The relation of politics to the state care of crippled and deformed / H. Winnett Orr.

  • Orr, H. Winnett (Hiram Winnett), 1877-1956.
Date:
1913
Catalogue details

Licence: In copyright

Credit: The relation of politics to the state care of crippled and deformed / H. Winnett Orr. Source: Wellcome Collection.

Provider: This material has been provided by The Royal College of Surgeons of England. The original may be consulted at The Royal College of Surgeons of England.

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    THE RELATION OF CARE OF CRIPPLED S TO THE STATE AND DEFORMED* H. WINNETT ORR, M.D. Superintendent and Assistant Surgeon Nebraska Orthopedic Hospital LINCOLN, NEB. It affords me much pleasure to read, in Minnesota, a paper on the relation of politics to the state care of the crippled and deformed, for it was the first of the United States to provide state care for these patients. The wlioje modern movement, which has for its motive the preven- tion of dependency, finds no better expression than along the line which aims to convert deformed or crippled children into independent and self-supporting persons. Many of the physical infirmities which these patients have are not susceptible of complete cure, but a con- siderable majority of all persons so affected ma3r, by suit- able surgical and mechanical treatment and by especially adapted methods of education, be rendered capable of self-support. There are many reasons why the care and education of crippled children is naturally a state function. It has long been considered that the education and train- ing of normal persons is a profitable thing for cities and states to do, but it is certain that a much larger propor- tion of those who are crippled become dependent if not made the object of special care. Economically therefore the state is simply using ordinary business foresight if by suitable hospital care and education these patients are treated and trained so as to become partially or wholly independent and self-supporting. It has long been recognized that special institutions are necessary both for the hospital care of crippled children and for the education of those who are defective either physically or mentally. To me it has * Read in the Section on Orthopedic Surgery of the American Medical Association, at the Sixty-Fourth Annual Session, held at Minneapolis, June, 1913.