Document np3a1vJw2qwoZNdabJXeOB8Mw

2 3 /t December 5, 1945 Robert A. Rehoe, _,r.D., President American Industrial Hygiene Association College of Medicine Eden Avenue Cincinnati 19, Ohio Dear Bobt .Many, thanks for the copy of your letter December 1 to Riil Drinker. B y w a y of indicating to you my keen interest in the subject of your communication, enclosed are copies of letter written earlier this year by John McMahon, Tom Shipman and myself. I am hoping presently to have word of the upshot of the conference in Pittsburgh on November 15. I also hope that the Massachusetts Medical Society will take action on this important subjeot during December or January and that the A.I.H.A. will find it possible to strongly reenforce whatever is done on national and state levels Sincerely yours. i3:FRC Enc. ' CC: Vr. Bloomfield Prof. Drinker Dr. Schrenk D r . Shipman M r . Str ong Director o !i c V C 0 xJ Y 1-- -JU" " - r n - 1 _ w w- *. i W ^ 4 NT. ID. x. F O j DI, TIOii 'J? 4.~OC Fifth .avenue 11 1,,r a --t w * ittsburgh 15, F November c , 114 V. J. J. 1.locir.field 1 r. . unfred 5ov-ditch ~ n Al l a n D. eranet 1r . V. j i . Doppler . p.:*Lii r'rin<er T 1 3 'tljdys I. Dundore, ?..N . Dr. ,rictor Treiser D r . D. Fevv-uist Dr. 5 , 1 . Fet arson Dr. :. v . DchrorD _i. L - ^ .'icji cv I*. "ov\arr Strong At the suggestion of Nr. Howard Strong, Secretary, -eclth viscry Council, U.D. Chamber of Commerce, I am calling an informal meeting of some of the people vho v ill be at the Tenth Annual Meeting of Industrial Ihpione Feur.dntion, November 14 and 15, end vho may be interested in ' N r ; cf placing personnel in the industrial health field. It msy be that common problems confronting different organiza tions may best be coped with cooperatively. The meeting of representa tives of a number cf such organizations might be helpful to all concern ed. The Foundation is lad to serve as a vehicle for arranging an ex change of ideas on the subject. Since most of those attending the Foundation meeting vili have lunch in the main dining room at Hotel V.'sbster Hall, we will arrange to have a table reserved there for this group at noon on Thursday, November 15. Meanwhile, Nr. Strong is preparing an agenda and, if necessary, the discussion can be continued ir :he Doric! Room at Dellcn Institute, follow ir.g lunch. Sincerely yours, /s/ J. ?. liciiahon John F. liciiahon Managing Director TTnveti't heard that you are coming but trust you will be here. r es r\ t~) c 0 p v 14 August , 1945 Hr. Howard Strong, Secretary health Advisory Council D niter. States Chur*i: cf Commerce .ashingtpn 6, S. C. Dear S i . Strong: I areally appreciate your invitation to attend the cor.i'erei.ce tc he held next week sr.d wish that I .might aoo-pt, since there is nothing that I would like letter than to sit down with you, Carl Deter son, Jack: Eicon field and Dr. 3: rton to discuss this ranter of working out a really efficient method of establishing a clearing house or placement agency for industrial medical and hygiene personnel. However, vhat I could contribute to the discussion beyond the thoughts which you and the other three will have does .not seem to me to warrant the trio. Insteau , I snail try to transmit to you in writing my ideas on the subject. First of all, it seems to .e that such an agency should be p. soared to handle the placement of doctors, anmirears, chemists, nurses, dentists and such other technical personnel as may be involved in occupational health work. Secondly, I would hepe that it ". cull cover *re needs for such personnel of industries, the larger mercantile establishments, casualty insurance companies, governmental agencies and any other types of employers that might come into, the picture from time to time. I would think that such association as yours, the National 'ssoeiation of hrnufacturers, the American 'ocicsl Association, the American Association of Industrial Physicians and Surgeons, the .American Industrial Hygiene Association, the National Conference of Governmental Industrial Hygienists, -nd the American association of Industrial Nurses should he participants in and backers of the scheme. The A*. 3. Public Health Service, the U. 3. Department of labor and the H. o. Department of Commerce might be the prime!oal government participants -n the feacral level. ' I feel strong.Ay that this agency or bureau should not be an activity of any ere of the above on an exclusive basis, but should rather be a cooperative venture, functioning as independently as ..ossicle, hiy major reasons for this are that governmental agencies must be very circumspect in recommendations of individuals and that any association, witn the rest will in the world, is bound to favor its own members or be thought to dc so. I would think that the cost of financing such an agency v;ould be very small as national activities go these cays. If a single association did r.ot wish to foot the bills, surely a group of two or three could co so without really noticing the effect on their exchequers. Even if the expense '.ere several times reater than I v.culd anticipate, I still think that it would be worthwhile us a means to bring order out of the relative chaos nov: attendant upon our efforts to meet the day to day demands for such services. hr. -oward Strong: l.u^ust 6, 1945 I brink you will agree that this situation calls for '.uite pror.pt action, In order that employment needs of personnel in the above categories returning fro.