Page:LewisMeriam-TheProblemOfIndianAdministration.djvu/293
- The Montana Tuberculosis Association offered the services of a tuberculosis nurse for any reservation in Montana. The Blackfeet Reservation was selected. The Indian Office stipulated the conditions of the contract which, in general, were that this worker should do a generalized rather than a specialized nursing service. The Montana Tuberculosis Association would provide salary, and the Indian Service would furnish a car and its upkeep as well as living quarters. The activities of this worker would be under the direction of the Indian Service, and the report would be made both to the Montana Association and the Indian Service.
- In Montana a plan has been under consideration for the establishment of a full-time health unit at Hardin. The territory embraced by this unit will include the majority of the Indians at the Crow Agency. Plans have not materialized as yet, but there is a definite interest on the part of the Indian Office in cooperating with the Montana State Board of Health and other interests in this plan by providing a part of the cost.
- At the present time negotiations are under consideration to bring about a cooperative working arrangement between state health authorities in the states of Minnesota, Wisconsin, and California.
Vital Statistics and Records. It is a generally accepted axiom today that the quality of a service is accurately reflected in the completeness and accuracy of its records. In this respect the Indian Service has been weak. Vital statistics and records of medical activities at present are incomplete and as a rule unreliable. Wide variations are found between figures obtained at the reservation and those at the Indian Office in Washington. The Office has depended too much upon the initiative and interest of its field personnel, not recognizing that such personnel were not selected for fitness in the technical field of statistics, and has not itself demanded and used accurate original basic records. Physicians who have not been in the habit of keeping careful records in their private practice cannot be expected to make accurate and complete returns when they enter the Indian Service unless they are required to do so and are given definite instructions regarding details. General circulars issued by the Indian Office on this matter as far back as 1916 have urged and insisted on more accuracy, but a casual glance at the present day reports makes it evident that com-