in the number of patient
days; more specifically an increase from
57,819 patient days in 1959 to 63,938 in the
last year ending September 30, I960. This
increase at times during the past year has
taxed the hospital beyond its present capacity.
It is interesting to note that the total number
of surgeries this past year was in excess of
6,000 or a daily average of 20 to 32 surgeries
scheduled from Monday through Friday of
each week.
During this past year a little over 2,400
babies were born at the Fresno Community
Hospital with a range from 2 to 16 in one
day.
In our Radiology we have treated 93
patients with radioactive isotopes, have rendered 2,932 cobalt and 42 radium treatments.
Our laboratory has made a total of 129,000
examinations and our Physical Therapy department has given 26,336 treatments to 9,679
patients.
During the course of the last year our emergency service has grown tremendously with an
average of monthly treatments or patients of
over 700. This department is now fulfilling a
need which has existed in Fresno for many
years.
This tremendous growth as I have outlined causes pressures for increased capacity
which cannot be taken lightly and must be
met by the future plans for this institution.
The successful fund drive which raised our
share of the funds to make this hospital possible has continued successful in its collection,
and I am happy to report that of the $1,602,-
000.00 pledged, to date all but $163,882.42
has been paid.
In addition to these funds, plus the Hill-
Burton Federal and State funds, for reasons
previously explained such as increased cost at
time of bid, modification in plans, etc., it was
necessary to borrow $1,000,000.00 from the
Aetna Life Insurance Company to complete
our share of the financing of the hospital.
During the past year interest in the amount
of $47,833.90 was paid on this loan with
additional payments on the principal to reduce
the loan now to $935,060.00.
At our last annual meeting it was reported
that a contract had been signed for the razing
of the old annex building. I now am happy to
report that the annex built in 1904, long a
land mark in Fresno has been razed and on
its site a modern, 26 bed Psychiatric unit is
being built. The budget for this Psychiatric
unit is $403,611.75. Of this amount $152,-
000.00 has been granted and will be paid
through Hill-Burton Federal and State funds,
the balance being met by payments on pledges
to our fund drive and funds from operations.
Accordingly, it is my earnest request, and I
cannot over-emphasize the need, that all who
have unpaid pledges make every possible effort
to keep their payments current, and if at all
possible pay them in full so that the hospital
will be assured of sufficient funds to pay for
the Psychiatric unit on completion as planned.
The building is scheduled to be finished in
February, 1961, and it is our plan to open the
unit on March 15, with an open house to the
public on the Saturday and Sunday of March
13 and 14. Tying in with this opening a major
medical seminar will be held in Fresno on
March  11  with Psychiatry as its theme.
It was at this meeting two years ago when
it was announced that the fifth floor of this
building would be shelled in as a part of our
construction program. It was the thinking of
the Board of Trustees at that time that in the
distant future the growth of our area would
probably require the facilities of another floor.
It now appears that the distant future has
become near future and the need now is imminent if we are to provide adequate facilities
for our needs. Your Board of Trustees has
been working diligently on a program for the
completion of the fifth floor and I sincerely
hope that within a very short time we will be
able to announce the beginning of this phase
of our hospital program. If so, perhaps at
the next annual meeting we can report with
pride the completion of the fifth floor which
will provide an additional 69 beds. This will
then bring the total number of beds for the
hospital to over 300.
It is with some disappointment that I announce that we were unable to proceed with
the remodeling of the old hospital as we had
planned. This was due to the high cost of
remodeling which resulted from changes in
requirements from the California State Bureau
of Hospitals. Working drawings were completed in line with California State Bureau of
Hospitals requirements during this past year
and were submitted to contractors for bids.
Inasmuch as the lowest bid was $765,630.00,
this was beyond the amount of funds available.
After a careful study your Board of Trustees
by necessity decided to delay the remodeling
of the old hospital until such time as adequate
funds are available, and to use the presently
available funds for the completion of the fifth
floor.