`i the armed services ..ay be met as efficiently as possible. In order that you r.ay have know ledge of our line of tnought on this subject on the state level here In l.a_ sachusetts, I enclose a copy cf a recent letter from !r. ?. L. Shipman to L.r, Hoy .iiliams of the Issociuted Industries of has.- achusetts. Sincerely ycurs, !J2:FHC Snc. lianfred Sowcitch lirector c 0 p Tuly 19, 194:5 Dictated July 18th !r. Roy V ialii-ms Associated Industries of Massachusetts 813 P.rk square Building Boston, Mass. Pear Jr. billiams: on numerous occasions in the past che Associated Industries of Massachusetts has very kindly offeree its facilities in one way or another to the Committee on Industrial Health of the Massa chusetts Medical oociety and to the State Division of Occupational Hygiene, and the A.I.H. has at all times had a very keen interest in promoting matters of health in Industry. There is one aspect of thi matter which has never teen handled in a very efficient ii.ar.ner but I feel that there is an opportunity to perform a valuable and much needed service. From time to time industrial groups desire to be brought in contact with a competent physician whom they might employ or a part-time or full-time basis. It is obviously very difficult for any laymen to form a correct appraisal of a doctor's qualifica tions. By the same token, there are from time to time physicians who are interested in finding an opening in the field of Industrial Medicine. At the present time there is really no agency which can bring these two groups in contact with one another. If it were publicised that some agency had at hand the names of physicians in terested in industrial jobs and knew at the same time about avail able opportunities ir Industry, I believe that a very definite ser vice could be done. In this regard the coming few years are going to be extremely important. Hot a few ...octors being discharged from the Army and Navy are going to be interested in industrial vork while at the same time post-war conditions in Industry will mean a certain amount of re-shuffling, iuite a number of industrial posi tions are now filled 'ry older doctors who are merely waiting for the end of the far before they retire from active work. The Committee on Industrial Health of the Massachusetts medical Society, of which I am Chairman for rhe coming year, is naturally one group which would like to be instrumental in helping to solve this problem. Mr. Bowditch's Division is also keenly interested in seeing that the quality of medical service to Industry is boosted as high as possible. The A.I.M. is in a position to reach practi cally every industry' in the state which is large enough to justify a full-time or part-time physician. 2 I feel that it should be possible to organize a sort of clear ing house for information in this field. Information about this could, then be relayed on to all groups which might have contact with physicians looking for jobs and also with industries iockinc for physicians. among interested parties, other than those mentioned, are the various chambers of commerce as well as the local service clubs, such as Rotary, Kiwanis, etc. The United States Employment Service, the hew England Conference of Industrial I-hysicians, the medical schools and the insurance comnunies, v:ould also be interested parties and I think that +-'rere - ould be men connected *,ith the harvard Huuiness School acfi I. T. who would be interested in such a program. I am starting on a two-weeks vacation newt week. Fairly soon after my return I hope to set a date for a meeting of our Committee and I will take this opportunity of inviting you to join us at that t ime . I am uncer no illusions that thi3 program, will in one fell swoop solve all the problems of Industrial Health in the state. It has be come increasingly evident to me, however, that very few industrial executives are going to pay the slightest attention to any communica tions which come to them from a Committee of the liedical -ociety. Communications from the A.I.-l. carry far more weight and are much more apt to _et at least a reading. I have always firmly believed ^hat an industry will get exactly the type of medical service which its executives insist upon. If they want high class service, doctors can be found to provide it and if they are satisfied with what a qualified critic would regard as second-rate slipshod medical service, that is just what they will get. There is nothing more stultifying for a well-trained physician than unenlightened pol icies in Industry. Ye must be prepared on the other hand to protect industries from the sad results of employing physicians who are in competent or unscrupulous, or both. I hope that you will have some opportunity to turn thi- matter over in your mind during the ccming few weeks. I shall look for ward to seeing you and getting your ideas on the subject. Very sincerely yours, TLS/m Thomas L. Shipman, U. D. 'forks Physician m 3 i >V