Financial Information, Jewish Hospitals Committee and Jewish Lay Council
View interactive document pageThese are documents from the Jewish Hospitals Committee in Baghdad and the Jewish Lay Council. The files include employee action records, expense reports, and memos detailing decisions taken by the council. The item also contains a comprehensive report that spans from 1934-1944 and describes the assets and services of the hospitals that fall under the Jewish Hospitals Committee.
Number 919/8/1 49/8/15 ⟦illegible⟧ 1949/6/17 To the respected Mr. Shlomo Sweig After greetings The Council has decided to elect you to the membership of the Hospital Committee bodies for the fiscal year 48/49 and to submit your report in this regard to the Royal High Commissioner. Vice President Copy to - Presidency of the Hospital Committee Sh/
JEWISH HOSPITALS COMMITTEE JEWISH HOSPITALS COMMITTEE BAGHDAD BAGHDAD Established. 1884 Established 1884 Telephones 3006 3006 Telephone Number 7480 7480 Meir Elias Hospital Meir Elias Hospital Rimah Khedouri Eyes Hospital Rimah Khedouri Eye Hospital Refouah Pharmacy Dar Al-Shifa Pharmacy Administration of the Lay Council -- Baghdad Number 78 Date 24 / 8 / 1949 File Number ⟦line⟧ No. Number: L / 718 Date Date: 1949/8/24 Presidency of the Lay Council After greetings, We request to inform you that the Committee has assigned the Whinney Murray company to audit the accounts of Meir Elias Hospital, Rimah Khedouri Hospital, and the Dar Al-Shifa Dispensary for the year 49 / 950 for a fee of 100 Dinars (one hundred Dinars). Respectfully yours. ⟦signature⟧ On behalf of / The President Council Approval ⟦signature⟧
Department Copy 256 11 / 9 / 1949 Presidency of the Hospitals Committee Greetings, The Council has approved what was stated in your letter No. L/713 dated 24 / 8 / 1949 regarding the Whinney Murray company auditing your committee's accounts for the year 49 / 1950 for a fee of one hundred dinars. Vice President 14 ⟦illegible⟧
JEWISH HOSPITALS COMMITTEE BAGHDAD Established. 1884 Telephones 3006 7480 Meir Elias Hospital Rimah Khedouri Eyes Hospital Refouah Pharmacy Jewish Hospitals Committee Baghdad Established in 1884 Telephone No. 3006 7480 Meir Elias Hospital Rimah Khedouri Eye Hospital Dar Al-Shifa Pharmacy Administration of the Lay Council - Baghdad Number 282 Date 24 / 8 / 1949 File Number No. Number: L / 721 Date: 24 / 8 / 1949 To the Presidency of the Lay Council Greetings, We transmit to you below a copy of the Committee's resolution No. 2 taken on 23 / 8 / 1949 regarding the Rivka Menahem Daniel Dispensary for your kind notation of its contents. ⟦illegible⟧ President Copy to - Director of Meir Elias Hospital - to transfer the amount described in the discussion to the Lay Council Copy of the Resolution 2- Based on what was presented by the member Mr. Salim Qahtan, the Committee decided to approve the sale of the rubble of the house numbered 393 / 94 Torah belonging to the endowment of the Rivka Menahem Daniel Dispensary for the amount of 137.250 Dinars to Mr. Abbas Saleh, in accordance with the public auction held at the headquarters of the Community Presidency on 23 / 8 / 1949 under the conditions agreed upon with the aforementioned contractor, provided that this amount is deposited in the account of the mentioned endowment opened in the name of the Lay Council at the Ottoman Bank. ⟦line⟧ Approved ⟦illegible⟧
JEWISH HOSPITALS COMMITTEE BAGHDAD Established. 1884 Telephones 3006 7480 Jewish Hospitals Committee Baghdad Established in 1884 Telephone Number Baghdad 3006 7480 Meir Elias Hospital Meir Elias Hospital Rimah Khedouri Eyes Hospital Rimah Khedouri Eyes Hospital Refouah Pharmacy Dar Al-Shifa Pharmacy Administration of the Lay Council ⟦illegible⟧ Number 281 Date 24 / 8 / 1949 File Number ⟦illegible⟧ No. Number: L / 722 Date Date: 24 / 8 / 1949 Secret Presidency of the Lay Council Greetings, It is intended not to confirm Mr. Kamil Lawi, recently employed as an administrative officer at <del>Hospital</del> Rima Khedouri Hospital, and to terminate his services as of the end of August 1949, and to appoint Mr. Naji Hafez Laith as an administrative officer in the aforementioned hospital with a nominal salary of 20/- Dinars, to which is added a cost-of-living allowance of 6/250 Dinars monthly (i.e., the same salary that the administrative officer Mr. Elias Samira used to receive). We request your preliminary approval of this arrangement. Please accept our respect. ⟦signature⟧ President Approved ⟦signature⟧ Sh / A
