Feb. 6, 1962
Dear Merel:
I very much enjoyed your recent letter and am delighted that things appear to be going so nicely for you and your family. In many respects progress here can be measured in inches where we had rather expected to have miles. We still have not started the digging; we still do not have all of the tenants out of the houses across the street so that there are still court cases ahead of us before we can even begin to do any work on the hospital. This is very discouraging.
As far as Kings County Hospital progress is concerned, we have no reconstruction in the Department of Surgery yet out of the Health Research Council grant but expect it to begin in the near future.
There is one very bright item that has appeared in the recent past. The Executive Committee of the Medical Board went strongly on record in support of the acquisition of Engstrom respirators and appropriate tracheotomy tubes to match, with a request that Lee Binder with my consultation draw up a request for the number of machines to be asked for. It is my proposition that we should ask for a dozen machines so that we will have them in the recovery room in the A Building and also in the recovery room that is to be built in the E Building. I think that perhaps one should also be available in Neurosurgery. We are a long ways still from having the machines in hand, but at least we have enthusiastic support among our own people and I think if we keep pushing they may actually materialize.
Kings County Hospital is not quite the same place that it was before I went on my sabbatical year, what with there being no Harmel around. We have our ups and downs and politics and wrangles, but I think we are heading in the right direction.
Paul Herzog went through town the other day and Maggie kindly arranged so that I might reach him to talk with him by telephone. He is coming back within a few weeks and Maggie and I have just been discussing the procedures to be employed to get Paul to review both of the respirators that we have so that we shall have them put into tip-top shape, and at the same time to reimburse Paul somewhat for the time and effort that this will cost him. I believe he is going to bring Karin along with him when he comes this time; I don't believe she has been to America before. Please give my best to Armide and the girls.
Very sincerely yours,
Clarence Dennis, M.D.