Newspapers / Daily Tar Heel (Chapel … / Aug. 9, 1951, edition 1 / Page 4
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Page Ten '" ves Open House Is Set For This Saturday Hospital Saving Association, North Carolina's Blue Cross Blue Shield plan, has moved into its new three-story modern office building on West Franklin street. The public has been invited to attend an informal open house from one to five o'clock Saturday. The building, of modified Colpnial style, contains 20,000 square "feet of floor space. Air-- conditioned and sound-proofed THE TAR HEEL i , Home throughout, the brick structure also has asphalt floor tiling and the latest lighting fixtures. Moving of 184 file cabinets, 145 desks and tons of other eauir ment was accomplished last week end, with the aid of several mov ing vans and heavy cranes. The exodus of 130 employees started the following Monday, with not a day of work time lost in the transfer. Placing of the heaviest equipment on the ground floor was completed at 3:30 last Tues day morning. E. B. Crawford, executive vice president of Hospital Saving, in ' commenting on the move, said, "We've come a long way from the tiny office on the top floor . of the old house which now serves ; as Chapel Hill's Public Health Department, and the four person staff that began enrolling mem bers in 1936. Our groups have swelled from the pioneering Charlotte Teachers group to over 5,000 today. Membership rolls nave expanded from 15,000 by the end of 1937 to over 430.000 by niid-;951. District offices have multiplied to today's total of nine serving the state from .strategic points. "The dream of a well-ordered home of our own has occupied the keyt position in all plans for luture expansion and better ser '.vice to our members. With the continued, support of the hoctors -aiid hospitals of North Carolina, we' will ' strive with renewed Strength to ''reach our goal of better health through proper care fo'r all the people of this state." ;The story is told around Hos pital Saving that at one stage in its bursting-at-the-seams growth, a certain department hired a new employee to share the burden of increased work and then found there was absolutely.no place. to put a desk for her. After push ing and shoving and hauling other desks, chairs and LIes-without finding the extra inches needed, KSA ingenuity came to the fore and the girl's desk was placed on top of the filing cabinets! Ihis story may be apocryphal, but any HSA employee would not find it a bit hard to believe. Here, in the words of one old-timer, is the saga of the trials and tribula tions of the home office since the early days: "When I joined '.he staff t?m office was on the top floor of what is now the Public Health Building. We had four small rooms for our equally small staff. Where the shots are given pa tients now was our stock room. Then we moved to the top floor of what is now The Porthole Res taurant. To install some IBM machines, we had to move to the ground floor because it would have been impossible to have those machines over anybody's head. "But HSA was growing fast and we needed more space, so we 'eased what was the right side of our just-vacated home office. The left side was a cafeteria. However, we couldn't move in until September and we had to be out of the Porthole for the summer, so we borrowed a fra ternity house for our office. The IBM machines were operated on the screened porch! "Slill we grew. Jt wasn't too lonp before we had to s'art ncgo tiatiens for the 'ef., half of the Franklin street spice. Imagine what life was like while altera tions wen? on. What was to be come our IBM department had been the cafeteria s kitchen so we worked while sinks and stoves were carted away under our noses. "Then came the rooms in the building on our right for our ex panding claims department. Then additional space down in the 'alley' for our duplicating depart ment. Then offices in the build ing on our left for public rela tions. -We were sprawled out all over the place and we 'most had to pack a picnic lunch when go ing on a journey to these far- flung departments. "It seems almost too eood to be true that we are now all under one roof at last with a place for everything and everything in its place," he says. More than anything else. growth and flexibility have char acterized the history of HosDital Saving Association. , As member-! ship has expanded, the value of Blue Cross-Blue Shield benefits has been steadily increased to keep pace with modern medical advances. As a result of these twin factors the Association oc cupies a position of leadership in North Carolina both in size and in service to the people. Their confidence in continuing to grow and serve is based on much more than the experience and ability of those who encace in the workaday tasks of the As sociation. It has a solid founda tion in the partnership between themselves, the hospitals and thf, doctors of the state. It was this teamwork, which launched North Carolina's only Blue Cress-Blue Shield plan and which has earned the support of the public over the fifteen years of its existence. ihey.ve come a lone wav from the tiny office on-the top floor of the old house which now serves as Chapel Hill's Public Health Department, and the four . ...... - stan that began enrolling mem bers in 1936. Their eroutis have swelled from the pioneering Charlotte Teachers Group 59-1 to over 5,000 today. Membership rolls have expanded from 15,000 by the end of 1937 to over 420,000 by mid-1951. District offices have multiplied to today's total of nine serving the state from strategic points. For a long time, physical ac commodations for the home office staff lagged behind work volume. It takes space for the filing of re cords," correspondence, and the storage of forms and literature. Experts have estimated that 60 square feet per desk is a mini mum, for efficient office opera tions. In recent vears tha Office staff has been working with half this snace and. with Uc than adequate, filing and storaej room. What this crowding meant in lowered efficiency and in creased operating overhead has been recognized by Hospital Sav ing trustees for years. "The dream of a well-ordered home of our own has occupied the key position in all plans for fu- Thursday, August 9, 1951 jture expansion pod. betteq service dream 'has become1 a reality," Me' company states. "As we move into our new quarters, we re-fled icat Ourselves to ""the golden principle of Blue Cross-Blue Shield better health through proper care for all our people. ,,' Our Best Wishes to Hospital Saving Association FRANKLIN & HUNT AUTO SALES West Franklin Street 0 Congratulations to the HOSPITAL SAVING ASSOCIATION of North Carolina, Inc. On Their New Building ASPHALT TILE FLOORING Furnished and Installed -By- R. L. DRESSER Raleigh, N. C. 'H i Hospital rri V : Congratulations and Best Wishes Associati Saving on "to" J HAZZARD MOT OR West Franklin Street in their new location . . . in the rapidly expanding West Chapel Hill business district Contact us fo thorough, expert car service COMPANY : Phone 2-491
Daily Tar Heel (Chapel Hill, N.C.)
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Aug. 9, 1951, edition 1
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