NEW HOSPITAL BUILDINGS

Dominion, Volume 21, Issue 131, 2 March 1928, Page 11

NEW HOSPITAL BUILDINGS

MOST MODERN IN DOMINION OPENED BY GOVERNORGENERAL EFFICIENCY AND PUBLIC SERVICE His Excellency the GovernorGeneral (Sir Charles Fergusson) yesterday opened the new additions to the Wellington Hospital which have just been completed at a cost of £253,000. There was a large and representative gathering, including Cabinet Ministers, members of the Hospital Board. City Council, the Hutt Valley authorities, and representatives of other local bodies and institutions. Yhe occasion is marked by a brass plate in the main entrance hall, which records that “this building was opened on the first day of March, 1928, by His Excellency Sir Charles Fergusson, Bart., LL.D., G.C.M.G., K.C.8., D. 5.0., M.V.0., Governor-General.” A silk ribbon was suspended across the main entrance doors, and the severing of the ribbon by His Excellency preceded rhe entrance to the spacious waiting hall for out-patients, where the main ceremony was* held. Mr. C. M. Luke, chairman of the Hospital Board, presided, supported by the Hon. J. A. Young (Minister of Health), Hou. R. A. Wright (Minister of Education), Dr. T. H. A. JValintine (Director-General of Health), the Mayor (Mr. G. A. Troup), and members of the board. Mr. Crichton, of Messrs. Crichton, McKay, and Haughton, architects, to the board, presented a gold key to His Excellency in honour of the occasion. The new buildings, said Mr. Luke, had their genesis in the inconvenience nnd disability under which the institution was administered in the old and scattered buildings. He briefly referred to the initiative -taken by Dr. Woodhouse, the excellent services of Dr. Wilson, medical superintendent, his visit to America, and the valuable report lie afterwards presented to the board, end the work of the architect in preparing the plans and supervising the construction. The result was that the building was a monument to all concerned, the doors of which, now open, would never be closed night or day. He spoke of the provision made for casualties which were so numerous under present-day traffic conditions, and the promptness with which such patients could receive medical or surgical treatment on the most modern principles. He hoped the institution would meet public needs for many years to come. The contract price for the main buildin O- was £154,595. plus £45,324 for the power house and kitchen block, the latter having become urgent necessities, and together with the new machine and the old machinery brought up to date, the whole cost amounted to £253,832. Of that amount,_ £140,000 was borrowed from the Public Trust Department, authority was obtained .to float £lOO,OOO in debentures, of winch £97)300 was raised, leaving a balance to be provided of £16,532. Patients and Accommodation. Speaking of the accommodation, the chairman said they had had as many as 64 beds occupied, and the ave , r " age for the year up to the end of. February was 558. In the out-patients department they treated 18,124 persons, and gave 109,906 treatments. The new buildings covered nearly two acres of ground, and floor covering was provided for nearly one and a half acres of space. In calling upon the Gover-nor-General, the chairman said, he might ask him to recall to his mind’s eve the little public hospital in Pipitea Street in 1874, when the present building would show the remarkable strides which had been made. His Excellency expressed the regret of Lady Alice Fergusson at not being able to" be* present, owing to a prior engagement in’the north. They should, he said, congratulate those who envisaged the scheme, and those who had helped to bring it to fruition. New Zealand was to be congratulated upon her hospital svstem, and they would think with pride of their own institution, for with the extra wards and facilities a great deal of suffering would be alleviated. He hoped all concerned would feel the. blessing of such an institution, medical staff, sisters, nurses, and the patients themselves. With great pleasure he declared the new block open. (Applause.) Tribute to the Board. The Hon. J. A. Young paid a tribute to the work of the Wellington Hospital Board. He particularly eulogised the long years of service in the cause of the hospital given by Mr. Luke and the Rev. H. Van Staveren. The new buildings were a recognition by the board of the responsibilities it had, and what it owed to the community and suffering humanity. Hospitals to-day were not mere infirmaries for the sick, but highly specialised institutions giving services not dreamed of a generation ago. They liad a magnificent institution, and, bearing in mind that, the services of hospital boards were given gratuitously, it was only fair and right that appreciation of those services should be expressed when the occasion offered. Mr. G. A. Troup congratulated the board on the attainment of a longcherished desire to have a more complete equipment than they had had hitherto. Wellington now had. one of the most efficient institutions in the whole of New Zealand. He also could speak of the valuable services Mr. Luke had rendered in hospital work. The building was one of which any city might be proud. No one had filled the position of medical superintendent better than the present holder, Dr. D. M. Wilson. In regard to finance, the ■chairman had told them how the money was raised, but the ratepayers had to find the interest on it. The Mayor gave figures supplied by the Government Statistician regarding the number of patients treated in the four main centres maintenance costs, average number of beds occupied, and the average cost per bed, Wellington being the lowest in the last item. He. also spoke of the excellent record Wellington held in health matters, and congratulated the city upon having the lowest deathrate and the highest birth-rate. p) r t H. A. Valintine said the addition made Wellington Hospital the second largest, if not the largest, in the Dominion. Auckland was possibly larger bv a few beds. He had been associated with Mr. Luke in hospital work for t wen tv-five years, and lie (Mr. Luke) had rendered the -Department valuable assistance at al! times. He congratulated them upon the opening of the new building. The chairman expressed regret that Dr Wilson was leaving to go into private practice, and they all wished him a successful future. Prior to inspecting the new. buildings the companv was entertained at afternoon tea. The buildings will be open to-day for public inspection.

