SIXTEEN NEW BEDS

Otago Daily Times, Issue 26641, 11 December 1947, Page 6

SIXTEEN NEW BEDS

Conversion of Hill Jack Home OFFICIAL PERMISSION GIVEN As the result of the visit of the chairman of the Otago Hospital Board, Dr A. S. Moody, to Wellington this week, permission has been given by the Minister of Health, Miss Howard, to go ahead immediately with the conversion of Hill Jack Home to a 16-bed maternity hospital. Dr Moody told the Minister that the job would be done within six weeks. A Ministerial promise has also been made to treat the Marinoto maternity project as one of urgency. The provision of the first 20 beds will be considered by Cabinet shortly/and after their completion, the Otago Hospital Board has plans for the provision of a further 20 beds. i The chairman’s visit to Wellington was the outcome of a public meeting of women’s organisations concerning the shortage of maternity services and a resulting deputation to the Otago Hospital Board.

“That deputation promised it would assist in every possible way with the staffing and other matters concerning the running of the hospital,” Dr Moody told the Daily Times when interviewed on his return last night. “It is therefore up to the builders and plumbers and the different women's organisations who have promised co-operation to see that the job is done in the scheduled time. There is no doubt that the time is short, but I am convinced that it can be done, and with a few days to spare,” he asserted. Urgency of Position

“I would like to say how very helpful I found Miss Howard in sponsoring the claims of the Dunedin women for more maternity beds, and the easy attitude she adopted to cut through red tape,” Dr Moody said. “ I interviewed her in Christchurch on my way to Wellington. “To executive officers of the Health Department in Wellington I said that the Dunedin Hospital was desperately short of medical beds, and this was intensified by the fact that Miller Ward was being used for maternity cases. The only way, to my . mind, that the position could be rectified to make room for more medical cases in the Dunedin Hospital was to free Miller Ward of maternity cases and turn it back to the medical department. This would necessitate the taking over or conversion of an outside building to maternity needs. “After going into the matter it seemed that the best immediate way to get beds would be to convert Hill Jack Home to an open maternity hospital, in which patients could be attended by the doctor of their choice,” the chairman said. “ Certainly, this is only a partial solution, but from the maternity point of view the matter is desperately urgent. “ Hill Jack Home, although not ideal, can be converted to a 16-bed maternity hospital, complete with all the necessary requirements to meet the public health standards, and should be running as a maternity unit within six weeks. It has been arranged that if necessary, the carpenters will work through the holidays, and that there will be no hold-up in the plumbing and painting:” Plans for Marinoto Dr Moody said that plans for the first 20 beds at Marinoto would be reviewed at once by the Health Department officials in Wellington. “ I nave been promised that the matter will be treated as one of urgency,” he said. “ Before the building at Marinoto can proceed a great deal of work has to be done. First, Burwood avenue should be widened and the section cleared of its pine trees. This is, in itself, a big job as the trees will have to come out by the roots. I do not anticipate any difficulty in the street widening or in the removal of the trees.” From a long-term planning point of view it had to be remembered that the urgent problem of maintaining medical beds at the Dunedin Hospital must be met at once, he continued. The hospital was in the brick area, so that light constructional work could not be carried out. The modern ferro-con-crete type of structure meant that it would be an indefinite time—perhaps years—before a permanent hospital structure could be finished. The board was lucky that it had a property such as Marinoto, where it could go on with the construction of a good type of hospital, outside the brick area and where there was ample space to enlarge as required. Future Building Programme

“After the completion of 20 beds at Marinoto, which will be considered by Cabinet'shortly, a further 20 beds are provided for in the plans about to be prepared by the board’s architect,” he said. “It is no use approaching the Government at present for any immediate permit to secure the quick construction of a modern ferro-concrete structure and I feel that we must proceed with the erection of these buildings of lighter construction to keep going. “Any building programme at the hospital as at present arranged—such as the theatre block—necessitates the removal of an existing building and accordingly the loss of some hospital beds. When the theatre block is completed that, in turn, will probably lead to extensive alterations in the children’s wards. “It seems that it will be many years before we will possess a sufficient number of hospital beds to make adequate provision for the district, Dr Moody said. “It is generally felt, although for what reasons I cannot see, that the birth rate is at its peak, and therefore we should proceed cautiously in the matter of increasing maternity beds, but in view of the extensive remodelling that must take place in the Dunedin block of buildings, any of the buildings proposed outside the brick area will always be used immediately for other hospital work." Queen Mary Hospital

In conclusion, Dr Moody said he had pointed out to the Director-general of Health and his chief executive officer that the provision of these maternity beds did not in any way interfere with the necessity for providing for a further extension of Queen Mary Hospital. “It would seem to be a reasonable thing to erect the building on unoccupied land instead of pulling down hospital buildings and re-erect-ing them in ferro-concrete,” he added.

Dr Moody said he had been accompanied by the board’s architect, Mr N. Y. Wales, to ensure that there could be no hold-up in proceeding with the plans. “The results fully justified this course,” he said, “ because the Health Department agreed to accept minor changes in the plans without being returned to Dunedin to be redrawn.