1920 Hospital Costs
In my parents’ effects, I have found a statement dated Dec. 10, 1920, from Whittier Hospital. My sister and I, ages 5 and 2 respectively at the time, spent 6 days with some type of acute respiratory infection. The total cost of $46.50 for the stay breaks down to a daily rate of $3.75 per patient per bed and 75 cents for pneumonia jackets.
Perhaps some of your medical readers can comment and compare today’s horrendous costs for hospital beds and services with those of the 1920s, which, incidentally, were years of economic boom.
While the care at Whittier Hospital in 1920 may not have been as good as current care, it was adequate and my sister and I are in our 70s and still going strong.
GEORGE OSBORNE
Fullerton
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