Cleveland has 86 school dispensaries, or what are usually termed
"physicians' offices." These are rooms about 20 feet long by 15
feet wide, located in the basement or on the first floor of the school
building, well lighted, and painted in white or light colors. Usually
they contain one or two small white enamel tables, several chairs, a
wash basin with running water, a white enamel pail for waste
materials, wooden tongue depressors, eye charts, a medical cabinet
filled with instruments and supplies, filing boxes, and printed forms.
In 37 of the elementary schools, shower baths are provided as part of
the equipment of the building.
[Illustration: Cleveland's dispensaries are well equipped.]
Cleveland's dispensaries are of exceptionally high grade. In every
case lighting, ventilation, and equipment are good. Many of the rooms
are large enough for conferences and hygiene talks, and in at least
one school--East Madison--the dispensary is used with desirable
psychological effect for the regular meetings of the Mothers' Club.
The excellence of Cleveland's school dispensaries has contributed in
no small measure to the efficiency of the medical service, and money
spent in this way has been a wise investment. It is probably true that
Cleveland's dispensaries are of better grade than those of any other
large city in the United States.
[Illustration: Columns are proportionate in height to the number of
children given physical examinations each year for five school years.
Portion in black indicates number having physical defects. The figures
above the columns show how many thousands of children were examined
and how many found defective in each year.]
These dispensaries have proved of the greatest value in rendering the
physical examinations of the children more effective and efficient.
This work is very different from that which relates to the detection
of contagious diseases. The latter is primarily a protective measure
and looks mainly to the immediate safeguarding of the health of the
community. The former aims at securing physical soundness and vitality
and looks far into the future.
The physical examinations conducted in these dispensaries have shown
conclusively that a large percentage of the Cleveland children--like
those of all other cities--suffer from defective vision to the extent
of requiring an oculist's care if they are to do their work properly,
and if permanent injury to their eyes is to be avoided. More than
this, a considerable proportion of the children are so seriously
defective in hearing that their school work suffers severely. Most
important of all, only a small minority of these defects of sight and
hearing are discovered by teachers or known to them, to the parents,
or to the children themselves. When the children attempt to do their
school work while suffering from these defects, among the results may
be counted permanent injury to the eyes, severe injury to the nervous
system due to eyestrain, and depression and discouragement, owing to
inability to see and hear clearly.
Moreover, there are other defects, in particular those of nose,
throat, and teeth, which are common among children and which have an
important bearing upon their present health and future development.
The importance of these defects is emphasized by the fact that, if
discovered early enough, they may easily be remedied or modified,
whereas neglect leads, almost invariably, to permanent impairment of
physical condition. These are the reasons why Cleveland's heavy
investment in school dispensaries is yielding a return in enhanced
health, happiness, and vigor probably unexcelled by the dividends from
any other sort of educational expenditure.