BASE HOSPITALS

Dominion, Volume 14, Issue 245, 11 July 1921, Page 5

BASE HOSPITALS

SPECIAL ASSISTANCE PROPOSED DEPARTMENTS OF CITY INSTITUTIONS The establishment of base hospitals, on lines recommended by the officers of the Health Department, is recommended in tho report of tho Hospitals Commission. "Your commission has given much consideration to the proposed scheme of base hospitals as outlined by the Director of Hospitals, and ie impressed with the importance of establishing base hospitals with properly equipped spacial departments," states the report. "Such special departments should include: —(1) Clinical laboratory, dealing with pathological, bacteriological, and bio-chemical work; (2) radiological; (3) othopaedic, including physiotherapy, plaster room and splint workshop; (4) ophthalmic; (5) ear, nose, and throat; (6) genito-urinory; (7) gynaecological; (8) dietetics; (9) records. '“Many of these special departments are already installed at the four principal hospitals, viz., at Auckland, Wellington, Christchurch. and Dunedin, and are doing good work, treating patients from all parts of the Dominion. The maintenance of these special departments is a costlv burden on the local hospital boards. As the facilities afforded are of Dominion importance, your commission recommends a contribution from all the Dominion hospital boards towards the maintenance nnd development of these special departments at the hospitals named, by a special allocation of onetwentieth of the Government subsidy for maintenance expenditure. If this allocation is strictly applied by the Minister for the purposes indicated, great benefits will accrue to the Dominion as a whole. "It is imperative that these special grants should not bo used for ordinary maintenance purposes, but only for the purpose of developing and extending the work of the special departments. In return for their contributions all hospital boards should have ths right to send patients to their respective base hospitals for special treatment on payment of the ordinary maintenance fee."