Newspapers / InterCom (Durham, N.C.) / Oct. 1, 1959, edition 1 / Page 2
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Page 2 Duke Hospital, InterCom Supt^^ Coxnex By Charles H. Frenzel Good public relations is the life’s blood of any service organization. To a hospital it is particularly important as the success of its operation de pends almost entirely upon public acceptance of its services. Public relations, unlike public information, cannot be purchased; it must be earned. Tlie Public Information Bu reau of Duke University has done an excellent job in placing before our public the accomplishments and the services of the Medical Center. Sev eral excellent releases have been made recently by the Public Information Bureau dealing with our Out-Patient Department operation, the annual re port of services rendered to patients at Duke Hospital, and with the devel opments in various areas of medical research. These releases have played a major part in putting the story of the Duke University Medical Center before the potential clientele of our institution, but they can never sub stitute for good public relations. The greatest single tool for devel oping public relations for the Medical Center must be our personnel. The treatment that patients, relatives, and visitors receive from each member of our staff and the attitude of our staff towards the services that are rendered in the Medical Center will pretty much determine the ])ublic relations that our institution has. The rapid growth of the Medical Center in the past twenty-nine years has brought about a tremendous in crease in our reputation and prestige. But at the same time, it has changed us from a small, compact institution in which everyone on the staff' not onl.y knew but understood the func tion of everyone else. We have be come a large, complex, multi-disci- (Continued on page 5) New Switchboard At midnight September 5 the new University telephone switchboard was put into operation. After a “shake- down” period a traffic study will be made to determine necessary adjust ments. During the first days of use, serv ice was slowed by the fact that all numbers had been changed. In addi tion switchboard operators use a dif ferent method for ringing numbers on the new equipment. Duke sub scribers note these changes: new num bers—all in four digits—have been assigned; to dial numbers in the city of Durham, the Duke subscriber must dial 9 and wait for a second dial tone; to call long-distance the Duke sub scriber now dials 0. (This last change makes the Duke switchboard consist ent with the city system.) To increase efficiency of service Duke subscribers who do not know the number they wish to call are re quested to dial 14. This will connect the subscriber with Information—two positions on the switchboard are espe cially equipped to give this service— and avoid tying up other lines. For similar reasons Hospital subscribers recpiesting paging should dial 13. The new equipment differs from the usual switchboard equipment in that numbers are called by a key pulsing system instead of by dialing. The operator presses keys—numbered like the old dial—much as she w’ould operate a typewriter or adding ma chine. Before the new switchboard was opened, two Duke operators were taken to observe the 20-position key j)ulse switchboard in Dalton, Georgia. Others had practice periods on the Duke board. When an operator be comes efficient, four numbers can be pressed in the time required to dial one. The automatic equipment of the switchboard is known as the cross bar switching system—the type now being installed as rapidly as possible by the Bell System and its subsidi aries. Privately owned and operated by in Operation Duke University, the switchboard services the University community. Duke operators handle an average of 7,000 calls a day. Calls handled automatically by direct dialing—i.e., those made within the Duke telephone system or by Duke subscribers to the Durham system—are not included in this count. Location of the switch board in Duke Hospital helps assure the night-time telephone, paging and information service necessary to the Hospital. By installing the new equipment in space adjacent to the old, it was possible to make the change without interruption of service. The old equij)ment will now be removed, and the space it occupied restored to the Hospital. The new board in creases operator j)ositions from four to six. The big advantage to be gained by installation of this new equipment is that additional equij)- ment for future expansion can be more readily planned and installed. The old equipment—vintage 1930— was bulky and so out-dated that addi tions had to be specially engineered. Even though the automatic switch board efiuipment is in operation, ad ditional service throughout the Uni versity buildings will, in many cases, require installation of cables from the switchboard to the location needing service. This will take time. Kentucky Appoints Williams Wayne C. Williams, Duke Univer sity medical illustrator, has been ap pointed director of the Medical Il lustration Department at the Uni versity of Kentucky’s new Medical Center in Lexington. He will official ly assume his post November 1. He has been a Duke Medical Center staff member since 1954 and is currently senior illustrator in the teaching film unit of the anatomy department. He was a free lance commercial artist before joining the Duke staff.
InterCom (Durham, N.C.)
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Oct. 1, 1959, edition 1
2
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