Manawatu Herald THURSDAY, SEPTEMB. 22, 1921. ST. HELEN’S HOSPITAL EFFORT.
THE result of the effort to raise £IO,OOO throughout the Palmerston Hospital district for fhe establishment of a St. Helen’s Hospital at Palmerston N. is very disappointing. The sum raised is under £4,000, and this was contributed by the towns, except Feilding, within a short radius of Palmerston. The failure to reach the objective may be stated to be due to several causes, i.c., financial stringency, parochial prejudice, and general ignorance of the objects of such an institution. Had the Hospital Board erected a maternity hospital on its grounds, portion of the capital cost and maintenance would have been a charge on the whole district, whereas a St. Helen’s Hospital would not, provided the site and building were handed over to the Department for this purpose. The amount raised, of course, is insufficient to provide a suitable institution. Comparisons are odious, but we cannot refrain from expressing surprise at the lack of financial support accorded the effort (excepting in the ease of Sir James Wilson) by well-to-do people. It can be stated without fear of contradiction that the bulk of the money raised came out of the pockets of wage-earning people. The whole thing points this lesson: if such institutions are required to reduce New Zealand's infant mortality, which is the second highest in the Empire, then the State must establish homes and train nurses wherever required, and place the cost of maintenance and upkeep upon the shoulders of those best able to bear it. We are pleased to notice that the Minister for Public Health intends to introduce legislation in the coming session dealing with the allied questions of maternity, mortality and infant welfare. In
these circumstances it may possibly happen that the sum raised will be supplemented by the Department for an institution for this hospital district.
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Manawatu Herald, Volume XLIII, Issue 2332, 22 September 1921, Page 2
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309Manawatu Herald THURSDAY, SEPTEMB. 22, 1921. ST. HELEN’S HOSPITAL EFFORT. Manawatu Herald, Volume XLIII, Issue 2332, 22 September 1921, Page 2
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