Interview with Roger Egeberg, April 27, 1979

Partial Transcript: This is an interview with Dr. Roger Egeberg for the Frontier Nursing Service Oral History Project by Dale Deaton...

Segment Synopsis: Dr. Roger Egeberg is introduced. He talks about how he became aware of the FNS through a meeting in Cleveland at which Mary Breckinridge spoke. He describes his visit to the FNS, and mentions some of the changes the organization underwent over the years.

Keywords: Appalachian Regional Commission; Assistant Secretary of Health Education and Welfare; Atmosphere; Facilities; Helen Browne ("Brownie"); Help; Impact; Mary Breckinridge; Medicare; New hospital; Outpost clinics; Public Health Service; Public speaking; Visiting

Subjects: Breckinridge, Mary, 1881-1965; Cleveland (Ohio); Frontier Nursing Service, Inc.; Health facilities.; Medical care--Appalachian Region; Rural health services; Wendover (Ky.)

Partial Transcript: But perhaps I can dwell on what one felt that, um, they were doing.

Segment Synopsis: Egeberg talks about the impact the FNS had on the people it served. He talks about why the FNS was more successful than a government-run program would have been.

Keywords: Achievements; Attitudes; Childbirth; Esprit de corps; Federal government; Government regulations; Helen Browne ("Brownie"); Leadership; Local people; Medicare; Transportation

Subjects: Frontier Nursing Service, Inc.; Health facilities.; Medical care--Appalachian Region; Medical centers--Administration; Rural health services

Partial Transcript: Now----?? perhaps you better turn it off a second.

Segment Synopsis: Egeberg talks about how the FNS affected the larger field of healthcare through its focus on nurses. He talks about the conflict between government reimbursement programs and the nursing model of healthcare.

Keywords: Commissions; Congress; Doctors; Example; Faye Abdella; Frontier School of Midwifery and Family Nursing; Government regulations; Government reimbursement; Influence; Laws; New hospital; Opposing factors; Public Health Service; Service; Visiting

Subjects: Frontier Nursing Service, Inc.; Medical care--Law and legislation; Nurses; Nursing; Physicians

Partial Transcript: To go back to 1935 for a minute, I've had several people comment to me about--(coughs)--the impression that Mrs. Breckinridge made upon them.

Segment Synopsis: Egeberg talks about his impressions of Mary Breckinridge from hearing her speak at the meeting in Cleveland. He talks about her ability to secure donations for the FNS even during the Great Depression.

Keywords: Cleveland (Ohio); Donations; Great Depression; Impressions; Local people; Mary Breckinridge; Personality; Poverty; Public speaking; Training

Subjects: Appalachian Region--Social conditions; Breckinridge, Mary, 1881-1965; Country life; Frontier Nursing Service, Inc.; Medical care--Appalachian Region; Rural conditions; Rural health services

Partial Transcript: O, of course now within recent years with emphasis on family nurse practitioners, do you think that Frontier Nursing Service's introduction of professionally trained midwives...

Segment Synopsis: Egeberg talks about prejudices held by doctors and the general public about midwives which have led to the generally low popularity of midwifery programs.

Keywords: Biases; Doctors; Education; Impact; Misunderstandings; National health service; Natural childbirth; OB-GYN (Obstetrics and gynecology); Questionnaires; Training; Unprofessional

Subjects: Childbirth; Frontier Nursing Service, Inc.; Maternal health services.; Medical care; Medical education; Midwifery; Midwives; Physicians

Partial Transcript: Well could you compare for me when you went there to visit while the new hospital was being planned and this would have been in the late sixties...

Segment Synopsis: Egeberg talks about his perceptions of Leslie County and how it changed between his two visits to the FNS in the 1930s and the 1960s.

Keywords: Appalachian Regional Commission; Changes; Improvements; Local people; Needs; Opportunities; Perceptions

Subjects: Appalachian Region--Social conditions; Country life; Frontier Nursing Service, Inc.; Leslie County (Ky.); Rural conditions; Rural roads; Transportation--Kentucky

Partial Transcript: We had--they had been told that they didn't meet fire regulations in their old hospital so they would have to close it.

Segment Synopsis: Egeberg talks about the issues that arose when the old FNS hospital no longer met government regulations and was briefly denied reimbursement from programs like Medicare.

Keywords: Cleveland (Ohio); Fire marshals; Government regulations; Kate Ireland; Medicare; New hospital; Old hospital

Subjects: Frontier Nursing Service, Inc.; Health facilities.; Hospital buildings--Design and construction; Hospitals--Administration; Medical care--Law and legislation; Medical centers--Administration; Medical centers--Cost of operation; Medical centers--Finance; Rural conditions; Rural health services

Partial Transcript: Well now b, between the, the meeting in 1935 and the late 1960s w, uh, while you were Assistant Secretary in Health Education and Welfare, there's a large gap in there...

Segment Synopsis: Egeberg gives a brief overview of his career, beginning as a doctor in Cleveland, working with General MacArthur during World War II, and eventually being hired as the Assistant Secretary of Health Education and Welfare in Washington, D.C. The interview is concluded.

Keywords: Assistant Secretary in Health Education and Welfare; Frontier Nursing Service, Inc.; General Douglas MacArthur; Job positions; Politics; Washington (D.C.); World War II

Subjects: Medical care; Physicians--United States; World War, 1939-1945