Manawatu Herald SATURDAY, JANUARY 19, 1917. HOSPITAL EXPENDITURE.

Manawatu Herald, Volume XL, Issue 1778, 19 January 1918, Page 2

Manawatu Herald SATURDAY, JANUARY 19, 1917. HOSPITAL EXPENDITURE.

REFER RING i<> the proposal of the Palmerston District Hospital Board to raise* a loan ot Too,ooo ior extensions to its buildings, Iho Levin Chronicle says editorially; “The local bodies in 1 ho Horowhemia County would do well to pay some at tenlion to (ho proceedings of the Palmerston Hospital Board, seeing that alter March Hist the ratepayers ol the county, the boroughs ol Levin and Shannon, and the town district ol Otaki are to come under the taxing powers 01. this body

No doubt much ol this comprehensive building programme is badly needed, lor the Palmerston Hospital has not grown with the district it serves. Its reputation has come largely from the efficiency of its officers and medical stall. But it is a little disconcerting to find a responsible public body knowing its own minds so little that it is not sure whether it wants £25,000 or £55,000. Merc outsiders like Levin, Otaki and this county may be pardoned for wondering whether the Board will be any more capable of keeping within the estimate it has now made of its- tinaneial requirements. Horowhemia, which lias no desire to jump from the Wellington frying-pan into the Palmerston fire, is surely entitled to be consulted in regard to a policy for which it will shortly be culled upon to pay heavily enough.”

THE Chronicle, like' an anonymous writer in one of our Palmerston contemporaries, need have no fear as to the Board not knoAving its mind on the amount required lor capital expenditure in order to bring the district hospital up to requirements. The building scheme has received special consideration for months past. Conferences hetAveen the superintendent of Hospitals, Minister for Public Health, leading architects, and medical men have been held. A sub-committee has been at Avork gathering information from all sources for some considerable time. But details of the Avork have not, unfortunately, been set out in detail

through the press. Hence misgivings in certain quarters not conversant with ,the facts. The Horowhenna delegates, when they approached the Board and asked to be merged into the Palmerston District, were told that the contemplat- ! cd expenditure on expansion would total over £50,000. There was no objection raised by the delegates. The whole scheme, which is of a comprehensive nature, may take from ten to twenty years to complete. An application has been made to the Public Trustee for £50,000, and the money will be lifted as required, and posterity will bear its fair share of the burden instead of levying upon contributing bodies. The Board decided to apply and make sure of the full amount which will be required. The Government, will not allow the Board to play ducks and drakes with the money, and will only sanction the most essential additions. The public can rest assured that the Board is taking every precaution to safeguard their interests so far as the hospital and its administration is concerned.