Tempers Flare During Meeting With Solons

              Tempers Flare During
Meeting With Solons
By MERRILEE LEATHERMAN
Journal Staff Writer
Tempers flared Tuesday
when newly-elected black leg-islator
Alphonse Jackson Jr.
charged Confederate Memo-rial
Medical Center with hav-ing
serious human relations —
and other — problems be-tween
blacks and whites.
The exchange took place
during a noon meeting of the
hospital's board of directors
and l e g i s l a t o r s from the
Northwest Louisiana area.
Jackson charged, "People
(blacks) have been here for
years who have not received
any promotions and there are
some who have lost their
seniority when they took ma-ternity
leave."
ROBERT HALL, assistant
director, reminded Jackson
that "the Civil Service Com-mission
says that unless an
employe qualifies for a step-up,
he can remain in the same
position for years."
Sen.-elect C. Kay Carter
asked Hall if blacks are
advised of opportunities to
rise within the Civil Service
structure. Hall replied, "Yes,
we encourage blacks to attend
graduate programs in many
things . . . nursing, for in-stance."
Jackson said, "I'm not here
to cause problems, but how do
you account for the fact that
there are several departments
that are 'lily-white'?", adding
that if the hospital is serious
about wanting to improve
things it should look into this
situation.
HOSPITAL DIRECTOR Dr.
Edgar Galloway told Jackson,
"There is no discrimination in
this hospital. Don't come in
here with accusations that you
know nothing about — give
me some specific instances
and not generalities."
Asking, "Who is responsible
for administering the person-nel
problems?", Jackson
claimed that hospital workers
have told him "We have
serious problems — human
relations wise." Jackson add-ed
that, "When whites are
nearby, the blacks won't dis-cuss
their problems because
they feel intimidated. When
the whites move away, they
tell me."
Referring to a list of 12
g r i e v a n c e s he says were
drawn up by hospital em-ployes,
Jackson said after the
petition had been mailed to
the hospital blacks were in-timidated
by people who inter-viewed
them using tape re-corders.
HALL AGREED Confeder-ate
thad received the petition
and that the grievances had
been c h e c k e d , but added
"there were no tape recorders
used."
Board chairman T. B. Lan-ford
told Jackson, "I have
told you before that you and I
together would check out any
complaints within the hospital
at any time you wish."
Jackson also attacked the
admissions area of the hospi-tal
and asked if there are any
plans to d e c r e a s e waiting
periods. He said, "What con-cerns
me is that people have
been out there since 7 a.m.
and have yet to be seen. I feel 1
a committee should look at
what can be done to reduce
the waiting time."
HALL TOLD Jackson all
patients do not have to wait,
but many do. He reminded
Jackson and the other legisla-tors
that an average of 300
out-patients are seen daily
and 140,000 are seen yearly.
He also said it is hoped the
new outpatient clinic will help
to relieve the situation.
Sen. H a r o l d Montgomery
emphasized, "You are going
to have to wait in any hospital
— whether a patient is paying
or not — carrying this load. In
a private hospital, he said,
"my family has had to wait
as long as four hours."
Sen. Montgomery also cited
an example of Confederate's
effectiveness in treating pa-tients.
"A black friend of
mine who was sick couldn't
get into a Ruston general
hospital, even with me telling
them that I would pay the bill.
Since I couldn't get him into
any hospital there, I brought
him to Confederate. Sure, he
had to wait, but he did get
in."
REP.-ELECT Art Sour said
that, under the circumstances,
he felt Confederate's staff was
doing a good job considering
the caseload.
"I'm very impressed," said
Sour. "Confederate is operat-ing
in a fairly efficient man-ner
and I think it is being
handled on a humane basis.
Like any state agency, it can't
be as personalized as the
relationship between the pri-vate
doctor and his patient."
Rep. - elect B. F. O'Neal
agreed with Sour's views on
the hospital's effectiveness,
adding, "It isn't perfect, but
the world isn't perfect. With
what you have to work, you're
doing a good job."
CARTER SAID, "I believe
Dr. Galloway knows what is
going on in the hospital, but I
can see where more staff is
needed to handle the work."
(Hall and Galloway have
explained that there are a
number of vacant positions at
the hospital that can't be
filled due to lack of funds.)
"Your problems are large,"
said Carter. "I was not aware
that the programs of this
hospital are as great as they
are. However," he added, "I
think we need to look at
everything. There does seem
to be a lack of communication
not only between the adminis-tration
and its employes, but
also between the administra-tion
and the community."