JEWISH HOSPITALS COMMITTEE BAGHDAD Established. 1884 Telephones 3006 / 7480 Meir Elias Hospital Rimah Khedouri Eyes Hospital Refouah Pharmacy Jewish Hospitals Committee Baghdad Established in 1884 Telephone No. 3006 / 7480 Baghdad Meir Elias Hospital Rimah Khedouri Eye Hospital Dar Al-Shifa Pharmacy ⟦illegible⟧ Number 27 - Date 12 / 8 / 949 No. Number: L/714 Date: 12 / 8 / 1949 Presidency of the Lay Council After greetings We request approval of this Committee's decision No. 12 taken on 24 / 7 / 1949 regarding the abolition of the position of Assistant Director at Meir Elias Hospital. Sincerely. ⟦signature⟧ President Copy of the decision 12 - Discussions were held regarding the general situation at Meir Elias Hospital, and after studying the subject from all its aspects, it was decided that the interest of the hospital requires the abolition of the position of Assistant Director, provided that the hospital Director distributes whatever work he deems necessary and appropriate among the hospital's doctors; accordingly, paragraph (b) of decision No. (11) taken on 6 / 2 / 1949 regarding the appointment of Dr. Naeem Rabie as Assistant Director is considered canceled as of the first of August 1949. ⟦line⟧ S/ For information on the books of Committee relations ~ The Council approved Inspection ⟦signature⟧
Jewish Hospitals Committee JEWISH HOSPITALS COMMITTEE Baghdad BAGHDAD Established 1884 Established. 1884 Telephone Number 3006 / 7480 Baghdad Telephones 3006 / 7480 Meir Elias Hospital Meir Elias Hospital Rimah Khedouri Eye Hospital Rimah Khedouri Eyes Hospital Dar Al-Shifa Pharmacy Refouah Pharmacy Council Administration ⟦illegible⟧ - Baghdad Number 282 Date 25 / 8 / 949 File Number ⟦illegible⟧ No. L / 792 Date: 25 / 8 / 1949 Presidency of the Lay Council Greetings, We request approval of this committee's decision regarding the renewal of the employment contract of Dr. Haron Hayya under the same previous terms communicated to you in our esteemed letter in our letter numbered L/273 and dated 28 / 7 / 1949 for a period of six months more starting from 1 / 8 / 1949. Respectfully. On behalf of the President ⟦illegible⟧ Khedouri Approved ⟦signature⟧
Report Committee of Jewish Hospitals in Baghdad on Its health institutions between 1934 and 1944 Al-Rashid Press * Baghdad
Report of the Committee of Jewish Hospitals in Baghdad on its health institutions between the year 1934 and the year 1944 Al-Rashid Press * Baghdad
Report of the Israeli Hospitals Committee in Baghdad on its health institutions between 1934 and 1944 In view of the absence of reports showing the various developments and reforms that have been introduced to our health institutions for a long time, this committee decided to submit such a report covering the most important of those reforms and expansions that were completed between 1934 and 1944. Our health institutions consist of (1) Meir Elias Hospital (2) Hospital Rima Khedouri for Eyes (3) Dar al-Shifa Dispensary Meir Elias Hospital At the end of 1933, the committee, which was and still is headed by Mr. Meir Dankour, took over the management of Meir Elias Hospital and its annexes in a state of great backwardness
which I found in the manner of its management, and it is enough to mention the management of the respected Jewish community that its annual income exceeds 3,000 Dinars, while its technical efficiency and the benefit from its status as a hospital are almost non-existent or nothing. " The conditions set by the government to approve the employment of the doctor "The community administration shall implement everything required of it by the Directorate of Public Health regarding reform in the management of the mentioned hospital and the organization of its budget and affairs, based on the following foundations: - A - Re-evaluating the hospital's staff. B - Introducing the necessary technical elements into it. C - Organizing an administrative body and reforming its internal affairs. D - Completing the hospital building and expanding it on the basis that we are pointing out now within a specific period." "After studying what was explained above, we would like to inform you that the approval for the employment of the doctor in Meir Elias Hospital is in accordance with the conditions mentioned above, and we inform you that the Directorate of Public Health will monitor the work of this hospital continuously"
4 and decline, such that the official authorities drew the attention of the community to the damages resulting from this institution remaining in its unfortunate state, specifically when the head of the community approached the government requesting permission to employ a foreign doctor; this request was then referred to the health authorities to study the condition of this hospital and submit a report regarding it to the competent authorities. The Director of General Health, His Excellency Mr. Abdullah Al-Damluji, did indeed conduct an inspection tour of the hospital and submitted his report on it. We record below the text of the paragraphs mentioned by His Excellency regarding the technical, health, and administrative state of the hospital, as well as the conditions and improvements that must be implemented as a basis for the government's approval of bringing in the aforementioned doctor, according to his letter No. 11403 dated 9/16/1933 addressed to the head of the Jewish community. The state of the hospital from the technical and administrative perspectives ⟦line⟧ "I have personally taken an interest in studying this existing hospital and have reviewed all the circumstances surrounding it, its management methods, and its annual budget. I was very surprised by the state of chaos I witnessed in the management of this charitable hospital and the private benefits enjoyed by some of those in charge of its administration, and I do not wish to dwell on describing the fluctuation"
