Your estimate for 1944 is $10,284,000. This is an increase of $2,093,432.

Have you obtained any recent deficiency appropriation on this item?

Dr. PARRAN. We have, Mr. Chairman.

With your permission I would like to ask Assistant Surgeon General W. F. Ossen fort to defend this item.

Dr. OSSENFORT. It necessitated $2,900,000 for 1943.

PERSONAL SERVICES

Mr. HARE. I see you ask for an increase for personal services of $623,329.

Dr. OSSENFORT. That is largely for expense of the Coast Guard. We furnish personnel to the principal Coast Guard bases and the principal Coast Guard vessels afloat, and this demand has been increased because of the emergency.

Also five additional nurses are required for the emergency relief rooms in the Bureau of Engraving and Printing, Treasury Department, and in the United States Coast Guard Headquarters, at a total cost of $8,100.

The item of pay for Reserve officers under Public Law 607, June 16, 1942, and an item to meet the change in salary levels caused by Public Law 694, August 1, 1942, completes the outline of increases under personal services.

Mr. HARE. This is a defense item-this increase?

Dr. PARRAN. Yes, sir-war effort.

Mr. HARE. There is no increase in your travel item for next year as compared with the current year?

Dr. ÖSSENFORT. No.

Mr. HARE. There appears to be no increase in the item for transportation of thinges, for this year as compared with last year.

Mr. HARRIS. We are not estimating any increase in connection with this object of expenditure.

CONTRACTUAL SERVICES

Mr. HARE. On the item "Other contractual services" you are requesting an increase of $316,094 over last year.

What is included in other contractual services?

Mr. HARRIS. This increase is broken in two parts-$250,342 is for contract hospital care for additional Coast Guard beneficiaries. That amount will provide approximately 58,904 additional contract days of hospital care in various private, contract, and other governmental hospitals at a flat rate of $4.25 per day.

The remainder of the item, $65,752, covers contract dental care for additional Coast Guard beneficiaries. This will provide for dental treatment of 25,128 of the additional Coast Guard men at approximately $2.60 per man per year.

SUPPLIES AND MATERIALS

Mr. HARE. What about the increase of $636,213 in the item of supplies and material?

Mr. HARRIS. That may be broken down into three parts.

The first item is for $148,971, which is due to the higher cost of our subsistence rations. This will provide enough additional money to permit our serving a 53-cent ration for 1944 for 2,772,768 rations.

The second part of the increase is to cover the added cost of all supplies other than subsistence. This is estimated at $109,967.

There is an increase-a continuing increase-in the cost of medical, hospital, and surgical, as well as dental, supplies. This item will take care of approximately 12 percent rise in price, based on 1942 expenditures for those types of supplies, and it does not provide for any additional supplies. The third part is to cover additional medical, dental, and miscellaneous supplies. These supplies are for additional treatment requirements for the Coast Guard. The total of this item. is $377,275 and is estimated to take care of the additional medicines and medical, dental, and miscellaneous supplies needed to render treatments because of the Coast Guard expansion, at an average cost of 43.8 cents per medical treatment.

Mr. HARE. How much was the deficiency appropriation?

Dr. OSSENFORT. $2,900,000.

Mr. HARE. For fiscal year 1943?

Dr. OSSENFORT. Yes, sir.

appropriation?

Mr. HARE. How do you account for the decrease in the estimate recommended by the Bureau of the Budget for 1944? Did you find that you did not need as much as was expected under the deficiency Mr. HARRIS. These estimates for 1944 were prepared some months back-last fall. Since that time the demand for medical and hospital care and associated activities brought about by present conditions, and which caused the 1943 deficiency situation, is such as to indicate that we will have a deficiency situation for 1944 which will probably equal that of 1943.

With respect to the 1944 Budget as here presented, it is somewhat higher than as originally presented to the Bureau of the Budget. They changed the internal detail somewhat, but the over-all total was - increased somewhat by the Budget Bureau.

However, the situation continues to change. We do not think it is possible to avoid a rather substantial deficiency in 1944 if things continue as they are. For example, on March 1, 1942, there were 26 Reserve officers on duty at Coast Guard facilities. By April 1, 1943. there were 251 Reserve officers on duty at Coast Guard facilities, with a further need of another 46 Reserve officers by July 1, 1943. This represents a total need of 297 Reserve officers to start 1944 with. Up to this point approximately 189 of them are provided for as follows: 26 available or provided for in fiscal year 1942, 14 more provided for in the regular current appropriation for 1943, and 149 requested in this estimate for 1944, a total of 189. The remaining 108 are provided for in the 1943 deficiency funds recently appropriated to us, but such provision does not carry over for 1944. One hundred and eight officers in the bottom grade of assistant surgeon would represent an additional item of about $368,000, beyond the 149 officers provided in this

estimate.

