Board of Directors Meeting, July 10, 1952 2
by Congress so that all the money can be spent on contractual service or prevention health service on Reservations.
One of the unfortunate things is that the Government has been guilty of teaching the Indians to be paupers, failing to acquaint them with modern living; they are not acquainted with how to deal with the white man. It is a slow process, trying to have them eventually swallowed up in the populations. It is unfortunate that they have been segregated for so many years. It is now very definitely the basic policy of the Indian Service to try to make these people part of our whole population and forget them as Indians."
Dr. Cogswell--"Thank God that the people we stole the country from we are finally trying to do something for. We have given millions to Europe."
Dr. Lull--"In the two years that I have been with the Indian Service, the background has been in preventive medicine, public health. About three or four years ago Dr. Ford was assigned to the Indian Service. He refused to stay on the job unless the Commissioner of the Interior would let him go into the budget and find out what the problems were."
Dr. Hayden--"Is it the plan to close up the San Xavier Hospital and turn over the care of these people to the community?"
Dr. Lull--"Yes, but I do not mean tomorrow or next year. That will take longer to accomplish with the Papagoes than with any other tribe except the Navajoes. It is a matter of teaching them to live with the white people. I would say that if we accomplished much within the next generation it would be an outstanding job; probably 50 years would be a good time. Pima Indians are much different. They adjust much more easily. I would say we will have to use San Xavier Hospital for the next 25 years, if we are going to continue with our present plan. It would be far better if we divert all of that into local hospitals."
Dr. Cogswell--"Hospital space here is at a premium as it is. It will increase our hospital load tremendously. Do you have any assurance from the Government that we will get Federal aid we need for more hospitals?"
Dr. Lull--"It is not our intention to put patients in an overloaded community; we do not want to do that. Such a situation arose at Yuma when the airbase was opened without medical services."
Dr. Steen--"We need a bigger County Hospital. This means that we have all our own indigents, and then 7,000 more."
Dr. Lull--"The Government has, in several instances, built new additions to the County Hospital and then reimbursed the County on a per diem basis for the Indians cared for there. If you County government were agreeable to an arrangement for rendering such service, you should negotiate with them to receive compensation for those services, because there is money available for that purpose."
Dr. Beaton--"The owner at Barfield's would be hiring doctors."
Dr. Lull--"I am trying to explain to you the preferred plan of the Indian service."
Dr. Beaton--"It seems to me that this is contrary to the ethics of the A.M.A."
Dr. Manning--"I think it would be perfectly all right to make arrangements to bed them down, but I think you ought to make direct arrangements with contract surgeons or physicians. But I would be very much against having Barfield's tell me what to do."
