PROPOSED HOSPITAL MERGER

Bay of Plenty Beacon, Volume 8, Issue 96, 7 August 1945, Page 5

PROPOSED HOSPITAL MERGER

BOROUGH AND COUNTY MEET

SCHEME TO BE EXPLORED a* FURTHER CONFERENCE WITH BOARD At the invitation of the Whakatane County Council members of the Borough Council conferred last Tuesday with County 'representatives on the all-im-portant question of halving the existing hospital levy by taking formal steps' to merge with the Waikato Hospital Board's district and thus becoming a contributing factor to that central institution. The conference followed close on the heels of the announcement made last month by the County Chairman (Mr J. L. Burnett) who showed by comparative figures that both the County and the Borough were paying twice as much to supr port the local district hospital as were parallel communities contributing to the Waikato Hospital Board. Mr Burnett who presided welcom r ed the delegates and traversed the ground of the original proposal whereby two contributing authorities could by mutual agreement effect a merger with a neighbouring authority by special Order-in-Coun-cil through the Governor General or by the appointment of a commission of enquiry. The total levy for the Waikato Board was £78 000 .and to meet it there were 18 con-i tributing bodies,. He had been carefully over the individual levies and in all cases, taking into consideration the comparative population and capital value they were twice the sum AVhakatane was paying. OtoroJianga for instance paid £4080 against Whakatane's £9500 and yet the two counties were almost identical. The Rotorua levy likewise was only half. A further case brought to his notice was that of the Christchurch Borough Council which paid a levy only half of what Whakatane had to meet on a comparative basis. .All this information compelled the belief that costs for the smaller hoards were so large owing to the demands and increasing standards required that the rating burden became unbearable. On the other hand where the burden could be equitably spread over a large population the cost of upkeep and administration was much lighter. Mr Burnett tidded that the Council realised the Borough was also worried about the increasing rate and the conference had been called for a comparison of ideas, and for the purpose of easing the burden for the. ratepayers if possible. More Details Wanted l The Mayor, Mr B. S. Barry, said that the Borough Council would not he prepared to come to a snap decision at once. They had no comparative figures on the subject and although the Borough was in a 'hot spot' as far as the hospital levy was concerned they did not wish to make any false moves. The County rate was 2. three-eighthspence against the Borough rate of sd. The Borough levy had jumped up no less than 35 per cent, and it was impossible to carry any more, responsibility. The Hospital rate amounted to £1 per head for every man woman and child in the Borough and was close to the GVjjd rate which was necessary to maintain the whole of the Borough, if by amalgamation some definite benefit would result the Borough would be interested he questioned however the Government's attitude towards the suggestion and mentioned the loss of local administration. There, was also the matter of the commitments of the Waikato Board. He knew for instance of the substantial building schemes in mind for Rotorua, and also the fact that in the King Country there was a persistent outcry for new hospitals. If the Waikato Board was going to embrace a large building scheme in the near future. Whakatane might find itself 'out of the frying pan into the fire.' However if a way could be shown t~. cut down the rating burden the Council would be only too glad to help bring it about. Local Increases Likely Mr Burnett, mentioned the fact that the present rate was not going

t>o he a stationary one. He under,stood that other buildings were contemplated and if an amalgamation could take place it would avoid all that. As far as service went, patients would have, the Waikato hospital for the handling of more serious complaints without extra cost. The bill for local patients being treated by outside boards cost the Whakatane Board some £4000 annually and this would largely be cut out. Further he did not. think from enquiries that Waikato would be averse to Whakatane's linking up-. It was a fact however that Waikato was contemplating a £750,000 new building scheme, but even if this were brought into effect, it would increase Otorohanga's levy for instance by £1000, which still made the total about half of what Whakatane was now paying. It was only a question of spreading the burden and while the Government was going* to insist upon the smaller hospitals building their institutions up to a high standard of perfection the ratepayers would always be faced with the. increasing hospital rate which was crushing them already. He mentioned the fact that Waikato had its own architect and contended that Wha'katanc would get just as good a service as all the other contributing communities which on the whole seemed very satisfied with iit.

