Confederate May Have Full Quota of Interns Next Year

              TWELVE B THE SHREVEPORT JOURNAL, SH
Vigorous Recruitment Program—
Confederate May Have Full
Quota of Interns Next Year
By MERRILEE LEATHERMAN
Journal Staff Writer
Confederate Memorial Medi-cal
Center — operating with
only 15 interns this year —
probably will have its full
quota of 35 interns in the
coming year.
This was the optimistic
report given to the hospital
Board T h u r s d ay night by
Clinical Director Rod. M.
Yeager. He noted there have
been 47 applicants into the
Confederate internship pro-gram
so far, and that more
than half of the 31 members of
the s e n i o r class at LSU
Medical School in Shreveport
have applied for internship
slots.
THE INTERN RECRUIT-MENT
program, which ends
on Jan. 5, was credited with
stimulating interest in the
hospital's intership program.
Steve Jenkenson, representing
local medical students at the
meeting, told members the
present boards interest in the
hospital and the medical
school, as well as the activat-ing
of a vigorous recruitment
program, had impressed local
students.
"This is evident", he said,
"by the fact so many local
medical s t u d e n t s want to
come to Confederate. Before
this, most applied elsewhere."
Board chairman Harold
Quinn told those at the meet-ing
that, so far, $6Vi million
had been verbally committed
to Confeddrate Memorial
Medical Center. The U. S.
Department of Health, Educa-tion
and Welfare, he said, has
given a verbal — but not
written — committment to
$2.5 million in Hill-Bpurton
monies. These funds are to be
m a t c h e d with $4.5 millios
promised to CMMC by Goy.
Edwin Edwards earlier this
year.
THE COMBINED FUNDS
will be used to rennovate the
hospital, with special empha-sis
on correcting certain def-iciences
such as lack of air
conditioning in hospital pa-tient
areas and upgrading
elevator equipment and fire
and life safety needs.
Quinnn credited the office of
U.S. Rep. Joe D. Waggonner
with lining up the federal
funds for the hospital and
State Sen. C. Kay Carter for
aiding in getting funds to hire
an architect.
OTHER ITEMS DIS-CUSSED
at the meeting in-cluded
:
-- Acting Director Robert
Hall's report on hospital fi-nances,
showing a $49,000
surplus at present. These
funds will be used for staffing
of the new intensive care and
cobalt units and new out-pa-tient
clinic.
— A hospital pharmacist
has been hired to fill the
vacancy created when Miss
Nita McMichael retired. Hall
said he hopes another phar-macy
slot can be created so
that the pharmacy's hours can
be e x t e n d e d in order oo
provide better patient service.
—BECAUSE OF A DELAY
in laying electrical lines due
to the widening of Linwood
Avenue and readying eleva-tors
for service, the opening
of the new out-patient clinic
will be delayed by about six
weeks.
— Space allocations in the
new clinic have been as-signed,
but these assignments
will be reviewed after six or
seven months to see if they
are meeting various depart-ment
needs.
— A special effort is to be
made to recruit black interns
into the Confederate program,
although it is recognized ev-ery
hospital in the nation
presently is making the same
effort.