NEW ACCOMMODATION THE LAYOUT DESCRIBED GREATER CENTRALISATION The new additions to the. hospital have been made after a careful survey of the probable future developments of the hospital so that any extensions, additions or alterations can. fit in with an organised scheme. The additions are an attempt to.give better accommodation for both in-patients and outpatients, to centralise various departments and so in the end reduce, the cost of running a growing institution.

Prompt Casualty Service. With the new front block, ambulances and vehicles conveying patients will have a separate entrance, where accident and other patients can bo admitted under cover and quite separately from all other visitors to the hospital. For this purpose a well-lighted basement has been utilised. Handy to this entrance is an entirely _ew feature of the hospital, viz., a casualty department where these cases can be immediately examined, if necessary put to bed and an emergency operation performed ■without loss of. time. . This casualty department consists of nine single rooms and small ward for children, all the necessary accessory rooms, an examination room and operating, theatre. Ihis department is on the ground floor near the main hall, but entirely shut off, so that it will be a unit by itself. The southern part of the basement is allotted to the social welfare department, so that these offices are also centralised. The rest of the basement comprises storage space, but parts of it are well suited for extensions of the out-patient departments should these become necessary. Out-patients’ Department.

On the ground .floor again is a new out-patient department.. This has been designed with a dignified central waiting room and numerous examination rooms on three sides. .As adjuncts io this department there is a large office controlling the admissions, a new dispensary, and a buffet. This last is an innovation. On the first floor there are new offices for the board and secretarial departments, medical superintendent and lady superintendent, nurses’ lecture rooms, a hospital medical library and quarters for lady house surgeons; also rooms tor ultra-violet light treatment and some unallotted space for future development. The top floor is occupied by a now dental department, this department becoming centralised and leaving the old wooden building in Hospital Road. Here are operating rooms of various sizes, rooms for the mechanics and all other accessory rooms. The lady superintendent has her private suite, and again there is unallotted space for future extensions. The whole of the southern half is devoted to living rooms for the resident medical staff. Wireless for Patients. The rear of the two now buildings comprises three main wards each accommodating at least twenty-two patients, and devised to give patients a certain amount of privacy, plenty of sun-room and balcony space and to lessen as far as possible the unnecessary work of the nursing staff. This building has already been wired for. the reception of broadcasting by the Hospital Radio Committee with funds publicly subscribed, each bed having its individual head-phone, but the installation is not yet complete for lack of funds. On the eastern side of this building four stories have been fitted in, the top giving a 'small ward with fourteen beds. The door below is divided up for special urological work, while the two floors below are for special out-patients. Each of the three main wards has a sun-room for patients who are up, but in emergency can be used as four-bed wards. How They Originated. When tne board first considered the extensions for the Hospital, Dr. Woodhouse, previous medical superintendent, presented an elaborate report, which was a guide to the new buildings just erected. The exact nature of the buildings was arrived at after a consultation between the late Dr. J. P. Frcngley, representing the Health Department, and Ur. Wylie, now of Palmerston North, who was then Inspector of Hospitals. They arrived at the conclusion that the first essential was to centralise buildings and administrative compartments now occupying a valuable site for new wards. To this end new buildings have been put up with a certain amount of bed accommodation. Laundry and Power House. During the progress of the new buildings rt Decamo possible for the board to purchase at a satisiactory tigune cue urn match factory. This has been remodelled to give a new stores department, new launary, new kitchen, with staff aming rooms adjacent, while with a few additions a new power-house with freezing chambers, has been provided. At the Stores Department stores can be easily delivered direct from Riddiford Street. Here the house steward will have control of the incoming and outgoing of stores. Adjacent, the new laundry has up-to-date plant, hospital and general linen stores, and sewing rooms for repairs. At the rear of thia building is an entirely new power house. All coal will now be delivered to ths back entrance, without disturbing, the patients. Kitchen and Dietitian. The upstairs floor of the old match factory comprises the large main kitchen ior the whole hospital, access to the hospital being given by a connecting bridge, which has been thrown across to the new corridor. Cooking will be done by steam and electricity, no coal being used, so that it can be kept clean and easily worked. Adjacent, to.t lie main kitchen is the dining room for the domestic and medical staffs, an attempt being made to centralise cooking to one kitchen, so as to reduce the costs of transporting the food. In addition to the kitchen there is a dietitian's office and laboratory, where special diets will be prepared, and the nursing staff receive instruction in invalid cookery. The dietitian. Miss Reid, who has just been appointed, will have entire control of the kitchen, and all the food from the time it arrives in the kitchen until delivery to the patient. It is hoped that in this way the food service, which has always been a constant worry, will short.lv be improved appreciably to the patients. Now that the new outpatients’ department has been provided, the ground floor of the present outpatients’ department will be evacuated. With a certain amount of internal remodelling, it is hoped this year to house the new X-ray and massage departments. The present massage department is situated, in a wooden hut on the hill by Victoria Hospital. The pathology' departments will occupy the whole of 'the unper floor in the present outpatients’ building, including the present secretarial offices and board room, and Hie ton of the new corridor passing behind this building has been made suitable for housing animals required for laboratory purposes.