THE HOSPITAL.

Press, Volume LXI, Issue 18417, 25 June 1925, Page 10

THE HOSPITAL.

PURCHASE OF NEW SITE. COMMITTEE TO REPORT.

The vrhole question of the proposad purchase of an additional area for Hospital building sites has been referred io the Finance Committee of the ]\ T orth Canterbury Hospital Board for report. At yesterday's meeting of the Board Mr 11. 11. Holland, in pursuance of noiiee, moved: "That steps be taken by the Board to acquire a sufficient and suitable area of ground for a future subsidiary hospital in, or near, the city of Christchureh immediately; that suitable, sites of not less than five acres be advertised for, and that a committee bo •set up to investigate and report upon this matter.'-'

Mr Holland said that the first question to ask vras, Was there any need to take' action along the lines indicated by the motion F "When the present Hospital, which, by the way, was in one of tiio most convenient locations, ! particularly for accidents, had been developed to its limits, which were a long way off yet, it would be very desirable to have an auxiliary Hospital established not far from the present Hospital, The City was established, and its heart would, he believed, always be in its present centre. Hospitals for general purposes must of necessity be handy to the. doctors, and the doctors would always have their, consul .ii>gr rooms in the heart of the town. Tha: is a very important reason, iii the interests of the patients, why a hospital should not bo a great distance from the centre. If the getting of a site was left until it was required for future Hospital purposes, he was sure that it was going to be extremely difficult and costly to obtain one in a convenient and suitable location. The town was growing rapidly, and fresh subdivisions wero continually being made. It would be next to impossible to get a sufficient area all in one block if they waited \mtil it wer?; needed. The speaker then proceeded, briefly, to outline what would occur in the future. A subsidiary Hospital could be established to advantage- where those requiring only nursing and medical attention could be treated, where some surgical work could be done, and possibly where the whole | of the throat, nose, and ear cases could be attended to. He had discussed this question with.some of the leading doctors, and those he had consulted were all in accord with this proposal. They said it would be impracticable to hayo it any distance away, and an auxiliary hospital, when 'built, should bo upon tho sunniest, highest, and driest site obtainable. Mr Hc/lland said he had recently seen a suitable site for an auxiliary hospital, but this had now been purchased by another organisation. In view of the rapid disappearance of such sites, ho considered the Board would be wise to secure one of ten, fifteen, or twenty acres when they were in a position to do so. He thought ,t&ey would all agree that it would be undesirable to seek space in the Domain Grounds for further hospital extensions, but it would have to be sought somewhere when the present Hospital had reached its limitations, and while that time was a long way off he was convinced that they should, prepare for it now. There certainly had been a very pronounced expression of public opinion in favour of the Nurses' Home being built upon what was known as the "horse paddock," in preference to the vegetable garden, but in his opinion there had been an equally strong expression of opinion that no more of tho Park should be used for Hospital purposes, after the Nurses' Homo had been provided for, and personally, while he had not been guided in this matter by those expressions of opinion, he concurred with them, and he hoped the Board would approve of tho policy outlined.

.Motion Discussed. Mr F. Horrell stated that he did not consider that the time was ripe for the erection of a new Hospital. Mr W. E. Leadley said ho thought Mr Holland, had been • misled by criticism already mado about the matter. The speaker said that the present land held by the Hospital Board was sufficient for the Board's purposes for a number of years, and he considered that this land was not being made full use of. Why not, ho Baici, build the wards on top of each other. All the buildings were single storey ones, and he thought'that it would conserve the land better if the buildings were put "up in the air." He was opposed to the motion. He did not think tho measure was necessary at ihe present time. . The Ee'v, J. K. Arehei proposed that ihe whole matter bo referred to tho l'inance Committee. Mrs MeCombs. suggested that the question of securing a site for a Nurses' Homo should also be considered by the Finance Committee.

Mr Holland agreed to Mr Archer's suggestion, but said the question of tho Nurses' Home site was being considered at present. The Eev. C. Carr said some of the medical men considered that the Hospital should not be on the present site at all. It was built on ground which was too low-lying, and was not suitable for the proper treatment of disease.

The chairman (Mr W.P. Spencer) said he considered Mr Holland's suggestion was a very wise one. There was no doubt that the Hospital should be ex tended. Perhaps in years to come there may be a hospital at Belfast. (Laughter.) The whole matter was referred to the Finance Committee for report. Nurses' Home,

The Special Committee set up to interview the Canterbury Acclimatisation Society with reference to the Board ac quiring the Acclimatisation grounds as a site for the Nurses' Home reported that it waited upon tho Society on the Hth inst. At the present juncture it was difficult to make any report on the matter, as the committee was waiting communication from the Acclimatisation Society with regard to the terms on which it would relinquish the grounds if the Board could make satisfactory arrangements with the Domains Board.

The matter was also referred to m the Hospital Committee's report, which contained the following:—The Medical Superintendent, in his report, again called attention to the lack of accommodation in the Hospital to meet the demands that are being made upon the institution. The committee recognised that it was imperative that more accommodation should be provided at an early date, and that it was essential that there should be no delay in the commencement of the ereetion -jf the Nurses' Heme, as, without the necessary staff accommodation, it was useless to erect new Hospital buildings. The reports were adopted.