Duke Hospital, InterCom
Page 3
DR. C. RONALD STEPHEN, Professor of
Anesthesiology and Chief of the Division
of Anesthesiology, was bom in Canada. He
received his M. D. degree from McGill Uni
versity in Montreal, his Diploma in Anes
thetics from the Royal College of Physicians
and Surgeons, England. During the war
he served as major in the Royal Canadian
Army Medical Corp. Dr. Stephen became
an American citizen two years ago. He
follows football, hockey and basketball with
interest; swims and plays tennis; and tops
it all off by being a hi-fi enthusiast.
MARION BATCHELDER, R.N., Supervi
sor of Operating Room Services. Miss Batch-
elder received her R.N. degree from the
Peter Bent Brigham Hospital in Boston,
and remained there several years as head
nurse and then operating room supervisor.
Her next post was on the operating room
Grandma’s Attic or
Country Store?
Neither term quite describes the
Duke Hospital Storeroom though it
has some characteristics of each. The
Storeroom stocks between 1200 and
1250 items, wliieh range from safety
pins to bolts of gauze 100 yds. long.
The annual inventory for the fiscal
year 19f)6-1957 was $127,622.23.
Once a week the Storeroom issues to
X-ray between $750 and $875 worth
of film. A daily order of dressings to
Central Supi>ly will run about $250.
Twice a year the Storeroom orders
100 dozen sheets. No money actually
changes hands, however. The Treas
urer’s Office debits the appropriate
department account and credits the
Storeroom.
In addition to items carried in
stock, the Storeroom screens all orders
from the Medical Center to the Pur
chasing Department except those for
books, drugs, and food. For these
direct orders the Storeroom simply re
ceives the item and delivers it.
Work on a Storeroom Catalogue
was begun in 1948 and completed in
1950. All merchandise was divided
into nine categories and assigned stock
numbers, the left-hand digit of which
indicates the category. At the same
time reijnisitions with a different color
for each category were introduced.
The ntimber and color designation
make order filling quicker and easier.
The perpetual inventory which had
run as mucli as six weeks behind can
now be kept current.
Category 6, with a blue-green requi-
staff of Johns Hopkins Hospital. There
she met Dr. Hart who invited her to join
the Duke staff. Duke has been home to
Miss Batchelder ever since. From 1953-
1955 Miss Batchelder and Miss Mildred
Sherwood, of the Duke Pediatrics staff, were
granted leaves of absence to work with the
Atomic Bomb Casualty Commission in Japan.
They came home “the long way ’round” via
Hong Kong, India, Europe, England and
Scotland. What does Miss Batchelder like
to do when she’s not in the operating room?
Horse-back riding, music and the theatre are
all favorite forms of recreation.
sition, is Laboratory Glass. This cate
gory has the largest number of items
blit because many of them are small,
stock can be ordered for six months
at a time. The policy of ordering a
six months’ supply is followed in all
categories where it is practical.
Dressings, on the other hand, (Cate
gory 4, requisition brown) are so
bulky, that only one month’s supply
can be stored at a time. They are
contracted for on a three months’
basis, liowever. This is the longest
period for w'hich manufacturers wll
guarantee a price because they must
deal on the open cotton market and
allow for its fluctuations.
A housewife can learn in Category
5, Textiles, that a thread count of less
than 140 for cotton is probably not a
good buy. And if you could order
your sheets made with the same width
hems at each end, you could equalize
the wear.
Finally, a safety pin which comes
in Category 8—Patient Consumables
—is used only once in Duke Hospital.
If sterilized, they become discolored.
In charge of the Storeroom since
1945 is Mr. DeWitt Wright, an As
sistant Sui)erintendent on the Hospi
tal Staff. Mr. Wright first came to
Duke in 193G. He is a graduate of
the Hospital’s administrative pro
gram, and served for awhile as Night
Superintendent. AVorking with Mr.
Wright are two administrative in
terns. A new intern joins the staff
every three months, and each spends
six months in the department. Other
Storeroom personnel include Mr. War-
(Continued on page 8)
COUNTRY FAIR
AND CARNIVAL
Sponsored by
The Duke Hospital
Women’s Auxiliary
at the Duke Baseball Park
Saturday, May 10
10 A.M.—7 P.M.
COME ONE COME ALL