Much is given by hospitals, more is asked
Sunday, May 31st, 2009One man donated a pig “of an uncommonly fine breed.” Another donated an Egyptian mummy. The founders of the state’s first hospital needed any gift they could get. In 1817, hospitals served patients too poor to afford a doctor’s house call, so the wealthy had little incentive to support them. To cut costs, the Legislature ordered prison inmates to quarry the gray granite blocks that went into Massachusetts General Hospital’s walls.
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