HOSPITAL LOAN

Bay of Plenty Beacon, Volume 6, Issue 81, 15 June 1943, Page 5

HOSPITAL LOAN

THE WHAKATANE PROPOSAL

(: f lAII {M A X 1)1 SCUSSES

PETITION

At 1 sist week's meeting of the Hospitstl Bosml, a letter was received fiom the County Council enclosing a lorni of the petition that the Council is circulsiting for signature, •the petition is addressed to 1 the Minister ot Health, the Government Loans Board and the Bsiy of Plenty Hospital Board and requests three, things. 1. Bequests the Minister tu introduce legislation to 'alter the system of hospital rating. 2. Requests tire Government Loans Bosird to refer back to the Hospital Board its application for consent to the loan and direct the Hospital Board, to tsike si poll of ratepayers. 3. Requests the Hospital Bosird to stay its proceedings for raising the loan and submit the proposal to the ratepayers. Board's Attitude In the course of discussion on the matter the chairman of the Board, Mr L. Buddie addressed meeting on the whole matter at some length. The following is a summary of the chairman's remarks., both with resided to the position of the Hospital Board and to the petition. 1. There is. a clear unequivocal statutory duty on every Hospital Board, to provide accommodation and treatment for all cases ypf both infectious and non-infectious illness and for cases of accident in the Board's district. 2. It is beyond doubt that the accommodation at the AVhakatane Hospital is inadequate to accommodate and cope with the. steadily increasing hospital population. That fact lias been admitted by those who have sponsored the petition. There is a population in the Board's district of approximately 11,000 all of Avhom, ratepayers, non-ratepay-ers, Maoris and Pakehsxs are potential hospital patients at some time, or other. «L It was apparent to the Board nearly two j r ears ago that further accommodation was necessary, and all during 1942 the Board was endeavouring to have plans prepared, approved by the. Government Departments and finalised.

4. Any suggestion that there lias been undue haste on the part of the Board is delinitely incorrect for even at this stage matters of detail have still to be settled.

5. In February last the Board was given to understand that thcplans Avere sufficiently advanced to enable an application to be. made to the Loans Board for consent to raise a loan and an estimate of. costs was obtained from the Board's, architect.

(>. It was anticipated that there might be objections to the' loan. Cabinet hail decided that during the war the system of calling for tenders lor Hospital Boards should be abolished and, what is known as the schedule system used. It was known that building costs were substantially high in any case and it was. assumed that the abolition of tendering would result in a further increase of building costs. The system of hospital rating was being objected to throughout the whole, Dominion . 7. At the February meeting of the Board those, matters were discussed and all pros and cons were dealt with by the chairman wlio pointed out that tire Board wvis in the invidious position of having to decide between two things (a) to continue to take tseps to discharge its duty to provide further hospital accommodation, or (Is) to sit down 011 its job because, there was a possibility of objections to a loan proposal. It was explained further that any tion< would have, to be lorwaidcd to the Government Loans Board with an application for consent to raise a loan, and would be dealt with by Ihe Loans Board. The Hospital Board decided to advertise the loan ami thereby open up the procedure i'or the lodging of objections. Two members voted against the resolution. All the members are ratepayers. Those who voted lor the resolution voted against their individual pecuniary interests in the discharge of what they considered to be their duly to the district.

X. On tile l.">th April 19-JH the Hospital Board received a deputation of a large number of ratepayers headed by the County Council. Tiie Board was requested, to defer further action in connection with the loan. No intimation was given as to any definite length of time it (Continued in next column)

was desired that the Board should postpone action nor was it made apparent to the Board that if action was postponed the County Council or anyone else would, take any steps nor do anything else about the matter at all. {). If the Board had at any stage decided against performance of its duty with a view to what lias been referred, to as "direct action" to force an alteration of the system of rating it would have, been a decision of a small country Hospital Board consisting ol' eight individuals. 10. There can be no reasonable objection to the provision of necessary hospital accommodation. The principal objection expressed in this matter is the system of rating and the increasing rate burden. The contest on that matter is between the ratepayers and their rating authorities on the one hand and the Government on the other. 11. Any alteration in those matters is for decision of a higher authority than the Hospital Board and a mass petition limited to a request under that heading is more likely to meet with success than a breach of duly by a country hospital board followed by inaction. 12. With regard to the petition the chairman made the following observations:— (a) It is a pity that the request had. not been limited to an alteration of the rating system. (b) No ratepayer desiring to petition for such alteration can sign the petition without at the same time, in effect, recording an objection to the provision now of the further urgently required hospital accommodation at Whakatane.

(c) There is no procedure available for the Hospital Board to> take, a poll of ratepayers. The Board has no ratepayers and no ratepayers' poll. The County members of the Board are elected by the County ratepayers and the Borough members by the Borough electors, both ratepayers and residents, the election in each case being conducted by the local Authority. The chairman concluded by stating that when the. petition was received it would be sent to the Government Loans. Board. The applieaion for Limn Board's consent together with the County Council':former letter of objection will be sent to the Loans, Board in the. near future. The decision as to whether there will or will not be any additions to the Whakatane Hospital and as to whether a po'.l will be directed or not, and also as to whether there will be any alteraion in the system of rating will be ma:le by the Government and the Loans Board,