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Vital Signs
Then & Now
A reminder of the pace of change, and of timeless truths, from The Journal of William Tully, an account kept during 1808-09 by a Dartmouth medical student:
"This morning, Dr. Smith
was to perform the operation
for an aneurism, but at 16 or
17 miles distance from
Hanover. I felt desirous of
seeing it; but to go so far for
the purpose would have
been . . . skinning a flint for
three-pence and spoiling a
knife that cost six-pence.
Had the patient, however,
been within half a mile,
I should have felt somewhat
sheepish at attending,
with such a concourse of
students as the good Doctor
commonly has with him."
3,000+
Number of miles today's
DMS students often travel
for clinical rotations—including to California,
Alaska, Arizona, and Florida
A reminder of the pace of change, and of timeless truths, from the Mary Hitchcock Memorial Hospital 1978 Annual Review:
"Good medical care is no
longer viewed as a luxury of
those who can afford it, but
as a service to be provided to
all who want it. Wide public
concern with the provision
of health care, a product of
that changing viewpoint,
has resulted in significant
responses on both the federal
and state levels. These
responses are concerned
with the quality and cost of
health care and [its] accessibility
and availability."
$3.3 million
Uncompensated and
charitable care provided
by Hitchcock in 1978
$63.0 million
Uncompensated and
charitable care provided
by Hitchcock in 2007
A reminder of the pace of change, and of timeless truths, from the Fall 1981 issue of this magazine:
NBC-TV came to town
when "cancer researchers
from across the nation
gathered in Hanover for
three days in August to
discuss their successes, their
failures, and the future."
Another article in the
same issue pointed out that
"cancer no longer invariably
kills. More and more cancer
patients across the nation
are surviving—and leading
active, productive lives."
1972
Year Dartmouth's Norris
Cotton Cancer Center
opened its doors
$54 million
Current annual research
funding to the NCCC
165
Average number of open
clinical trials at the NCCC
A reminder of the pace of change, and of timeless truths, from a book titled Hiram Hitchcock's Legacy:
When Mary Hitchcock
Memorial Hospital opened
in 1893, "many citizens were
skeptical. Thirty-six beds
seemed excessive! . . . There
was also a certain amount of
fear regarding hospitals—after all, people often went
there and died! . . . Others
were pleased and impressed
with such a large and
modern facility. . . . [It] also
had gas and electricity."
22
Number of fireplaces in
the 1893 MHMH building
14,000
Number of light fixtures in
DHMC's Lebanon facility
when it opened in 1991
4,000
Approximate number
converted to use compact
fluorescent bulbs by 2007
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