THE Hauraki Plains Gazette With which is incorporated THE OHINEMURI GAZETTE. Motto: Public Service. MONDAY, WEDNESDAY, & FRIDAY. FRIDAY, FEBRUARY 12, 1926. PAEROA HOSPITAL.

Hauraki Plains Gazette, Volume XXXVII, Issue 4938, 12 February 1926, Page 2

THE Hauraki Plains Gazette With which is incorporated THE OHINEMURI GAZETTE. Motto: Public Service. MONDAY, WEDNESDAY, & FRIDAY. FRIDAY, FEBRUARY 12, 1926. PAEROA HOSPITAL.

The erection of the Paeroa maternity and casualty hospital appears to be as far distant .as ever. The attitude adopted by the Thames people in opposing .the building at this stage is difficult to understand. The question of expenditure. is given as the main grounds for objection, but tq. those who have followed the matter closely it appears to be a case of bitter jealousy and acrimony. Thames totally ignores the fact that this district has loyally supported .the maintenance of its district hospital fox years without complaint or jealousy. Whenever the board has deemed .it necessary to erect new buildings, making a heavy additional cost, the people of Ohinemuri have cheerfully borne their share of, the increased expenditure, and have been content that the various improvements and additions should be built at Thames. Now, when Paeroa expects that the erection of its long-promised institution should be proceeded with, the belligerent people of Thames x’ise in their pettiness, and vow that no stone shall be left unturned, to frust|rate the project. One might well wonder where theix- sense of decency and justice- is. The building has been definitely promised, and resolutions ori the books of the board beai’ lasting evidence of this fact; yet Thames ' residents, per medium of the l borough council, seek to repudiate the promises made. Not only is the attitude unorthodox, but it is decidedly unsportsmanlike. Much might be written of .the effort of the local people, individually and collectively, .to 'raise sufficient money tp erect the building here, but the history of the fund and the trend of negotiations, for .the acquisition of.the site and the cloeing of streets is already familial' to our readers. When all these undertakings ai'e considered the claim of Thames appears to be all .the more unjustified. It has already been stated in these columns that of the £lO,OOO required fox- 'the building the Thames district is required to find only about £3OOO. Yet .there was not j a whimper from Ohinemuri when the board was recently 'given authority to borrow £7OOO for (he erection of a new steam laundry and isolation block at Thames. We do, not propose to make comparisons, but claim, and we think rightly, that the erection of the Paeroa hospital should be the first undertaking to receive the board’s, attention. It) is ridiculous in the extreme to harp on the fact that maternity annexes are not paying propositions, and give that as a reason why the building should not be proceeded with. Apart from the fact that when the local hospital is completed it will be open to receive not only maternity cases, but cases of every description which cajl for humanitarian skill and attention, who ■ ever heard of any public hospital being ,a paying proposition.? Why should Paeroa’s institution be expected to guarantee its erection and maintenance a.t a profit ? The whole matter savours of parochialism in its worst form. Paeroa can never be the “dead-end” that Thames i®. Oui' town must go ahead, geographically situated as it is.. The population of our town is steadily growing, and the future prosperity of the borough appears particularly bright. For such reasons as these, and many others that could be mentioned, the town is justly entitled to its claim It has already been pointed out that the boat'd is, ajfter all, only second to the Health Department in such matters,, and we are at a loiss to see how the Minister can Ignore the claims of our district,