WAIPAWA HOSPITAL DISPUTE

Hawke's Bay Herald-Tribune, Issue 33, 23 February 1937, Page 4

WAIPAWA HOSPITAL DISPUTE

Mr Fraser Says Board Was "In The Park" CHAIRMAN'S ATTITUDE In a reply to the chairman of tho Waipawa Hospital Board, Mr W, H. liathbone, Mr K. A. Fraser made tho following statement to the HeraJdTribune to-day: — 1 "It was not my intention to maka any extended etatement to tho Press regarding the recent hospital troubie, but sinc© Mr Rathbone has seen fit to do so I feel that I should reply to one or two pornts raiaed by liitu. "Ilrst I would like to say that i asked Mr Rathbone to hold a meeting in January to endeavour to clear the air, but he refused to do so until after the Supreme Court ease. I think that if he had agreed to my request and taken the board members into his con* fidence a good deal of t'fio iuUeqnant troubie would have been avoided, A? it was, quite a number of board members heard nothing from Mr Rathbone until the meeting on February 17. They were as much in the dark as the general publio, * '-'Mr Rathbone 's attitude in Conrt was taken on hi» own responsibility, and not with the concurrence of tne board. Mr Rathbone certainly. read the Director-General's ietter (advising the suspension of the managing-seeretary) to the finance committee on February 16, but the following day he did not read it to the board members in general until I requested him to do so. "The finance committee did not pase auy resolution endorsing the chairman 's action in not suspending the managing secretary, and it made ua retommendation on the subject to th# full board. I personally did not express agreement with his action, Whether 1 was deputy-chairman of th# board or not had nothing whatever ta do with the matter at issue. * * As I havo never at any time stated or implied that I waa the deputy-chair-man, Mr Rathbone 's xemarks on this dcoio can only be construed as an entirely unjustified attack on me personally — an attack which is ' unprovoked, as I had not previously attacksd him. - J "If Mr Rathbone had shown any wiJllingnoss on February 17 to conducli a proper inquiry such as I asked for, the Ministerial inquiry that li# now says he would welcome would not hay# leen ^Scessary. The members of n€he finance committee of the Waipawa Hospital Board were: Messrs W. H. Rathbone, T. P, Hunter, H. W. White, and R. A. Fraser-,