TE KUITI DISTRICT MEDICAL FUND.

King Country Chronicle, Volume I, Issue 20, 8 March 1907, Page 3

TE KUITI DISTRICT MEDICAL FUND.

The canvassers for the Medical Fund in the various districts, are meeting with good support from the settlers, and with the scheme placed e.nsivelv before the people, "tlrfertrTs no doubt as to the success of the project. Up to the present there has only been one public meeting, and the Committee has been acting on its own initiative with regard to detail matters. A proposed scale of fees, and doctor's itinerary, have been drawn up by the Chairman (Mr E. Hardy) and Secretary (Mr J. Ormsby), and these will be submitted to a general committee meeting to be held shortly. The fees proposed to be chargeable by the doctor for emergency calls are: —Within two miles of the township 5s for attendance; three miles from township, 6s ; from four to ten miles, 7s 6d ; from eleven to twenty miles, 10s ; from twentyone miles upwards, I2s 6d. In addition to the attendance fees, travelling fees at the rate of Is 6d per mile, are proposed. As the travelling will have to be undertaken on extremely bad roads in winter, it is considered the foregoing charges, when averaged over the whole year, will be found reasonable to all. The ordinary itinerary proposed to be adopted, will embrace at least one day, or part of a day a fortnight, for the doctor in each centre, when the charge of 5 s will be made for each patient; The proposed itinerary is as follows : —First week : Monday evening, Mangapeehi, returning to Te Kuiti on Tuesday morning; Wednesday, Aria, remaining till Thursday forenoon ; Thursday midday, Pio Pio; Thursday evening, Mairoa, remaining till Friday forenoon, returning to Te Kuiti via Oparure, and stopping at Oparure until 4 p.m.; Saturday, Te Kuiti. Second week : Monday, Te Kuiti; Tuesday, leaves for Hangatiki, via Mangaorino road, stopping en route at house to be agreed upon and call at Hangatiki at mid-day ; Tuesday evening at Waitomo, leaving for Te Kuiti via Oparure at mid-day on Wednesday: The remainder of the week at Te Kuiti.

No charge for mileage will be made by the doctor on the ordinary round, and it remains for the settlers to arrange suitable centres at which the doctor may be consulted. As the foregoing proposals are merely tentative, and subject to approval by the general committee, it is hoped that all persons wishing to make suggestions which will prove beneficial, will forward the same promptly to the secretary, in order that the wishes of the various districts may be given the utmost consideration, before final arrangements are made. Great credit is due to Messrs Hardy and Ormsby for the careful and thorough manner in which they have gone into the matter, and it is hoped they will be strongly supported in their endeavours to attain a very laudable object, and one which will prove a benefit to the whole district. If the settlers in each locality were to hold a meeting for the purpose of discussing the proposals, and forward recommendations to the secretary, such a course would at once assist materially in making final arrangements, and secure the best possibe attendance for each place. It is intended, directly matters are forward enongh, to advertise for a doctor, and all the applications will be considered by the committee.