BOARD OF DIRECTORS MEETING
December 2, 1954
Short Version
A quorum being present, the meeting was called to Order at 8: P.M. by the President, Dennis Bernstein, M.D.
It was moved, seconded and carried to dispense with reading of the Minutes of the previous Board of Directors meeting.
Report for the By-Laws Committee was made by Dr. M.A. Carreras, who presented a draft of a new Section to cover the possible establishment of a "Professional Committee". Discussion followed.
It was moved, seconded and carried, that the suggestion made by Mr. George Rosenberg of a paragraph to appear with the articles on medical subjects which are to be printed in the Tucson Daily Citizen, be approved. That paragraph is as follows:
"The following article was written by a member of the Pima County Medical Society. It is one of a series in which specific diseases as well as local social problems of medicine are being analyzed by Tucson physicians and surgeons. Questions from readers in connection with this series of medical articles in the Citizen are invited. Questions should be of broad general interest. Questions on a problem pertaining to only one individual or a group of individuals should be referred to the readers' own physician."
Report for the Committee on Dr. Jeremiah Metzger's proposal concerning his property, suggesting that it be acted on favorably by the Board of Directors and final disposition made by having the Society at large vote upon the matter, was submitted by Dr. Stuart Sanger and read by the Secretary. Upon motion duly made, seconded and carried, the Committee was authorized to look into the business side of this proposal, obtain an attorney's opinion, and prepare a full report for presentation to the Society.
Report for the Red Cross Committee was submitted by the chairman, Dr. C.A.L. Stephens, and read by the Secretary. This report concerned the decrease in revenue from the Department of Defense and from the National Office of the American Red Cross to the Tucson Chapter, which necessitates a change in the operation of the Regional Blood Center and a possible increase in expense to the local community. The Committee explored methods of obtaining compensatory funds. The method found to be most favorable is a plan called "The Hospital Participation Program"; under this system the cost of expendable items would be borne by the patient. It was explained that the cost of expendable items per unit of blood is $2.34, and covers the glass bottle and tubing used in obtaining the blood. This is presently paid for by the Red Cross, but will be billed to patients. It was also explained that it is anticipated that there will be further decreases in revenue from the above sources, and that the figure of $2.34 is very low and does not cover uncollectable accounts or further increases in the cost of production.