Kenneth Z. Baum papers

The Kenneth Baum papers are drawn from the personal files of Kenneth Baum who served in various capacities within the U. S. Public Health Service. Baum's association with the Public Health Service began in 1958 when he served as a management intern with the Hill-Burton Hospital Construction Program. In 1960 he was promoted to the position of health advisor to the Hill-Burton program and served in that capacity until 1966 when he was transferred to the National Institute of Mental Health's Community Mental Health Construction Program. From 1970 to 1975 Baum served as assistant to the director of the Regional Medical Program.

The bulk of the material, collected by Baum, dates from 1946-1977, and deals with three specific programs related to health planning and resources development: the Hill-Burton Medical Facilities Construction Program, the Comprehensive Health Planning Program [CHP], and the Regional Medical Program [RMP]. Material related to the consolidation of these programs under the 1974 National Health Planning and Resources Development Act is also included.

The papers consist primarily of memoranda, minutes of meetings, speeches, and congressional publications and are organized according to the program to which they pertain. They are arranged chronologically.

The Hill-Button Medical Facilities Construction program, enacted by Congress in. 1946, was the first systematic, nationwide hospital construction program granting federal assistance to states and local communities. It authorized grants to survey state needs and to develop plans for the construction of public health centers, and to assist in constructing and equipping such facilities. In 1964, Hill-Burton was modified by the addition of legislative authority for the funding of regional, of areawide, voluntary health facilities planning agencies. The Hill-Burton material includes papers related to legislative history, the Statistical Subcommittee (a Unit of the Surgeon Generals' Ad Hoc Committee to review Hill-Burton regulations), and areawide planning.

The Comprehensive Health Planning and Public Services Amendments of 1966 authorized a program of federal support for comprehensive health planning and public health services. They followed the enactment 1964 of legislative authority for areawide health facilities planning councils. The original act authorized grants both to states for the support of state comprehensive health planning programs and to public and non-profit organizations to assist in paying the costs of operating areawide CHP agencies and to develop improved comprehensive health planning through training, studies, and demonstrations. The documents related to CHP show the development of the original CHP regulations. They include task force papers, congressional reports, and other items related to the implementation of CHP.

The Regional Medical Program was created in 1965 to establish a national network of regional centers, local diagnostic and treatment stations, and medical complexes. Its initial concept was to provide a vehicle by which scientific knowledge about the diagnosis and treatment of heart disease, cancer, stroke, and related diseases would be transferred to providers of health services in order to improve the quality of care. In 1970 additional legislation authorized RMP to stress improvement in access to care with special emphasis on under-served innercity, and rural areas. The papers relate to RMP general policies and reflect the nature of the reorganization and changes which took place in the Regional Medical Program during its twelve year existence.

In 1974 Congress passed the Health Planning and Resources Development Act, which consolidated the existing Hill-Burton, CMP, and RMP programs and created a single new program for state and areawide health planning. The Baum papers include copies of congressional debates and reports concerning this act, which culminated thirty years of health planning.