In reviewing the past year, one part of the
hospital family, the members of the Women's
Service Alliance, has continued, with increased
growth, to render unsurpassed service with the-
same loyalty and devotion which that organization has demonstrated so magnificently since
its inception. The many services rendered to
the patients and the visitors by more than 300
members of the Women's Service Alliance are
most valuable in fulfilling the finest in hospital accommodations. Our thanks and appreciation to this fine organization and I will later
this afternoon call on the President of the
Alliance for a more comprehensive and detailed report on the activities of this organization.
Recognizing that we also have an educational responsibility to safeguard the future of our
community, we are enthusiastic about our program and relationship with Fresno State College in its using the Fresno Community Hospital for many of its clinical facilities in the
education and training of its students who are
working for degrees in the field of nursing.
Last summer we were pleased to be able to
offer many of these students full time and
some part time employment as vacation relief
workers for our regular hospital employees.
Effective May 13, I960, we received a letter
from the Joint Commission on Accreditation
of Hospitals by which Fresno Community
Hospital was accredited for another three year
period. With pride I would like to quote
from the final paragraph of the letter:
"The Commission wishes to commend you
for maintaining standards deserving of accreditation, and for your constant effort to improve
the quality of patient care. The hospital is to
be commended for its excellent new physical
plant."
In reviewing the actions of the Board of
Trustees during the past year, it is noted with
great pleasure that Dr. John D. Morgan, who
for twenty two years was the devoted and
dedicated president of this institution, was
unanimously elected an honorary Life Member of the Board of Trustees and President
Emeritus of the Fresno Community Hospital.
Certainly no one is more deserving of this
honor than Dr. Morgan.
During my first year as president, one of
the satisfying parts of my responsibility has
been to serve as an ex-officio member of the
Executive Committee of the Medical Staff. In
this capacity I have had an opportunity for a
first-hand view of the real strength of any
hospital, "the care every patient receives," under the watchful eye of its Medical Staff which
is approved by the Joint Commission on Accreditation of Hospitals.
The manner in which the medical and surgical work in the Fresno Community Hospital
is supervised in detail by members of the
Medical Staff reassures me that any patient in
this hospital will not only have the highest
standard of hospital care, but also the individual doctor caring for the patient has fully
demonstrated and has maintained his competency in being able to take care of the responsibilities he assumes. In this connection
on behalf of the members and the Board I
would like to extend our thanks and compliment most highly the members of the Executive Committee of the Medical Staff and in
particular Dr. Wm. N. Knudsen, who for the
past year has served as president of the Medical Staff, for their devotion, good judgment,
and the countless number of hours they have
collectively and individually spent to make
this a better institution.
I would also like to express our appreciation to the members of the Board of Trustees
for their understanding, loyalty, and devotion.
This board, and may I read their names in
review:
William L. Adams, M.D.
Paul Staniford
H. F. Anderson, D.D.S.
E. L. "Ted" Barr
Paul Bartlett
Gilbert Caswell
Sam Davidson
R. O. McMahan
John D. Morgan, M.D.
Maynard Munger
J. E. Rodman
R. F. Schmeiser
T. P. Shelton
J. E. Young, M.D.
Mrs. W. A. Crocket, President Women's
Service Alliance
has spent many days and nights without any
compensation whatsoever, serving the hospital,
not only attending regular and special Board
meetings bus also serving on numerous special
and standing committees, such as Building,
Finance, By-Laws, House, Nursing, and many
others.
And now last, but certainly not least, our
thanks and appreciation to our able administrator, Clifton H. Linville, for his understanding, devotion, loyalty, and administrative
ability, who has developed and maintained efficiency, harmony, high employee morale, and
a  high  standard  of patient care.
Through the devoted efforts of all concerned, the Fresno Community Hospital has
progressed during the past year. At the close
of this year, let us all re-dedicate ourselves to
serve with greater devotion, to make this institution a better and a more adequate place
to heal the ailing bodies and restore the disturbed minds.
Respectfully submitted,
Leon S. Peters
President