7 As for the number of beds at that time, it ranged between 40-45 beds, including five wards for the poor and two rooms for paying patients, all of which were donated by Mr. Shamil Sha'shua, and an operating room which was in the location of the current paying maternity ward built by the late Simha Shlomo David. As for its budget, it amounted to approximately 4000 dinars, coming from the allocations of the Spiritual Council and the hospital's share of the marriage contract fees (Ketubot) and revenues from endowed properties etc... As for the furniture and tools that were present at that time, they were not suitable for use or useful at all. Accordingly, the committee set its curriculum to carry out the necessary reforms, guided by the instructions kindly provided by His Excellency the Director General of Health, as mentioned above. A - New foundations and expansions introduced to the hospital between the year 1934 and the year 1944 The committee began its work by collecting donations and encouraging philanthropists to establish some buildings and rooms. The donations received by the committee and what the philanthropists spent on constructions amounted to 25,000 dinars, not including the amounts that the hospital was able to
6 And likewise, you will monitor the reforms that the community administration will carry out in it according to the Health Protection Law of 1931, and in the event that the necessary reforms are not carried out in the mentioned hospital within a period we specify for you, this Directorate will withdraw the license of the mentioned doctor. We would like to show below for information the status of the hospital at that time in terms of staff, budget, number of beds, etc... The hospital staff before 1934 was as follows: 1 - One doctor for two hours daily. 2 - One assistant surgeon for two hours daily as well. 3 - One dresser and an assistant. 4 - One pharmacist for two hours daily. 5 - One nurse and one female attendant. 6 - An administrative officer. 7 - One clerk. 8 - Two porters with four male servants and two female servants. 9 - One female cook.
8 providing it from its revenues, and thus the following constructions and repairs were completed: 1 - The wards for poor patients were in an unhealthy and dilapidated state, so the committee carried out the necessary repairs in addition to the expansions it made in the mentioned wards as required by professional standards. 2 - Construction of a veranda in front of the wards. 3 - Construction of an operating room according to the modern style. 4 - Construction of the current paid maternity department containing ten rooms with their sanitary facilities and a surrounding veranda with a delivery room. The cost of constructing two rooms of it was donated by Mr. Murad Elias for the soul of his late wife, Khatun, daughter of Hakham Daoud Sofir. 5 - Construction of six first-class paid rooms with all their facilities and two other rooms, one for the nurses and the other for sterilizing instruments. 6 - Construction of four large second-class rooms with all their facilities. Most of the cost was donated by Mr. Ishaq Sassoon Mukammal and Mr. Zion Ishaq Yehuda in Manchester. In addition to that, the committee renovated the two rooms built by Mr. Shamil Sha'shua as mentioned above, as they had become
9 unsuitable for the use of paying patients, and that was in the year 1934. 7 - Construction of the Roentgen X-ray Institute with all technical tools and the machine, which was donated by the late Shaul Hakham Heskel in 1934. 8 - Construction of the free maternity ward, most of the cost of which was paid by the Patients' Relief Society, and the other part was donated by the late Jamla, wife of the late Heskel Hayim Azouri in 1934. 9 - The former Charitable Commercial Association built two wards for poor children in 1934 and the cost of a third ward for children was also donated by Mr. Ephraim Heskel Aslan for the soul of his late son, Aslan Nouri. 10 - Establishing three houses for doctors' residences to assist the hospital's finances and ensure the presence of a doctor at any time. Most of their cost was donated by the late Mrs. Rima Menashi Shashua, and the late Mr. Sassoon Ishaq Yaqub Al-Kabir for the soul of his late brother Ezra, and each of the siblings Abdullah, Lulu, Tuba, Khatoun, Masouda, and the late Sassoon for the soul of their late mother Habiba Raphael Shashua, and that was during the years 1934-1935. 11 - Building the laboratory department containing three rooms, a medicine warehouse, and two basements
