£l00,000 WANTED

Bay of Plenty Beacon, Volume 10, Issue 2, 22 July 1946, Page 5

£loo,ooo WANTED

ENDOWMENT FUND ADDRESS BY ORGANISER “I have come to Whakatane to ask for your goodwill, support •and co-operation in a cause for which I sincerely trust you will stint nothing, in order that the mothers of New Zealand might lack nothing in their most critical hours.” In these words did Mr J. T. R. Oliver, Hon. Organiser for the Auckland Businessmen’s Obstetrical and Gynaecological Committee sum up his appeal at the conclusion of his address at a meeting of residents and business people held last Thursday evening in the County Council Chambers. The attendance was not as large as it would undoubtedly have been had the weather proved more favourable, but those who were present listened with deep interest and attention to the speaker while he outlined the proposed scheme for raising the sum of £IOO,OOO. This amount was to endow a Professional Chair in the post-graduate school of obstetrics and gynaecology to be attached to the Auckland Hospital tor Women, and to appoint thereto, a Professor of outstanding ability to direct lectures and research in these subjects. Before introducing the main speaker, the Deputy Mayor, Mr S. S. Shapley, apologised for the unavoidable absence, of His Worship the Mayor, Mr B. S. Barry, who unfortunately had a prior engagement. ‘O’ and ‘G’ Commencing upon his subject, Mr Oliver opened his address by extending thanks to His Worship the Mayor (Mr Barry), the Town Clerk (Mr L. D. Lovelock) and Miss North, all of whom had been of great assistance, and had made arrangements for him to address the gathering.

‘Obstetrics’ and ‘Gynaecology’ Mr Oliver commenced, meant in simple 'terms, the welfare, care and attention of mothers and children. This was the first time in the history of New Zealand, that a group of men had banded together with the sole object of doing something that would really assist the women of the Dominion.

,{ .Outlining the formation and work of' the Auckland Businessmen’s committee, the speaker stated that although after the first meeting had been held, a total of £40,000 was decided upon as being the amount required to endow the Chair, it had been afterwards decided that this was insufficient, and accordingly a .goal of £IOO,OOO had been substitutr ed. Of this sum a little over £70,000 had already been contributed, £52,.500 of which had come from the Auckland district itself. The idea behind the appeal, Mr Oliver continued, was to inaugurate ja. centre where post graduate training in obstetrics and gynaecology could be obtained in New Zealand. At present, doctors who wished to specialise along these lines were fored to go overseas. A remark made by Dr. Doris Gordon, one of the most untiring workers in the cause had made a statement which was very much to the point in this respect. It was to the effect that in the North Island of New Zealand there were buildings with excellent laboratories, efficiently staffed, and each headed by a University Professor, for the express purpose of studying animal husbandry. Yet there was not one single building of any kind for the study of the health and fertility of womankind. Doctors in New Zealand, he said, had long realised the lack of facilities within the country for advanced training in maternity work. The public had probably not been aware of this, however, otherwise a move would certainly have been made before this to establish a centre. Now that the movement was afoot, the doctors of Auckland had shown their support by contributing £2OOO. The appeal, stressed Mr Oliver, had nothing to do with the Government. The aim was to provide enough money to endow the chair and secure the services of a Professor of world-wide recognition. By this means, degrees would be available to doctors in New Zealand, the same as they were from the Royal Gynaecological Society in London. Besides this, the health of New Zealand women could better be handled by the doctors themselves than by the Government. It had been stated on the best authority that the Dominion was 25 years behind the times in the field of maternity work. Concluding his remarks, Mr Oliver mentioned the manner in which the Auckland Businessmen’s Committee with, the assistance of the vari-

.ous women’s organisations, had accomplished so much towards the desired end. The support, he said,

had been wholehearted, and, as stat- , cd above, £70,000 had already been

raised. The women had formed an Executive Committee, and had set themselves a goal of £IO,OOO. Their total subscriptions to date amounted to just under £15,000. The generous manner in which even the smaller places were contributing was exemplified .in the amount which had come forward from Te Aroha, over £ISOO, representing just on 12/- per head of the population. The money collected would be handled by a Trust Department of the N.Z. Insurance Co. together with three advisory trustees. None would be used to actually build the hospital, but solely to endow the chair. The cause had no creed, religion, politics or boundaries. Its sole object was to assure the highest possible standard of treatment for the mothers and unborn generations of New Zealanders.

At the conclusion of the address, it was decided that those present should form-themselves into a committee, and that a convenor be appointed to call a general meeting at a later date. It was intimated that the Red Cross was willing to cooperate in every way, and it was decided to look to the Chamber of Commerce for a lead.