Mr. HARE. The deficiency will be due to the war effort?

Mr. HARRIS. Practically all of it is directly attributable to the war effort.

VOLUME OF WORK

Mr. TARVER. I think the information relative to the volume of work covered in pages 160 to 168 inclusive, of the justification, should be inserted in the record. I think it is very valuable as indicating the scope of the work.

Could that information be condensed so as to be available in substance?

Mr. HARRIS. We could condense and abstract it. We could give you the totals without the break-down in such detail. We can consolidate it for the record.

1 "Beneficiaries" are: American merchant seamen, personnel of U. S. Coast Guard, personnel of U. S Coast and Geodetic Survey, seamen (not enlisted or commissioned) on Government vessels, officers and crews of vessels of Bureau of Fisheries, seamen of Army Engineering Corps and Army transports, seamen of Mississippi River Commission, seamen and cadets on State school ships, immigrant detainees, U. S Employees' Compensation Commission patients, leprous patients, special study cases, officers and employees of Public Health Service taken sick or injured in line of duty on field work, foreign seamen (collections deposited in Treasury).

"Pay patients" are: Patients of Veterans' Administration, former enrollees of Civilian Conservation Corps (when authorized by Employees' Compensation Commission), emergency relief workers (Works Projects Administration) (when authorized by C. S. Employees' Compensation Commission), officers and enlisted men of Army, Navy, Marine Corps, dependent members of families of personnel of Coast Guard and Coast and Geodetic Survey (no charge for out-patient care).

COST OF RATION

Mr. TARVER. It is noted that your ration estimate is based on 53 cents. Do you think that is a liberal estimate?

Mr. HARRIS. No, sir. Our present ration experience is 58 cents. During this year it has increased steadily, from an average of 51.6 cents in fiscal year 1942 to a present cost of over 58 cents. It has been a steady rise. Our ration figure for the last month for which information is available-March 1943-was 58.7 cents.

Mr. TARVER. Your estimates do not provide for this increase? Mr. HARRIS. Not for anything beyond the 53-cents ration. That was the amount we were permitted to include in this Budget.

Mr. TARVER. Assuming there will be no further rise in the cost of food, your estimate will still be inadequate-5 cents per ration. Mr. HARRIS. We would need about $138,000 more to meet a flat 58-cent ration cost for 2,772,000 rations.

Mr. TARVER. I think it is rather foolish to provide a basis of 53 cents when you figure the cost to be 58 cents with no prospect of a decrease in that cost.

Mr. HARRIS. There is no prospect of a decrease.

ADDITIONAL PHYSICIANS AND DENTAL OFFICERS

Mr. TARVER. In the matter of personnel, I believe I saw here that you are contemplating having 117 additional physicians? Is that right?

Mr. HARRIS. One hundred and three additional medical officers and 46 additional dental officers are provided in this estimate.

Mr. TARVER. On page 157 of the justification I see that 103 of these additional physicians are included in this estimate and 14 are allowed in the appropriation "Pay of personnel and maintenance of hospitals, Public Health Service, 1943."

Mr. HARRIS. Fourteen additional were included in our current appropriation.

BED CAPACITY OF HOSPITALS

Mr. TARVER. What do you have in the way of additional hospital rooms-space?

Mr. HARRIS. Our bed capacity at present is approximately 6,600 beds. We had this year a peak load of almost 6,300, during midwinter. At that point we were very short of beds, having only 300 vacant beds, and these 300 beds were scattered through 25 hospitals. Many of our hospitals were overcrowdel and overburdened, and several are now filled beyond normal capacity.

Mr. TARVER. I would like to ascertain whether or not you anticipate any additional hospital construction to add to your present facilities?

Dr. OSSENFORT. Not in this estimate.

Mr. TARVER. I understand it is not in this estimate, but are you going to have additional hospital facilities provided through other appropriations?

Dr. OSSENFORT. Some will soon have to be developed.

Mr. TARVER. There are not in immediate prospect?

Dr. PARRAN. I testified yesterday that we made an estimate more than a year ago for 1,900 additional hospital beds, but these estimates have never come over to Congress. In a word, I can say that we have to have additional facilities, either by buying, leasing or temporary construction.

NUMBER, LOCATION AND CAPACITY OF HOSPITAS

Mr. TARVER. Will you insert in the record a list of the hospitals that you have, their locations; and also a statement as to the types of patients that you are required by law to accept.

Mr. HARRIS. Yes, sir.

(The statement referred to is as follows:)

86811-43-pt. 2-22