11 18 - Completion of the laundry and furniture washing facility construction 19 - Fencing a section of the hospital with brick and cement 20 - Building five rooms for servants 21 - Organizing the hospital gardens 22 - Building rooms for hospital guards and police at the two main entrances 23 - Building two dressing rooms with all their supplies 24 - Paving all hospital courtyards - a large part of them with brick and the other part with brick and bitumen - 25 - Construction of the Premium Department, which contains eight rooms with eight bathrooms and a porch by Mr. Khedhouri Smuha in 1943 26 - Construction of three rooms adjacent to the Premium Department, one for the nurse, the second for the kitchen, and the third for the hot water machine, paving the yard, organizing the adjacent gardens, and other renovations 27 - Construction of two rooms adjacent to the wards for the poor, a portion of the cost of one of which was donated by Ms. Tuffaha Ezra Musfi for the soul of her late son Khedhouri Shaul Heskell Musfi in 1944
10 Mrs. Jahla donated most of its cost for the soul of her late father, Saleh Moshi Heskiel, in the year 1935. 12 - Building the nurses' house, which contains 16 rooms, one hall, and four bathrooms with all its requirements and two basements. Most of the construction cost was donated by Khatoun Ibrahim Yehuda for the soul of her late husband, Moshi Yaqoub Shuker; the late Ibrahim Menahim Ani for the soul of his late wife; and the late Mr. Menshi Heskiel Rubin Musaffi for the soul of his late wife, Hannah bint Aziza, in the year 1936. 13 - Renovating the old house adjacent to the main hospital entrance. 14 - Renovating and arranging the doctors' examination rooms inside the hospital, along with organizing and repairing the administration rooms. 15 - Building the isolation department, the cost of which was donated by the late Khadhouri Shammash for the soul of his son Ezra, in the year 1936. 16 - Building three rooms and a porch in a modern style for washing the deceased, using donations collected through the Patient Relief Society in 1939. 17 - Building a large kitchen and another small one.
12 28 - Monitoring and repairing the hospital's endowments continuously, including the repair of the two khans located in the Al-Koolat, which were in ruins, using the debris from the old hospital buildings. They now contain forty rooms for housing the poor, with an annual rent of 260 dinars. Also, the construction of a wing in the National School containing five classrooms with their terraces during the year 1939 - 1940. Mrs. Jahla Ezra Shammash endowed in 1938 the house numbered 110 - 57, provided that half of its proceeds go to the Meir Elias Hospital and the other half to the Midrash Talmud Torah. Likewise, the late Shamoun Meir Nassim and the late Masouda Haskeel Daniel endowed the house numbered 21 - 9 - 1 located in the Al-Bataween neighborhood in the year 1936. 29 - Purchase of two plots of land from the Baghdad Municipality, on a part of which the doctors' houses mentioned above were built. 30 - Construction of the building located on Bank Street, which belongs to the endowments of Rifqa Nouriel. It is currently occupied by the Rafidain Bank, and its annual rent is 1850 dinars. The hospital receives half of this revenue.
13 B - Organizing the hospital's staff and its administrative body and reforming its internal affairs 1 - We have previously provided above a brief overview of the hospital's situation in terms of its staff, doctors, nurses, number of beds, and budget before the year 1934. We list below a table showing the degree of progress that has occurred in this institution in terms of staff, administration, and budget during the period between the years 1933 / 1934 . 1937 - 1944 . | 1933-34 | 1937 | 1944 A - Number of doctors (Meir Elias Hospital) | 2 | 5 | 9 B - Number of graduate nurses (Meir Elias Hospital) | None | 2 | 9 C - Number of midwives (Meir Elias Hospital) | 1 | 2 | 2 D - Number of residents (Meir Elias Hospital) | 1 | 6 | 22 E - Pharmacy (Meir Elias Hospital) | 1 | 1 two hours daily | 1 F - Administration (Meir Elias Hospital) (*) | 2 | 3 | 5 G - Number of beds (Meir Elias Hospital) | 40-45 | 100 | 155 H - Number of patients admitted to the hospital | 936 | 2104 | 2873 I - Number of births (Meir Elias Hospital) | 72 | 339 | 642 J - Number of surgical operations (Meir Elias Hospital) | 329 | 537 | 603
14 1933-34 | 1937 | 1944 | 4943/- | 11360/- | 46292/- | k- Realized revenues for all institutions (**) 5232/- | 11899/- | 47858/- | l- Realized expenditures for all institutions (***) (*) Administration ⟦line⟧ Due to the expansion of all facilities and affairs of the hospital, it was very necessary to raise the efficiency of the administration to its current level so that it can carry out the work satisfactorily and ensure the arrangement and organization of all hospital records and the establishment of principles for them, especially the stores and furniture records and all records related to the distribution of food and other materials to patients etc... (**) Revenues ⟦line⟧ Revenues are divided into two parts: (1) Fixed revenues, which come from the community's allocations, the Kupat share, and revenues from endowed properties etc... (2) Non-fixed revenues, which come from accommodation fees, operations, examinations etc... We list below a table showing the amounts of increase in these revenues during the years 1933 / 1934 - 1937 - 1944.
