Page 56 - Protestant Missionary Activity in the Arabian Gulf

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co-operate with missionary work, but to actually finance it
and help carry it out. This gesture was particularly impres­

sive in 1945 which was long before the discovery of oil in the
i

Trucial States and at a time when the ruler could ill afford
such costly development projects.

As time went on and the costs of maintaining the hos­

pitals rose, it became increasingly common for the local in­
V

habitants to bear a greater share of the Mission’s operating
■
expenses. The Mission had always followed the socialistic

policy of "treatment according to needs," "payment according
to means." Thus for the poorer patients, treatment was gen­

erally free, while the more wealthy patients paid a fee which

was used indirectly to subsidize their poorer countrymen. In
!
the earl}*- years this policy had meant that the Mission bore

most of the costs of the hospital since it was among the poor
I that most of the serious medical problems existed. As time

went on, however, and the Gulf states grew richer from the

oil boom economy and free government medical services were

offered in competition with the Mission, the economic and

social level of the average Mission patient changed, particu-

larly in Bahrain and Kuwait, Many of the poorer people would

now go to the state clinics and it was the wealthier mer-

chants and officials who would seek out the more skilled

medical care of the Mission doctors. In Bahrain the out-

patient load was cut down, but the number of inpatients re­

quiring expensive operations was up. 'They wanted to pay for

the best service available. In contrast to the Bahrain