Representation Cr Cawte pointed out that, although possibly only one delegate would go forward from the district to the Waikato Board, there would be set up an advisory committee whose duty it would be to practically administrate the local hospital and attend to domestic details. The County Clerk advised that before the Parliamentary Committee the Healtli Department, in evidence gave one suggestion that the whole pf New Zealand .should be cut ,up into 1(5 hospital districts.. Mr Barry: The Borough Council does not oppose the scheme but we want to know about it. Our present rate must be our limit. The County Clerk pointed out that in both County and Borough the hospital levy amounted to £1 per head approximately against most of the contributing authorities in the Waikato's ten shillings. Speaking of the proposed Chest Block at the hospital Cr Burt said that, the Government proposed building it, providing the Board agreed to maintain it. Whakatane's Potential Growth Mr S. Shapley said he could not sec any great benefit if Whakatane was expected to carry on its existing loan responsibility. Also he did not like the loss of administrative J powers which would be delegated to a Board as far away as Hamilton. There was a Jong-sighted view -to remember also and that was the potential growth of Whakatane. He believed that the town would expand into an important centre and if it contained its own individual hospital it could cope with its, own special difficulties in a way which a centralised scheme would not be capable of doing.

Mr Burnett: Are the ratepayers going to have a big enough back to carry the expense of these larger commitments. There would be very little difference, as far as hospital treatment is concerned from what goes on at the present time. Loan Liability Mr Barry: The question of loan liability is- important. We want to know whether or not it would be taken over by Waikato or whether we still have to bear it ourselves ? The County Clerk: Under section II of the Act it definitely states that all existing loans become a charge upon the. larger district. Mr A. J. Canning who said /he personally favoured the amalgamation asked why it was usual at the present time to send all serious patients, no not to Hamilton which appeared the logical place but to Auckland. Mr J. Creeke: I would have liked to see the chairman of the Hospital Board here of the Medical tendentThe chairman: That is to come later. The present conference is only a preliminary talk. Mr Creeke: 1 think our on 2 ..v relief will come from a larger subsidy from tile Government to offset eur

large Maori population. There is nothing wrong \yith our hospital only its too expensive.

Hospital Board's Attitude Cr McGougan .said that no one would be more pleased than, the members of the Hospital Board if the merger could be brought about with beneficial results for the ratepayers. The Board was in a. most difficult situation and realised that something had to lie done to relieve the ratepayers.. The position was most miserabre, Tor the Board if it carried on and catered for the sick as they should be catered for, could not do it without money and members knew the ratepayers 'were ; watching every penny. They were doing their utmost to keep down expenditure but it seemed impossible and if they could be relieved of that anxiety, he was sure members would welcome it. Cr Burt recalled his first experience of the hospital rate when it was only £25. Today it was £36 000. The cost was mounting by leaps and bounds, and in one year wages and salaries had jumped from £14 r 000 to £18,000. The original building, he said had cost £27 000 with a further £1400 to furnish■' it—what would it cost today ? Shortsightedness Alleged Mr L. R. Spring contended that in all the expressions of opinion the underlying principle had been overlooked. The suggestion of amalga r mation was to his mind merely tak-

ing the line of least resistance instead of grappling with the major problem of the injustice of the hospital levy as it applied to the property .owner. He wondered whether councillors were fully alive to the depth of feeling throughout the country on this matter. The hospital taxation should not be borne by a class but by the whole community and he considered that it should be a blanket cover over all who used the hospitals. The whole idea of Social Security was to provide social .services and hospital treatment was an integral part of the scheme. Amalgamation was only shifting the burden—i't might ease the position today but in live or ten years time the same position would arise and the ratepayers would be struggling again for relief. The chairman: We haven't lost sight of that aspect. We have been trying to get that done througout the Dominion but I don't think we should neglect any avenue of affording relief in the meantime. Need for Agitation Mr Spring: That's alright but we've got to take the long view. We are taking the short cut because it pays a quick dividend. We have seen that most of our recent legislation has come as a result of agitation and we've been taking it. But there comes a time when we find we've got to agitate. If we amalgamate and forget to. agitate we're lost. We should keep the future in mind and be working for those who come. The chairman said he was certain that agitation would be applied next year, but that the suggested merging with Waikato was another move which would make for the common good, he hoped of the whole district. On the motion of Mr Warren it was then decided that in order to obtain all the information possible the County Chairman and Clerk (Messrs. J. L. Burnett and C. G. Lucas) and the Mayor and Town Clerk (Messrs. B. S. Barry and D. V. Saunders) interview the secretary and chairnian of the Waikato Board, and report back to their respective, bodies with a view to calling a further joint meeting with members of the Hospital Board.