15 Year | Total Revenues | Fixed Revenues | Non-Fixed Revenues | Remarks 33/1934 | 4943/- | 3823/- | 1120/- | Of which 400 Dinars from accommodation and operation fees 1937 | 11360/- | 3996/- | 7364/- | Of which 2600 Dinars from accommodation fees and 500 Dinars from operation fees 1944 | 46292/- | 11601/- (.) | 34691/- (..) | Of which 20004 Dinars from accommodation fees and 2902 Dinars from operation fees (.) The increase in fixed revenues for the year 1944 resulted from the increase in Kuthuth revenues and the rise in rents of Waqf properties (..) The assets of the stores at the end of last year, i.e., the year 42/943 amounting to 3018 Dinars, were carried over to the year 43/944 and considered as revenues for the same year for budget purposes Also among the non-fixed revenues for the year 1944 is an amount of 760 Dinars collected as fees for the identifier in the Dar al-Shifa clinic from persons who entered the hospital and who were only able to pay small amounts such as half a Dinar or one Dinar for the entire duration of their stay, knowing that no amount was collected from the poor at all, according to the instructions given to the identifier previously
17 The free patient, the paying patient, the nurse, the employee, and the servant during the year mentioned, i.e., from 1-10-1943 until the end of 30-9-1944, noting that the average cost of living for a servant was considered a basic unit for the average costs of living for poor patients, paying patients, nurses, etc., according to the ratios shown below Person | Number of Units | Daily Cost Servant | 1 | 71 Free Patient | 3 | 213 Paying Patient | 6 | 427 Nurse | 3 | 213 Employee (one lunch meal only) | 1.5 | 106 Washer or Ironer | 0.75 | 54 On-call Doctor | 6 | 426 Laboratory Doctor (one lunch meal only) | 2 | 142 On-call Warehouse Officer or On-call Dresser | 1 | 71
96 The Nursing Mothers' Relief Association used to pay the salaries and wages of nurses and servants for the free maternity department every year, and it paid 454 Dinars for those salaries and wages in this year, i.e., 1944. (***) Expenses ⟦line⟧ The most important categories of expenses in these institutions are limited to (1) Salaries, (2) Subsistence costs of all kinds, (3) Medicines, cotton, gauze, and surgical instruments. The following table shows the development that occurred in these expenses during the years 1933/1934 - 1937 - 1944. Year | Total Expenses | Salaries | Subsistence of all kinds | Medicines, cotton, etc. 33/1934 | 5232 of which.. | 1839 | 580 | 720 Dinars 1937 | 11899 of which.. | 5649 | 2082 | 800 Dinars 1944 | 47858 of which.. | 15548 | 15568 (*) | 5701 Dinars (5) Subsistence of all kinds ⟦line⟧ We show below the average daily subsistence costs for each patient
18 On this basis, the annual living costs for the mentioned period are as follows :- Dinars | Fils 1482 | 480 | Living costs for 58 servants at a rate of 71 fils per day. 5798 | 499 | Living costs for indigent patients (27,223 days, which is the number of days | they stayed in the hospital as shown above) at a rate of 213 fils per day. 4485 | 208 | Living costs for paying patients (10,504 days, which is the number of | days they stayed in the hospital as shown above) at a rate of | 427 fils per day. 2760 | 480 | Living costs for 36 nurses, including the kitchen supervisor, the | bedding supervisor, and the seamstress at a rate of 213 fils per day. 572 | 400 | Living costs for 15 employees for one meal at noon only at a rate of | 106 fils per day. 213 | 840 | Living costs for 11 washerwomen and ironers for one meal at noon only | at a rate of 54 fils per day. 15312 | 907 | Carried forward