Ebert Cites Med School's Involvement in Community

The emphasis is on collective action in the Dean's report on the Medical School for 1966-67.

Dr. Robert H. Ebert, Dean of the Faculty of Medicine, devoted most of his report to the Medical School's increasing role in solving the health and hospital problems of Boston and Cambridge, and on its efforts to work more closely with scholars in non-medical fields.

He described "a spreading awareness of the interdependence of physicians and specialists in economics, urban development, public administration, law, and engineering," and wrote "there is an increasing recognition that community facilities and institutional endeavors must be integrated...."

Harvard's Influence

Ebert pointed to the Affiliated Hospitals Center, the appraisal of Cambridge's health services by a visiting professor at the Medical School, the pre-paid insurance plan, and joint comprehensive care plans with the Faculty of Public Health as examples of Harvard's spreading influence.

Affiliated Hospitals Center is a union of three hospitals affiliated with the Harvard Medical School: Boston Hospital for Women, the Peter Bent Brigham Hospital, and the Robert Breck Brigham Hospital. Ebert said he envisions "a "great new hospital complex for Boston."

Ebert's report cited the work of Dr. Leona Baumgartner, visiting professor of Social Medicine, who recommeded that a new Department of Health, Hospitals and Welfare be established in Cambridge. The City Council established the department last spring.

The pre-paid insurance plan, to begin next Fall, will attempt to improve group medical care by providing a large sample for statistical research, while offering subscribers in Boston more comprehensive coverage than they are now getting.

The Medical School cooperates with the Public Health Faculty on several comprehensive care programs, including one in the Roxbury-Jamaica Plain section of Boston. The idea is to develop model care units in the district where the patient lives.