THE Hauraki Plains Gazette. With which is incorporated THE OHINEMURI GAZETTE. Motto: Public Service. MONDAY, WEDNESDAY, & FRIDAY. MONDAY, MARCH 13, 1922. PAEROA HOSPITAL.

Hauraki Plains Gazette, Volume XXXIII, Issue 4389, 13 March 1922, Page 2

THE Hauraki Plains Gazette. With which is incorporated THE OHINEMURI GAZETTE. Motto: Public Service. MONDAY, WEDNESDAY, & FRIDAY. MONDAY, MARCH 13, 1922. PAEROA HOSPITAL.

4| Twenty-three' years ago the first attempt was made to have a hospital erected in Paeroa, but it is only now that there appears to be any real likelihood of a maternity hospital and emergency ward being provided. Strange as it may appear to the commonsense .of the public in general, the delay has been due mainly to a wretched legal deadlock. The Paeroa Hospital Trustees have approximately £lOOO in hand for the purpose of paying towards the erection of a hospital. Unfortunately, the trust deed provides for the handing over of the fund and property to an established institution, while the Thames Hospital Board is legally prevented from establishing an institution until and unless the money is handed over. In addition to the £lOOO mentioned there is £3OO waiting in the Nurse Pennell Memorial Fund. There was also £250 in the Hauraki Fund, but this amount was taken under pressure by the Government, and is lost to the Hospital Fund for all time. There are also certain sections held by the Hospital Trustees, municipal reserves for hospital purposes, and sections held by Mr A. Cassrels which the Director-General of Health advised the local Hospital Trustees to purchase in order to make up a total of five acres- But the legal difficulty is holding the whole scheme in abeyance. However, there is a way out; namely, for the local Hospital Trustees (for whom Mr E. W. Porritt is acting) to apply to the Supreme Court for an a! teration of the trust deed enabling the trustees to hand the money and lands over to the Thames Hospital Board for the purpose of erecting a maternity hospital and emergency ward at Paeroa. The Board has promised to erect the institution as soon as finances permit, which will not be long, as the Board will in all probability be in receipt of loan money shortly. During the past year the Mayor of Paeroa (Mr P. E. Brenan) has been consistently endeavouring to straighten out the legal tangle, and has now got to the point where he can do nothing more until the Paeroa Hospital Trustees secure the necessary modification of the terms of the trust deed. A comprehensive report on the matter is published in this issue, and the community will await with vivid interest the news of the removal of the clause in the trust deed which has been the cause of so mucn delay. Of course, commonsense and ordinary prudence will dictate to the Paeroa Trustees, the Nurse Pennell Memorial Trust--, ees, and the Borough Council that the money must not be actually handed over to the Thames Hospital Board, iintil such time as the Board is in a financial position to proceed with the erection of the Paeroa Hospital, and will give a definite and documentary undertaking .- to proceed and complete within a given period.