Board of Directors Meeting, January 7, 1954 3
Dr. Rudolph--I feel that the Retail Drug Association would be better.
Dr. Fraser--Somebody not connected with medicine at all would be better.
Dr. Manning--I talked to Ade Abbott and Andy Martin about how we felt about other druggists and they understood.
Dr. Harry Thompson--It looks to me as if we had a bull by the tail. I do not see really how we can evaluate this program until a survey is made. I would hate to commit the Society to sponsorship until we know what it does. I am not sure what it does and I would like a little more evidence. We are about two or three years behind the bandwagon on this Socialized Medicine fight anyway. This is only good if it accomplishes our purpose and that can only be done if it reaches those people who think doctors are no good. From a dollars and cents angle, I know this program has cost the men who participated and worked on it a great deal of money. Let us wait until we get the survey results and see if we are accomplishing something. I think the program is good and the people with whom I have talked about it have all been patients of mine or of other doctors, or friends who knew it was being presented. I think we ought to know if this good program is really doing any good. It would be a shame to commit ourselves to sponsorship if we might want to drop it.
Dr. Manning--Do not overlook one thing--we have been taking care of the County Hospital for 19 years, and many people did not know that until just recently.
Dr. Randolph--That publicity has been talked about for two or three years now, but still nothing has been done about it. Newspaper articles would do this just as well. Articles were to be run.
Dr. Harry Thompson--The main reason for that, I think, is because the Building Committee ran into a snag. The only way we can get a new County Hospital (and the supervisors will not go out for a bond issue) is that we have to plan a new campaign for a new county hospital for the coming November election. There should not be too publicity now, but when the time comes we should go all out for two or three months.
Dr. Rudolph--This is a long drawn out affair--it has been going on over a period of years.
Dr. Thompson--As soon as a bond issue for County Hospital is mentioned, our biggest taxpayer, Phelps-Dodge, will immediately close it. Under these circumstances a petition for bond issue would be very difficult to put over, if there have enough warning of it.
Dr. Rudolph--Phelps-Dodge would know of it anyway.
Dr. Thompson--They do not know of it now, I am sure.
Dr. Rudolph--The hospital does not even have to be mentioned. The County Hospital has never been adequately mentioned.
Dr. Kent--We have had two or three supplements this year.
Dr. Manning--Roy (Rudolph) is right. We should have had publicity over the
